Sunday 31st January 2021 can be etched in the annals of Willows history. On that same day, against Nelson College 1st XI, David Kelly became the first Willows player to score 2,000 runs for the Club and Andrew Nuttall became the ninth player to reach the 1,000 run milestone.
All Willows members will know the bowling prowess of Andrew, who with 238 wickets (at an average of 11.6) is our leading wicket taker by a long stretch. His nearest rival is a mere 149 wickets behind at the end of the season.
While Andrew may to some be lesser known as a batsman — in fact he will often bat down the order to allow younger ones a chance — he is actually a very competent and correct batsman. This was confirmed against Nelson College.
Many have had the privilege of batting with David Kelly over the years and he is our premier master batsman. With seven Willows hundreds already to his name, plus a couple against us when playing for Hawkswood he stands out in the batting statistics with a Bradmanesque average of 81.5. In recent matches too he has often retired his innings with a century beckoning in order to allow other players the chance to bat. Nothing has given him as much pleasure in recent seasons as playing alongside his son James, who with that pedigree, is also blessed with real cricket talent.
All members heartily congratulate Andrew and David. May there be many more runs and wickets to come.
Editor: Much of the above has been written by our statistician Phil Harris. What he failed to point out was that on 31 January 2021 he himself was only 12 runs short of a 2,000 aggregate of runs. He wanted to emulate the Kelly feat on his next outing against Shirley Boys’ High School 1st XI. But would you believe it? On that day Phil was caught and bowled by the opposing captain for 11 runs. He would have to wait to score that solitary single run until his final game of the season, when he scored 41 retired against the Umpires XI. So a happy ending. The name Phil Harris can be added to the 2,000 club, his runs coming at an impressive average of 31.0 per innings. Well done Phil!