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1993 SeasonThe 1993 fixture list showed no revolutionary changes from the previous year, and the statistical summary of our season's efforts was correspondingly similar. Again 8 wins, but this time only the one draw, as the oppo increasingly insisted on playing limited-overs matches. This was generally a good year for the batsmen, with no fewer than five making over 200 runs. Among the bowlers, three took at least 20 wickets, led by Phil Solomon's 27. The real bowling honours were taken by BAL though, with 20 wickets at an astonishing cost of only 96 runs. The best batting of the year came from Chris Brasier and Steve Hewlett, whose stand of 99 against the Exiles came in just 55 minutes. Digging a little deeper, there were some remarkable results. For the second year running we managed to win at Cokenach by the simple expedient of making them bat first. Faced with the pressure of making a defensible total on their spongy pitch, the home side collapsed to 63 all out, and with Matt and Chris starting the season with a half-century opening stand the result was never in doubt. Chris was still in good form two weeks later, his 51 being the bedrock of a solid win over Richgas. There followed a run of 3 defeats, the centrepiece of which was the almost (but sadly not quite) mythical Sun Inn match before a mid-season resurgence saw Red Star and MOB XI beaten, with plenty of runs on both occasions from Matt and Dave; Dave was in excellent form here, scoring 50, 30, 39, 16 in successive matches, and finishing the season with 36 against the Vags. The MOB XI game in Manchester was a nailbiter, PoC hitting the winning runs with the last pair at the wicket after a strong-looking middle order failed to capitalise on a solid start provided by Muir, Gummer and Jones (51). The annual trip to Tufnell Park (surely the ugliest ground the Collective has ever played on, quite apart from the plastic pitch) was as painful as ever this year, except for Giles and PoC, who took advantage of the ball coming on to the bat to record 86* and 50 respectively in an impregnable-looking total of 197-6. Sadly we only had 9 players rather than the customary 11, so it was a long hard afternoon in the field as the Shakespeare chased down the total for an unlikely win. A similar story unfolded in the match against the Victor Trumpers, with one of the oppo scoring 113 off 66 balls in a display of hitting to rival the Golden Ball carnage of 2007. The Collective recovered well enough from that battering to go into the Norfolk tour on a winning streak which continued when Phil and PoC destroyed Shipdham in the opening game. Thereafter the flat wickets, arid East Anglian atmosphere and stronger opposition led to two defeats, the most crushing being the Monday game, in which Hales chased down our 191-6 for the loss of only 2 wickets. The season came to a thrilling conclusion at Belair, with No. 11 Phil Solomon being run out ("arguably Phil's stumpy legs played their part in that mishap" © PoC) to give the Vags a three-run victory as the golden rays of the autumnal sun gave a sepia glow to another year of cricket the RedBat way. The season by numbers
1993 Fixture List
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