If 2002 was a successful season for Old Parkonians, then 2003 was perhaps even better, as the club continued to make huge progress both on and off the field. Despite no XI achieving the ultimate goal of promotion, the 1st and 2nd teams were just squeezed out at the last and the 3rd and 4th XI’s consolidated their positions in higher leagues.

However, the real highlight for Parks during the summer was the under-16 side’s run in the Matchplay competition, which after years of trying, at long last qualified through the group stages and went onto make the final at the hallowed turf of Chelmsford, home of Essex CCC. In a fantastic run that will be long remembered by all, the team lead by the emerging 1st XI talent of Paul Robbins won through to the final in style with a squad who all held experience of league cricket and this ultimately stood them in good stead.

After losing just one match in the group stage, the lads fired on all cylinders thereafter and reached the semis at Billericay CC after a great team effort in the quarters to win at tough opponents Braintree & District by 45 runs, defending a modest 160-8. In that semi-final the lads took on bitter rivals Ilford, who were winners the previous year.

The dream was looking bleak though when Ilford raced to 271-6 from their 40 overs and Parks lost early wickets in reply, but then cometh the hour, cometh Nikunj Amin. Playing against his old team-mates, Amin hit one of the best hundreds witnessed at colts level of 135 not out, to see Parks into the final showdown by six wickets with eight balls to spare, delighting the many Parks senior players who had cheered the lads on throughout, whilst enjoying a barbeque courtesy of master chef Andre Barnard!

However, despite the euphoria of reaching the final in early September and playing on a great stage, Parks were not able to scale the same heights. Their opponents, Clogghams, scored 237-3 from their 40 overs, after being put in to bat, a target well within the side’s capabilities. However, Parks lost key wickets at key stages and in the end collapsed from a promising 131-3 to 171 all out to lose by 66 runs, despite a brave effort of 83 from rising star Rushan Pandya. Regardless of the result, a wonderful achievement by all concerned.

1st XI
As for the main XI’s, the most hope was once again pinned on the first team. Dealt a blow with club captain Prem Mannar only able to play one game throughout the season due to work commitments in Australia, vice Imran Khan took over the reins and adapted brilliantly to the situations thrown at him. He was certainly helped by the acquisitions of several high quality new members. Prolific hitter Arshad Ali, prodigious off-spinner Manoj Kumar and whole-hearted wicket-keeper Tony Small all joined from Ilford and it was felt the side should challenge heavily for promotion again, although with a stronger squad, this aim was more expectation rather than hope.

The first test was the League Cup match against Premier side Hadleigh & Thundersley at Oakfield. In a tight game, Parks were edged out by just seven runs and it was thought the team would take time to gel.
However, the league campaign r off with 18 points at Leigh-On-Sea, thanks to whirlwind knocks of 60 from Ali and 67 from Andre Barnard and if it wasn’t for a rain affected game at Oakfield against the eventual second placed side, Brentwood, Parks would surely have started their season off with a 100% record. The highlight of the Brentwood match was Ali’s 26 scored in one over, reading 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 4.

After two further draws, simple wins followed against Billericay at Oakfield and Southend at Southchurch Park, with Ed Buxton scoring a classy maiden league ton of exactly 100 not out, sharing 121 unbeaten runs with Kris Bostock (61*), followed by 6-52 with the ball by Manoj Kumar.

However, then came the lean patch that ultimately cost Parks promotion. The side lost three on the bounce, including a one-wicket defeat at home to champions Wickford, despite an incredible hat-trick from Arshad Ali, leaving Parks 51 points off the pace going into the second half of the season.

If Khan’s men were going to win promotion they realistically had to win all of the remaining nine games. The team managed to win seven of those, which included four-in-a-row, but although it leaped the side to a third, the gap between the side above and Parks was 29 points, all lost in the lean patch during July.

