Mansfield Hosiery Mills Cricket Club
| Personnel | |
|---|---|
| Captain |
 Tom New / Craig Gould |
| Overseas player(s) |
 Dylan Barmby |
| Team information | |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Home ground | The Fieldings, Huthwaite |
| History | |
| Notts Premier wins | 0 |
| Official website: | [1] |
Mansfield Hosiery Mills Cricket Club is an English cricket club based in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. The club competes in the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Premier League, which is an accredited ECB Premier League, gaining promotion to the league in 2004.
Like most Premier League clubs, Mansfield have employed numerous overseas and English professional cricketers. During 2006, this was Francois du Plessis who is the South Africa T20 captain and Test and O.D.I player, and in 2017 it was Australian cricketer Dylan Barmby. Current club professional is former Leicestershire player Tom New
The close season of 2009 saw the departure of club professional Hassan Adnan from the Millers with Hassan moving to more familiar surroundings in the Derbyshire League with Alvaston and Boulton. His replacement was Paul Burdett who would join the club from Killamarsh to join youngster Gareth Curtis opening the batting who had impressed towards the end of the previous campaign, he was also joined at the club by Steven Ludlam from Killamarsh and would prove a huge addition to the Millers bowling attack particularly shining in important moments for the club. 2009 player of the year Matt New returned for the start of the campaign after a winter spent in Australia plus first team promotions for Mark Smallwood and Adam Dobb on a more regular basis gave the side a youthful look skippered again by Keshara Jayasinghe. The Mills season would begin with a home Derbyshire cup fixture against Sandiacre Town CC after a humbling 9 wicket defeat to the Derbyshire side in the previous campaign the Millers were determined to show what they were capable of enjoying a comprehensive 158 run win with Professional Paul Burdett enjoying a dream debut scoring 143 built around an explosive innings of 93 by Sudesh Fernando. Early league form was much more unpredictable wins against the Notts Academy and Wollaton were spoiled by games in which the side threw away against Kimberley Institute and Caythorpe. The Derbyshire cup quickly began to look like a competitor the Millers could be competitive in and followed the comprehensive win over Sandiacre with a more convincing 187 run win over Alvaston and Boulton with Youngster Gareth Curtis and Matt New striking 76 and 84 runs respectively in the Mills score of 271 before dismissing Alvaston for 84. Early success in the ECB national cup was also provided early season against Wickersley Old Village with 16-year-old Adam Dobb showing considerable character and no little skill bowling 8 overs at the end of the innings to secure the Mills a place in the next round. Progress in the Derbyshire Cup was secured after a rain affected match against Ilkeston and Rutland gave the Mills the needed point to progress, although those wondering what the result may have been in this clash did not need to wait too much longer. The lingering threat of relegation was a slight possibility for the Millers but those fears were eased with an away victory over Attenborough with Mark Smallwood stepping up to deliver with 56 to see the Mills to a 4 wicket victory with 23 balls to spare. This was backed up with an impressive double of the Notts Academy with Sudesh Fernando scoring a magnificent hundred to build on the opening stand by Curtis and Burdett of 80 at a run a ball and impressive death bowling by Steven Ludlam and Captain Keshara Jayasinghe clinching all 20 points for the Millers. Runaway Derbyshire Premier League leaders Lullington Park visited The Fieldings for the Derbyshire cup final in a game where the Mills were firm second favourites to the Derbyshire side, Opener Gareth Curtis took the attack to the bowlers with 78 at better than a run a ball supported by a patient 53 from Paul Burdett in bowler friendly conditions the Mills posted a competitive 220. At 103-4 Lullingtons reply was underway and the game in the balance 3 wickets for only 5 runs turned the match and the Mills progressed through to the semi finals winning by a 46 run margin where they would take on Spondon. Although wins were still proving tough to come by in the league the Mills picked up vital points with away wins over Wollaton and Radcliffe with Kyle Garside showing his worth with a 5 wicket haul and vital losing draw points at home to champions elect Clifton. As it had looked likely the season would depend on success in the Derbyshire Cup after being eliminated from both the National cup and the Twenty 20 without much fuss. The semi final with Spondon was to prove problematic with both Dobb and James Fraser being ruled out through injury and being replaced by Craig Scholes and Mills veteran Darren Johnson, Spondon were to bat first and appeared to be crushing to the final after reached 95-0 in rapid time with former Derbyshire player Ben Ashdown leading the assault but regular wickets allowed the Mills to restrict them to a par total of 232 well reachable for a place in the final. The Mills reply started off well but regular wickets left the team at 67-3 and in big trouble of capitulating, however the team seemed to have more strength in this competition than in the league and Gareth Curtis and Sudesh Fernando added 96 for the 4th wicket for Fernando at his best hitting 64 during the partnership with Curtis just occupying the crease allowing Fernando to dominate. When Curtis departed for 59 it allowed the captain Jayashinghe and Johnson to both hit key innings with Johnson in particular scoring 21 off 15 balls with Fernando departing for 89 the game my have swung back to Spondon but Ludlam showed his all round ability to deliver under pressure and saw the team home and helping the Mills progress to the Derbyshire Cup final where they would meet Ilkeston and Rutland. Premier League status was secured with a comprehensive 8 wicket victory over Neighbours Welbeck with ex Nottinghamshire and Midlands player Craig Gould impressing with a fast bowling 5 wicket haul as the Mills dismissed the hosts for only 91. The most interesting thing about the Derbyshire cup final day was the selection headache facing captain Jayasinghe as late as 5 minutes before the toss, the availability of talisman fast bowler Kieran Garside meant that someone would have to miss out on selection, it came down to a straight decision between Scholes and Fraser with Fraser being given the nod over the unlucky Scholes who had performed well during the campaign. Captain Jayasinghe won the toss and chose to bowl with Ilkestons main threat being provided by Derbyshire opener Chesney Hughes and Ilkeston captain and the competitions leading run scorer David Smit. The Mills could not have predicted it could go so well with Garside providing his worth dismissing Hughes thanks to an incredible catch by Ludlam, Ludlam would then himself come into the attack to contribute figures of 9-2-19-4 showing once again his ability to perform under pressure. A simple run chase however this was never going to be as Mills were rocked at 40-4 and then 68-5. The bright light being the incredible composure shown by Mark Smallwood occupying the crease waiting for a willing partner he found one in Fraser who decided to play the way he knows how hitting two giant sixes into grandstand to send the team into hysterics and secure the trophy for the Mills. Steve Ludlam was righty awarded man of the match for his brilliant display of bowling with the trophy rounding of an exciting season for a young side playing in a very competitive standard. Steve Ludlam was also voted player of the season.
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