News: What a Corker! (January 2004)
Former First Eleven opening batsmen, Ray Cork has been officially recognised as the YM's most successful all round cricketer in the last 50 years.
The now retired Cork tops the table of YM players, past and present, with ease by totalling over 13,300 points. Cork is the member of an elite club by taking over 100 senior wickets and scoring more than 1,000 senior runs in their career at Golden Hill since records began in 1953.In order to find the greatest all round player, a YMCA rating system was devised whereby points were awarded for each wicket (15 points) and each run (one point) and the results show some interesting facts.
| 1000 RUNS AND 100 WICKETS | ||||
| NAME | RUNS | WKTS | RATING | |
| CORK.R.S. | 10,692 | 175 | 13,317 | |
| CHIDGEY.J.F. | 1,599 | 652 | 11,379 | |
| DAVIES.V.R. | 2,720 | 512 | 10,400 | |
| SHAH.H. | 2,093 | 520 | 9,893 | |
| DOWLE.P.A. | 1,588 | 516 | 9,328 | |
| WHITE.S.J. | 3,166 | 410 | 9,316 | |
| WALKER.P.A. | 1,230 | 471 | 8,295 | |
| WISE.W.B. | 1,950 | 410 | 8,100 | |
| DREW.C.B. | 5,832 | 102 | 7,362 | |
| WHALE.M.J. | 2,417 | 325 | 7,292 | |
| PARSONS.R.J. | 4,216 | 166 | 6,706 | |
| NICHOLS.M.B. | 2,570 | 258 | 6,440 | |
| SAWYER.K.W. | 2,553 | 241 | 6,168 | |
| WOOD.D. | 2,860 | 211 | 6,025 | |
| KNIGHT.D.F. | 2,323 | 242 | 5,923 | |
| MACHIN.J.W. | 1,651 | 281 | 5,866 | |
| SPICER.A.H. | 1,047 | 259 | 4,932 | |
| PARKER.S.P. | 1,992 | 187 | 4,797 | |
| HUTTON.M.J.A. | 2,141 | 172 | 4,721 | |
| REED.G.W. | 1,405 | 588 | 4,330 | |
| BASTERRECHEA.P | 1,338 | 195 | 4,263 | |
| FORWARD.W.T. | 1,880 | 151 | 4,145 | |
| CLEWETT.G.H. | 2,186 | 115 | 3,911 | |
| YOUNG.K | 1,175 | 109 | 2,810 | |
| MILSOM.T.J. | 1,075 | 104 | 2,635 | |
For instance, whilst it is likely that most people would back First Eleven Skipper, Simon White (9,316) to be the highest placed current player, it is infact, James Chidgey who takes the honours with am impressive 11,379 points. Understandably the record breaking fast bowler gathers most of his points from the 600+ wickets but he is no slouch with the bat and has scored over 1000 runs to boost his rating still further.
Roy Davies - YM's most complete cricketer?
But figures can be deceiving..... as probably the most complete YM cricketer in the post war period is third placed, Roy Davies (10,400) who is reputed to have scored over 10,000 runs and taken a massive 1,001 wickets.
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| Tom Milsom – youngest addition to elite group |
Sadly, most of Davies' records are now lost and cannot be included in the ratings. In contrast to times past, the 2003 season saw two new members to the 1000/100 Club thanks to the excellent performances of Andy Spicer (4,932) and the youngest entree, Tom Milsom (2,635). past, the
Other current players to make their mark include Chris Drew (7,362), Pete Basterrechea (4,263), the highly placed Phil Dowle (9,328) and former Second Eleven Captain, Shaun Parker (4,797) with a special mention for Bill Machin (5,866) whose overall skills commands an admirable sixteenth place.
Club Statistician, Shaun Parker said: "Its vital to get a realistic balance
between the challenge of taking a wicket and scoring a run. After consultation I decided that, at amateur level, a wicket was 15 times more valuable than a run. This would suggest that the average team total would be around 150, whilst the value of a five wicket haul would be equivalent to an innings of 65 runs. This is, in my opinion, just about fair but I'm sure others would have their own opinion."