In terms of averages, Ed Buxton led the way with 346 runs at 38.44 and Arshad Ali, although underachieved for his standards, still scored 571 runs at 35.69 with a highest score of only 63. Andre Barnard hit 209 at 34.83 during an injury curtailed summer, Robin Glassberg had a much more consistent year with the bat, notching up 500 at 31.25 and Manoj Kumar scored 380 at 27.14, but disappointed in this department with only one fifty for the overseas star. Bowling wise though, Kumar starred with 56 wickets at 17.50, whilst Ali chipped in with 48 at 18.13, including 8-52 in the win at Brentwood, the best match figures in division two. After that though, only the captain, Imran Khan, with 13 wickets at 27.46 had anything close to a successful season with the leather and will be the key area for Parks to strengthen if they are to achieve promotion in 2004.

2nd XI
After narrowly missing out on promotion the previous year, Nick Thorpe and his side set about trying to escape division three once again. With Kamal Prabhakar joining the ranks from Ilford, the chances were bright, until a win-less July left the team with too much ground to make up on the chasing pack and ultimately finished in fourth place, 26 points adrift of Orsett in second.

The side did enjoy seven wins and only four defeats, but six draws, with a low points tally in each was the killer blow to the dream as well as putting in a bad performance out of the blue, a la Benfleet at home and Orsett, Ongar away.

The mainstay of the batting was by led Jamie Abbott, who hit a wonderful 114* against Basildon, Matt Reynolds, who capped a good season with his maiden league ton of 109* against Woodford Green, David Tack, who hit a highest effort of 86* and always seems to score bags of runs when he threatens retirement (!) and Kamal Prabhakar, whose 97 was among a number of half-century scores. Matt Jarvis must also be mentioned, as he also achieved his first league hundred, with 125 at home to Ongar on the last day of the season.

In the bowling department, the ever dependable Mike ‘Charlie’ Holmes picked up wickets all season, with a best of 14-4-24-6 at Basildon, whilst Jamie Abbott and Kamal Prabhakar added wickets to their runs providing all-round assets to the XI.

The highlights for the 2nd XI were the successful run chases at Stanford and Benfleet, both times chasing over 230 to win.

Nick Thorpe has stood down after three seasons and Matt Reynolds has taken over the helm, so good luck to Matt and thanks to Nick for all his hard efforts on the committee.

3rd XI
The 3rd XI started the season with life in a new division after promotion in 2003. Although the team realised the standard would be much higher (which it proved to be!) and that the main aim was consolidation, there was always a feeling if we could stick together as a team again, we could progress. However, the season started disappointingly, with no wins in the first five matches, as well as vice-captain Jim Martin and batters Tim Leather and Chris Nutt, the later thankfully recovering from a life-threatening illness, unable to play any part in the campaign bar the first few games. The batting hole was filled by Waqar Ali, who joined from Ilford and without his 689 runs at 68.09, including two fine tons, the club could have well lost their division two status at the first attempt. David Buxton with 428 runs at 28.53 cemented his place in the team, including a whirlwind 64 with six sixes against Harold Wood, but thereafter, nobody else surpassed 190 runs, bar Paul Robbins, who only played three games at a much lower level due to injury with 234 runs in only three innings, with 175 of those against Hutton at Oakfield a quite wonderful display of hitting.

The problem all season was the bowling, which lacked discipline and control. Too many times the bowlers let the side down with their inadequate performances, which left the batters too much to do, let alone the regular abject fielding displays. As an example, off-spinner Alan Bouquet bagged around 50 league wickets in 2003, but snapped only 13 in 2004. Seamers Ian Simpson (12 wickets at 44.75) and Josh Gordon (1 wicket at 211) struggled in a higher division, with only Anthony ‘Monkey’ Campbell enjoying anything close to success with 15 wickets at 20, which included a sensational hat-trick at Horndon, with figures of 13-3-25-4. Nick Weekes provided 17 wickets with 5-60 against Hutton in the early part of the season, but his leg-spinners weren’t so successful in the later part.

Three wins all season tells it’s own story and the two against Old Southendians (who finished bottom) and Basildon (who finished one point above Parks) were the crucial efforts that staved off relegation. In the Basildon match, Ali’s 112* lead the side to an incredible victory by seven wickets, chasing 274, a club record for the highest score to win a match.

