Review of the Season: May 2024

May 4th – 10th

Due to the wetter than normal conditions of Spring, the Cricket season got underway a week later than originally scheduled. However, the rain didn’t relent with 3 of the 4 games falling to the weather. The Men’s 1Xl managed to get their game at a damp Larne started and despite everyone’s best efforts, the rain won out at the end. One of very few games that weekend that was completed across the country was the 4XI’s away game to the PSNI 1XI side. A valiant effort to get the game in with the weather around but the 4XI were defeated by a sizeable margin of 59 runs. The rain finally relented on Bank Holiday Monday with Upritchard Park fit enough to host the Men’s 1Xl & Holywood, with the game being switched from Seapark. The now home side struggled for fluency on the day but managed to score a half decent 142 from their 40 overs, skipper JP top scoring with a battling 43. Bangor would need to bowl well to pick up the win but sadly, that wasn’t to be as the Holywood overseas pro Lamprecht raced to 93* and navigated his side over the finish line to win by 6 wickets.

May 11th – 17th

Much welcomed sunnier & warmer weather greeted everyone with the Men’s 1XI making the journey south to Dundrum and what already proved to be a pivotal game against a promotion rival, with the side not wanting to be nought from 2 games early in the season. Bangor managed to navigate themselves to a par score of 193-9 from their 40 overs despite a blistering 5fer from the Dundrum overseas pro Swanepoel, notable scores of 68 & 38 from RVH & Hubby respectively. Bangor were always slightly ahead in the run chase picking up wickets regularly with Princer, Simpson & Patterson the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets each. However, some late order runs & partnerships gave Dundrum more than an outside chance of victory heading into the last over, but Walton held his nerve and bowled Bangor to victory by just 1 run, a crucial win at this early stage of the season.

The 2Xl picked up a massive victory in their first game with Beachy (110*) and youngster Myles (68*) sharing a massive 146* run partnership providing the first big highlight from the season. The 3XI were on the losing side of a very high scoring game away at Cliftonville Academy 3XI. The home side scored 261 from their 30 overs with Stephen Skelly picking up 3 wickets, Bangor in reply gave it their best shot but were always behind the rate. Valiant efforts though from Belshaw (66*) and Vishnu (51) got Bangor 36 runs shy at the end of their 30 overs. The 4Xl made the long trip to Armagh and picked up a brilliant 52 run win with Vishnu putting in a man of the match performance with 38 and 2 wickets with Max Walker picking up 3 wickets. The 5Xl got their season up and running with a comfortable 7 wicket win at home to Saintfield. Wickets shared around with Oliver Haslam (3), Saydee Gomes (2) & Charlie Hopkins (2) the pick of the bowlers and Phil Greenwood (31*) and Dyllan Gomes (29) the top runs scorers. The Midweek XI got their campaign started at Ward Park with a comfortable enough 4 Wicket win vs Instonians, Coxy jr, Stephen Skelly & Pittsy each picking up 2 wickets between them. The final game of the week was a rearranged M2 for the Men’s 1Xl at Larne with the away side coming away very comfortable winners by 9 wickets. Sam McMillan the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets and Hubby registering a quickfire 55*.

May 18th – 24th

The Men’s 1Xl were handed a very difficult first round tie away at Waringstown lI in the Junior Cup and the challenge was further compounded with the home sides 1XI side receiving a bye in the Irish Senior Cup and having a free weekend. The home side batted first and racked up a big score of 306 as the Bangor bowlers & fielders struggled against the quality in opposition. Pypsy the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets. In reply, Bangor got off to a good start and certainty had an outside chance at drinks with the required rate not spiralling away. Wickets though flowed in the following overs but top innings’ from Hutchy (84) & JP (40) and some lower order runs meant the losing margin was under 100, a respectable effort but a first-round exit for last years finalists. The 2XI had a disappointing midweek defeat by 5 wickets in a rearranged home game to Woodvale 3XI, a performance which matched the overcast and cold weather on the evening.

The 3XI picked up their first win of the season with a very comfortable 121 run win over Cregagh, Vishnu (89) and Zach (71*) very much the highlights from that win. The 4XI went back-to-back in the league with a tight win against Downpatrick 3XI by 14 runs. Phil Greenwood top scored with 62 and Beechy jr registered the first 5fer at the club with 5-23 with youngster Ben Pitts chipping in with 3 wickets too. The 5Xl were second best in their 7-wicket defeat against Dundrum 3XI, a below par batting performance mainly at fault. The Midweek XI registered a fine win on the road against Ardent Blues by 14 runs, Gareth McCullough the man of the match with 33* and bowling figures of 3-23.

May 25th – May 31st

A title the Men’s 1XI were looking to defend from last year was the T20 Bowl and the side advanced through to the next round with Larne unable to field a side. A busy weekend was still on the cards though with the Men’s 1XI pulling double duty.The game against Dunmurry was moved to Upritchard Park and the home side won at a canter by 265 runs. The highlight of the day was a monster opening partnership between Hutchy (93) & Sam McMillan who registered the first of many centuries for the 1s, carrying his bat for 112*, along with Hubby chipping in with a quick-fire 47, Bangor made 318-4 from their 40 overs. RVH & Pypsy continued the one-sided nature of the game as they both took 4 wickets each with Dunmurry bowled out for 53. The side were back in action again on Sunday hosting Belfast Malayali Association with the game originally supposed to be the first game of the season. The newly formed club had struggled in their opening few games but were buoyed by the innings of Sachin Sebastian who whacked 64 off just 37 balls to propel the side to 162. Princer was the pick of the bowlers with 5-10 and young speedster Myles picking up his first wickets for the 1XI side as he ended with figures of 3-40. Despite having to chase more than originally hoped for, Bangor were never in any danger with Hutchy continuing his great form with the bat with 60*, the side winning by 8 wickets.

The 2XI picked up a very pleasing victory in the first round of the cup, beating Ballymena 2XI comfortably by 9 wickets. The 3XI gave their best in a losing effort against Lisburn 4XI, losing by 5 wickets. Zach Kerr continued his great start to the season with the bat with 84* and Daniel Rayner chipping in with a well made 29. The 4XI were on the losing side of a very tight game against BISC 5XI by just 3 runs. Hamza provided the highlight from the Bangor side of things with 53* but unfortunately no one could form a noteworthy partnership with him towards the back end of the innings to see Bangor over the line. The 5XI picked up a good win at Lisburn 5XI by 46 runs with Max Walker the star of the show with 25 runs and 2 wickets. The Midweek XI continued their fine campaign to date, cruising to a 9-wicket victory. Skipper Speersy the pick of the bowlers with 3 and Gareth & Zach providing the bulk of the runs with 33* & 30* respectively.

Lastly but certainly by no means least, the Women’s 1XI began their season with a first-round cup match at home to Carrickfergus, the side were looking to kick on after their initial first few games in 2023 as a side. Bangor bowled first and did a great job containing the visitors to just 64 runs, Megan Stranaghan the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets. In their chase, Bangor were cruising to victory and despite a late wobble, knocked off the visitors total with 4 overs remaining with Sarah Stephens & Brooke Stranaghan seeing Bangor over the line for their very first win. They were cheered off the pitch by a growing crowd which included the Men’s 1XI watching on after their game had concluded.