Season Preview 2025
- odcuacoweb
- May 7
- 4 min read
Welcome to the 2025 season! Following a great winter of netting at LPBS, the season has already begun for some, with a strong set of pre-season fixtures being complete through a somewhat surprisingly sunny April, and now that we crack on into May, its the turn of the league tables to dust themselves down and get ready for action. With the return of the league season, we see the return to action for many of our members this week, and we wish you every success on the pitch both this week and beyond.
As a club, we enter the 2025 season with a clear focus on building consistency and depth across all levels. After a 2024 campaign that highlighted both our club's potential and some areas for growth (particularly muscular growth to clear some of the GazBall boundaries), we have started out with a strong winter and pre-season schedule that has placed us well ahead of the start of the year. There has been a key focus on integration, with the 1st XI and club net sessions combining, providing opportunities for emerging talent to train alongside the club's better players, and rekindling the social aspects at training that the club has built its foundations on. Alongside this, the U17s training night has also merged with senior nets, providing a great bridge for our elder juniors to experience the adult side of the game, hopefully leading to a successful future playing adult cricket for ODs.
In looking to increase our depth and talent, the club has welcomed Jon Rodda on as a new junior coach working alongside Craig Westmacott and Koot Pienaar. We wish him good luck in the role, and look forward to seeing the fruits of all our coaches work throughout the club in years to come.
Ahead of the start of the Saturday league season this week, here's a little preview of each of our teams:
1st XI
League: Division 1
Captain: Chris Webster
Home Ground: OD's, St. Dunstan's Lane
2024 Finish: 8th - After a great start to the year, things turned sour with a run of bad results, leading ODs into a mini relegation scrap (somewhat assisted by a dodgy abandoned game while cruising to a big first innings score against Sidcup). Highlights included home wins against Bromley Common and Kings Hill, and a vital win away at against Gravesend to secure Division 1 status for 2025.
2025 Prediction: 6th - While the squad has some great talent, and should be galvanised by new leadership, the reality of the matter is that there are strong teams in this league that are investing heavily to get promoted into the Championship. Expect ODs to cause some upsets against the money spenders like Kings Hill, Gravesend and Beckenham, but the side needs to improve its consistency, especially with the bat in order to really challenge towards the top of the table this year.
2nd XI
League: Division 5 Spitfire
Captain: Laurence Sanders
Home Ground: OD's, St. Dunstan's Lane
2024 Finish: 6th - Gazball, Gazball, Gazball... 7 wins last year, and only 6 batting points outside of these. The search for runs outside the top two (and the 30 yard circle) proved tough. With only 5 batsmen scoring over 100 runs across the year, the bowling unit was very important in keeping the side competitive. Ashwani Arora had yet another fantastic year with the ball, taking 28 wickets, while Pooley, Davison and Hammond all contributed with over 15 each as well.
2025 Prediction: 8th - In a competitive league at the top of the regional pyramid, where only one team goes up but two go down, and a mixture of 1st XI and big club's 2nd and 3rd XI's as opponents, it is always a battle. With a few of last year's core squad looking to make the transition to more regular 1st XI cricket, Laurence's 2nd XI will be looking for some new blood to step up and deliver alongside his regular experienced pros like Ashwani Arora and Richard Loader.
3rd XI
League: Division 9 Underwood
Captain: Chris Colby
Home Ground: The Jubilee Ground
2024 Finish: 3rd - Last year was a strong one for the 3rd XI with the side narrowly missing out on promotion. Howard Thomas and Rakesh Posam bowled magnificently throughout the year, and Rohan Bridges and Chris Colby scored a lot of runs at the top of the order (Colby the highest in the league), showing their value to the side. The blend of youth and experience proved successful, and this should carry on into 2025.
2025 Prediction: 2nd (Promotion) - With a relatively settled squad, including some up and coming talent, the 3rd XI will be challenging at the top of this league once again. The team has it all, with wise-heads and runs from top order batsmen, explosive batting later on, constant bowling threats from the likes of Howard Thomas, and Billy Ansar as well as the spin threat of the skipper.
4th XI
League: Division 13 Underwood
Captain: Mark Coles
Home Ground: Hartley Country Club
2024 Finish: 8th - Despite the skipper's runs, it was a lean year for the 4th XI, with the side struggling for consistent runs, eventually staying up by just 7 points. The side used a massive 37 players throughout the year, and struggled with consistency as a result. With the ball, Steve Sawko and Rahul Mehan stood out, but skipper Coles will be looking for more contributions across the year.
2025 Prediction: 6th - With greater availability, and (hopefully) continued training attendance, the only way is up for the 4th XI. A trimmer Mark Coles has set his eyes on even more runs than 2024, and the bowling of regulars Tom Fox and Ben Westmacott will go from strength to strength.
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