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2007 has been a memorable season in many ways, but one that most people will want to forget.
A tough Division 2 campaign ended with relegation by one point. Though this was not necessarily an unexpected outcome, the circumstances were. Due to the record-breaking summer weather only two home games had been played with three weeks of the season left. Somehow, through this fixture congestion, CCC managed to turn their form around, winning three of the last four games and finishing their season on a reasonable 62 points. However, the following newsletter revealed that Beamish had "failed to offer a suitable date" for a fixture against Seaton Burn, who were gifted 8 points by default. In fact it was Beamish who by virtue of losing 10 points through defaults finished only one point above CCC.
This is clearly an unsatisfactory way to end the season, and the precise meaning of a "suitable date" needs to be looked into. After all, these two teams had since June 25th (two months almost exactly) to come up with a date and a ground.
As CCC's cup experience will testify, there are a number of ambiguous rules kicking around just asking to be misinterpreted. The default to Kirkwood, unwillingly accepted, won't be forgotten. And I'm sure all at CCC would like to congratulate Kirkwood on their cup victory: a victory for cricket. Kirkwood are one of several, mostly top division, teams who seem to interpret (or make up) rules to suit themselves.
Meanwhile Beamish's inability to organise four outstanding fixtures was incompetent and resulted in Adders getting promoted accidentally. Their other two unplayed fixtures resulted in one point apiece, so clearly there was a diplomat lurking somewhere in the old slag heaps of County Durham.
Enough of league shenanigans - CCC need to take a look at themselves. The batting let it be said was excellent. 26 points out of 28 was better than any other team in the four divisions, and the two dropped points were on sticky dogs.
The fielding was about average, with the usual smattering of inconsistency, but on the whole OK.
It was lack of consistency with the bowling that was CCC's downfall. Too many runs were conceded, especially in the four games against Fire Service and Fenham, two beatable teams. That said, the batting was decent throughout Division 2, and difficult to bowl at.
Key matches were the complacent first day defeat at Seaton Burn, the low scoring collapse against Cumberland Partners, and the inability to defend 122 in 12 overs against Adders. Win two of those three and CCC could have been anticipating the First Division in 2008, as only 19 points separated 2nd from 7th.
On the positive side, Division 3 will be a more interesting place to be next season, with some different grounds and one or two teams never played before. And CCC must have a chance of winning the title!
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