A total of 39 members were called upon, showing the lack of regular availabilities during 2003 for Parks and a final position of eighth will be looked to be built on next term, under the new leadership of Waqar Ali, after George Carter stood down following four seasons in charge. We thank him for his efforts and wish Waqar all the best in his tough new role.

4th XI
Like the 3rd XI, the 4th team’s aim for the season was also to consolidate their place in a higher division, albeit through the restructuring of the 4th XI divisions rather than actually winning promotion. Martin Fitch and Pete Robbins (when the former was unavailable due to football commitments at Waltham Forest FC) lead the side in division one with enthusiasm and great heart; even more so due to many younger colts between the ages of 14 and 16 being called upon for duty and gained valuable experience and enjoyment, which is a credit to them and the club’s youth policy.

The fact that the younger colts were called upon shows that availability throughout the lower XI’s was the worse for many years, with members unavailable for games for a variety of reasons, causing unsettled sides and a total of around 40+ players used during the campaign. This and the higher standard of cricket reflected on the results and the final placing of fifth out of eight teams.

The lads certainly entertained and preferred a result and the one draw from 14 matches proves that. Nine defeats amongst the 14 completed matches, but four good wins also. Two of those were against the bottom side Loughton and two were against Benfleet and were two great wins for different reasons. The first at Woodside Park, saw Parks let the hosts from a perilous 40-6 recover to score 126 all out, with 63 year-young Jim Gambleton in fine form once again with 8-41. Parks were cruising in reply, but then collapsed to 107-6. Enter colt Vikram Pandya, who batted sensibly for 21 to guide his side home for the loss of no further wickets.
In the return match at Oakfield, Parks batting faltered once again and when Benfleet raced to 55-1 inside 8 overs, a meagre total of 136 all out looked just that. However, enter Jamie Fitch. With football training at his semi-pro club Waltham Forest taking place on Saturday afternoons, he was prevented from playing much cricket during the season, but he made up for the time he missed in this game, taking an incredible 8-12 from 11.3 overs (his second eight-wicket haul inside three seasons), with six maidens included. It meant the visitors were skittled for just 81 and capped a remarkable 55 run win.

The club also fielded a 5th XI on six occasions during the term, winning two of those matches. Inconsistent availability restricted the number of 5’s games and only 13 and 14 year old colts with their dad’s helped raised sides! Despite that, the Saturday social team all enjoyed themselves on the field and in the bar afterwards!
Parks two Sunday sides had to put up with a brunt of cry-offs and non-availabilities as well and thus when the AGM came around in late November, the decision was taken to field just one Sunday XI from 2004 and if demand required, the club would go to the conference for a second fixture. Despite this, the lads, mostly youngsters, enjoyed themselves and also learnt a great deal.

One feat that must be mentioned is the new club record for the highest individual innings scored in 2004 from Ed Buxton. He smashed 192 not out in a Sunday friendly against Walthamstow at Oakfield and surpassed the previous record of 189 set by R. Chambers over twenty years ago. Some accolade, considering the effort set all those years ago was scored in an all-day match at Westcliff, while Buxton’s unbeaten 192 took a little over two hours to complete.

The club also enjoyed a successful cricket week one again, with many old faces attending and even participating in matches and again hosted the league cup final, which saw Colchester retain the trophy in a close game with Gidea Park & Romford.

The colts section is the future of any club and Parks is proud to have so many quality youngsters attending regular nets and progressing into the adult XI’s and more than holding their own. Pete Robbins, Pete Simpson, Kieran Jones and their army of senior members who have qualified as level one coaches take special praise for all their hard work and with games on Sunday mornings also. In fact, such was the number of youngsters that the club decided to play Tuesday evening 20-over matches so everyone obtained a game!
Final thanks also to Nick Levi and 1st XI scorer Tony Boulding for their work in 2003, which is really much appreciated by all.

Finally, Old Parkonians would like to give a warm welcome to all players, umpires, scorers and spectators who visit Oakfield during the coming season and we hope you enjoy our generous hospitality.