After 26 seasons it is time to select a ‘best of’ Willows XI. To do so, Club statisticians (Phil Harris and John Mitchell) consult the cumulative statistics as printed at the back of the 2019/20 Annual Report.
The cut-off for team consideration was set at:
⏹ 1000+ Club runs or if a NZ or Canterbury player averaging 60 per innings for The Willows.
⏹ 43+ Club wickets or if a NZ or Canterbury player with in excess of 29 Willows wickets.
The team (in possible batting order):
Dave Kelly
1970 runs @ 75.8 / 46 wickets @12.1
Tom Latham 483 runs @ 69.0
Darin Cusack 1224 runs @ 37.1
Paul McEwan (c)
1458 runs @ 25.6 / 60 wickets @ 21.0
David Bond (wk) 1359 runs @ 38.8
Phil Harris
1899 runs @ 31.1 / 51 wickets @ 23.0
Andrew Nuttall 228 wickets @ 11.3
Richard McGuire 86 wickets @ 19.0
Grant Stewart 55 wickets @ 13.7
Sam Davis
67 wickets @ 17.2
Geoff Allott
30 wickets @ 14.2
Michael Peacock 50 wickets @ 13.9
So that’s our XI. Plenty of firepower and all loyal heroes of The Willows ideals. The 12th position was a close-run thing, finally given to Michael because of the extra spin option he would offer. The unlucky man was Graeme Inglis for the all- rounder spot at No. 6. Here we were at variance. Phil went for Graeme (1357 runs @ 26.1 and 33 wickets @ 23.1) ahead of himself, citing that Gingles “is technically very correct with the bat and offers a great bowling option”. John went with Phil given his superior Club stats and pulled seniority in making the call.
Other seriously good Willows players who met the criteria and would proudly not look out of place above include:
Brad Doody 1057 runs @ 33.0
Tim McConnell 1425 runs @ 26.9
Jacob Wolt 54 wickets @ 26.9
Adam Hastilow 52 wickets @ 17.5
Wade Cornelius 37 wickets @ 14.6
Ryan Burson 29 wickets @ 12.6
We welcome your feedback! After all, what good are composite elevens if not to kick off a vigorous debate?