SUPER SEASON CONCLUDES

BALLYMENA First XI ended their excellent season in the Premier League with 2 home wins against CIYMS and Carrickfergus to finish with 12 wins from their 18 games.

The CIYMS game was a 20-over rearranged game (eventually reduced to 19 overs).

Indeed it was credit to everyone involved that this match finished at all as it was played in increasingly heavy drizzle and poor light. CI totalled a decent 134 for 4 in their 19 overs.

The Ballymena reply looked to be in trouble when a middle order collapse left them needing 50 off less than 7 overs, but an excellent 36 not out from Robert Kennedy took them to a 3-wicket victory with 2 balls left.

Ballymena’s win over Carrick the following day was a much more routine affair. The Ballymena innings marked a first senior half-century for Robert McKinley, and with Kaushik Aphale (61) and David Kennedy(53 not out) also in good form they reached 223 for 5. Carrick never really looked like scoring quickly enough to threaten their target and, with Simon McDowell and Michael Taylor each taking 3 wickets, Ballymena won comfortably by 54 runs.

These results meant Ballymena finish 3rd in the Premier League, a thoroughly remarkable performance from a team widely tipped as virtual certainties for relegation before the season started.

There is little doubt that for, several seasons now, North Down and Waringstown have clearly been the two strongest teams but for Ballymena to finish “best of the rest” was beyond the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic Ballymena supporter. The team’s achievement is all the more praiseworthy in view of the fact that, apart from their designated overseas professional Aphale, all the Ballymena players are amateurs – this is in stark contrast to the semi-professional set-ups in some of the clubs who finished below Ballymena.

It is worth noting too that most of the squad are “home produced” players, having come up through the ranks of youth cricket and junior cricket at Eaton Park.

Simon McDowell the Ballymena captain, can certainly look back happily on his first season in the role. In the field, he handled his bowling resources shrewdly and also ensured that the much-admired Ballymena team spirit was as good as ever.

The side started the season with 3 convincing wins over CSNI, Bangor and Muckamore and basically never looked back. It was quickly clear that relegation was never going to be an issue as the team realised that, if they bowled accurately, then they had enough batting firepower to see off most of the opposition.

Several of their wins were thoroughly convincing and they were possibly slightly unfortunate not to pull off a couple more victories; certainly, if a couple of difficult catches had been held, Ballymena might have won away to the eventual champions North Down.

Kaushik Aphale had a fine season with the bat and the experienced David Kennedy wasn’t far behind him in the runs tally. And it certainly wasn’t just a two-man show as Andy Kirkpatrick, Steve Lazars, James Kennedy, Carl Williams, Gareth Fisher and Robert Kennedy all took turns in proving their batting credentials at this level.

The evergreen Robert Kennedy, in particular, had an excellent season, playing several crucial innings at No. 7 in the order. Indeed, even in the lower order, players like Robert McKinley and Michael Taylor showed real batting ability.

Ballymena’s bowlers would never claim to be the most penetrative attack in the league but they proved time and again that they were accurate enough and resourceful enough to defend decent scores. Michael Glass, even with occasional injury concerns, continues to prove that he is still one of the best seam bowlers in NCU cricket. Encouragingly this season, after several seasons of carrying the seam bowling role virtually single-handed, Glass had decent support from Robert McKinley and Fergus Taylor, both of whom showed real promise.

Ballymena were well served in the slow bowling department with McDowell himself, Aphale, Steve Lazars, Michael Taylor and Carl Williams all proven performers at senior level.

McDowell and Aphale were the two most consistent performers but Lazars usually looked the most likely to take wickets. Certainly the diminutive left-arm spinner has the ability to turn the ball and, with a more disciplined approach, could be a major wicket-taker for the team.

Ballymena have every reason to be delighted with their season , but will certainly not want to rest on their laurels. The Premier League will be reduced from 10 teams to 8 for the 2012 season and will thus be even more competitive.

Even though Ballymena have done well, they will be aware that a few of their players are approaching the end of their senior careers. Indeed indications are that Carl Williams, a highly influential member of the team for much of the last twenty years, is likely to play his cricket next season closer to his home in Lisburn.

So clearly some rebuilding will be necessary and, whilst the policy at Eaton Park will always be to promote from the youth ranks wherever possible, it is possible there could be one or two of new faces at the start of next season. Indeed, looking at the league table, joining Ballymena might now seem an attractive option for ambitious young cricketers.