One again we recruited well in the winter collecting the experience of Tim Smith from Saffron Walden and the potential of Ryan Wells from Belhus. We also saw the return of past players Simon McConnell, Tom Bonham and Grant Gillard to bolster the ranks.

New overseas Chris Green from Northern Districts in Sydney was a late call up after Jason Floros was unable to return.

We still had an extremely young side with a couple of older heads but with Dom Chatfield now fully fit we felt we had a squad that could compete with the big teams.

May was a brilliant month for us and one that meant we could build a foundation for a strong season. We went the whole month with only two league losses to firstly Welwyn Garden City (when we were unlucky with the weather) and then in a close game with Letchworth Garden City.

We beat Stevenage and Sawbridgeworth convincingly both by 9 wickets and won two T20 games against Welwyn Garden City (where we scored over 200) and Reed who we beat in a low scoring game.

Runs throughout the month came from Chris Green and Ryan Wells whilst the wickets were mainly through Simon Lindop, Tim Smith and Chris Green.

June saw us have our first ever T20 Blast Day at Cricketfield Lane where we hosted Stevenage and Hoddesdon. We won both games extremely comfortably which meant we would qualify for finals day as unbeaten group winners. Andrew O’Donovan was the pick of the bowlers with 6-28 in the day but all the bowlers did their jobs as both sides were bowled out for under 100.

We then had arguably the most exciting match of the season when we came out on top of against Harpenden. We were bowled out for a disappointing 134 and with Harpenden at 65-1 the game looked all but over until Ruan Premadasa and Chris Green changed the game with Ru bowling 17 overs straight 4/30 and Chris taking 4/16 including the final wicket when just two runs were required.

A couple of disappointing results over the next few weeks were to follow with poor losses against Radlett (when we didn’t score enough runs), Potters Bar (when we were bowled out by a very promising 15 year old spinner having worked so hard to bowl them out) and then a rain effected draw against North Mymms.

However, Dom Chatfield was regularly scoring runs and starting to show what he could offer and Mark Townsend was beginning to show the talent we all know he has by taking regular wickets.

After a few disappointing weeks we needed to bounce back and as we reached the half way stage in the season we did that with another win against Stevenage. Chris Green and Alex Hearne ensured a decent total of 231. We were unfortunate with decisions early one and at 150-5 it looked as if we could be in trouble but 4 wickets for Townsend, including the final two in consecutive balls, and some brilliant pressure bowling from Simon Lindop and Chris Green meant panic set in the wickets fell regularly.

A brilliant draw, albeit an anti-climax, followed against Welwyn Garden City. After scoring 222 (Ballard 91) we had them 219-9 with one ball to go which they decided to block out. Smith, Green and Lindop doing the damage with the ball.

Sawbridgeworth followed and this game can only be described as the Tim Smith show as he returned figures of 18 overs, 8 maidens, 7 for 24 and bowled them out for 123. This was comfortably achieved in the 37th over as Dom Chatfield closed out the game.

Hemel Hempstead were next and after Jack Williams (4) and Chris Green (3) claimed the wickets to bowl them out for 137 and we comfortably chased the total to win by 7 wickets with Dom Chatfield again finishing off the game with 32 not out.

The final weekend of July saw us travel to Hertford to take part in the T20 finals day. We had been drawn against local rivals Sawbridgeworth in the first semi-final. They won the toss and elected to bat and despite the first ball of the game sailing for a huge six we took regular wickets and with a brilliant fielding display bowled them out for74 with nearly four overs in their innings still remaining. We finished the game easily in the 11th over after losing just three wickets. A great team performance where everyone gave their all.

We then played Radlett in the final which was always going to be a tough game. They batted first and we had them well controlled heading into the last four overs until the class of the Radlett skipper showed and he propelled his team to 159 at the close. We started well and were looking good until three wickets fell in three balls and we ended up 33 short. A great effort from the guys who played and I couldn’t ask for anything more. A young side once again showing we can compete with the big boys and going through the entire competition unbeaten until the final was a brilliant achievement.

Letchworth Garden City were our first opponents in August and in what turned out to be the most memorable start to a game throughout the year we reduced the visitors to 12-6. Mark Townsend (4) and Tim Smith (3) claimed the early wickets as Letchworth dragged themselves to a total of 126 after a couple of good partnerships towards the end. We easily chased the total to win by 5 wickets again with Dom Chatfield finishing 58 not out.

A disappointing result against Harpenden as after restricting them to 210 and being 96-7 we finished agonisingly close, just 7 runs short, after some brilliant resistance from Chris Green (76) and Simon Lindop (48*). Special mention goes to Tim Smith after he returned 10 overs, 4 maidens, 2 for 13 and Dom Chatfield also bowled tightly.

Another tight game against Radlett followed where we posted 236 which was a good total with Dom Chatfield continuing his good form scoring 61 and Ballard scoring 77. The visitors were able to reach the total after needing two to win off the final ball of the innings. Lindop and Smith both bowled extremely tightly to keep us in the game.

We travelled to Potters Bar and it was becoming important for a victory to keep us in with a shout of a play-off place. We batted first and put 240 on the board with Chatfield scoring an impressive 89, Green a classy 52 and Taylor Weeks a brutal 29 ensuring a challenging total. Potters Bar started well and put on 84 for the first wicket before wickets started to fall regularly and the hosts finished 48 runs short. Townsend and Smith bowled well with the new ball but it was the spin of Lindop and Green that build the pressure and they picked up 8 wickets between them.

The final game of the league season saw us requiring just one point to secure our play-off spot and we did this batting first and piling on 256 in one of our best batting performances of the year despite Chris Green not playing as he had returned home to train with NSW. Ballard scored an impressive 102 and with Chatfield again scoring 50 and people chipping in it meant we could enjoy our last evening in the field. A couple of partnerships weren’t enough for North Mymms as we bowled them out for 220 with Alex Palmer (4) and Simon Lindop (2) doing the damage.

The first week in September saw us travel to Radlett for the play off semi-final. After a good start with 76 on the board for the loss of no wickets we collapsed to 132 all out which was extremely disappointing. We fought hard in the field but just didn’t have Radlett’s fire power and they were comfortable 8 wicket winners.

What a season 2014 was. The experience of Tim Smith, who has an economy rate of 2.1 through the entire season, Mark Townsend showing his talent taking over 30 wickets throughout the season with the new ball and the spin of Simon Lindop and Chris Green taking nearly 70 wickets between them was just incredible and with the other bowlers all chipping in when needed it meant we had the armoury to win games.

The batting saw Ballard, Green, Wells and Chatfield all score over 500 runs with the latter really impressing with his consistency and growing maturity. There were several important innings from the guys lower down the order which meant we got over the line the majority of the time. We will now build on 2014 and look to push forwards in 2015 with another good season. A few improvements and a little bit more cricket knowledge will mean we can push for greater honours in 2015.

Eddie Ballard