Former Middleton CC Chief Sports Writer Ed Towner has written his thoughts on 2014 with an insight into what awaits in 2015.
There has been no doubting Middleton’s supremacy both at home and away throughout this season and the result of such domination is a return to the top flight of Sussex club cricket for the first time in nearly 20 years.
As the cobwebs begin to settle on another successful season at Sea Lane, the club certainly has reason to celebrate. The murmurings of ‘one man team’ have been well and truly quashed and not just through sheer weight of results. Critics will argue that certain off-season recruits have altered a policy of driving through youth yet there is no doubt that the presence of an ex-first class cricketer has provided inspiration for others to improve their game.
The second team dropping points to a rule dating back slightly further than the Battle of Hastings has left a sour taste in the mouth as it could have been a prestigious triple promotion. That said, back in May I’m sure the MCB (Middleton Cricket Board) hierarchy would have settled for two of the three senior teams finishing top of their respective leagues.
A long time coming
There was a feeling of inevitability about Middleton’s promotion for much of this season, yet Bob Warren, Ian Burrows and Brian Towner know that the rise to success of this West Sussex club has been anything but inevitable.
The achievements of 2014 provide reassuring evidence that the club, without exception, is now starting to breed success and bear the fruits of its labour. Throughout this last decade, behind the scenes Middleton has been revitalised much like the German football system after its calamitous Euro 2000 campaign. Emphasis on a now booming youth system has left the third team with a plethora of choice come match days and this has ensured a steady stream of talented youngsters pushing for higher honours. The emergence of run-machine Harry Pacey during this season is tribute to the success of building a club from the bottom up.
The ever-changing face of club cricket has seen the golden generation of 2012 evolve and ensure the club has progressed since that, still admired, unbeaten season. The mantel is now firmly laid at the door of a new batch of players who, for many, face the ultimate challenge – Premier League cricket.
Astronomers or Astronauts?
Next summer offers our players a unique opportunity and such luxuries as a mid-season dip in form will not be afforded to this young yet experienced Middleton side. Both players and spectators should take great pride in the continued success and development of a cricket club that not too long ago were in the depths of village cricket. It’s easy to plan for the future but for the time being let’s just reflect and bask in another summer wearing and winning in the whites of Middleton CC.
There is no doubt that for at least the next 11 months members of Middleton’s first XI can nonchalantly refer to themselves as Premier League cricketers. A status no other Shieks regulars can lay claim to.
Ed Towner
Middleton Cricket Club 