Prestwich Cricket Club First Team Captain looks back on the season and his time at The Heys as he bids an emotional farewell ahead of his move to London.
Well, the final home game of the season against Glossop is almost upon us. It should be a great occasion with us celebrating the retention of the Lancashire County League trophy, and hopefully we can bow out in style.
Last weekend saw me miss my first ever games as captain, as I was attending a wedding in America, and as fate would have it, seems like I missed a really special day at Stretford. Sam’s innings was one of the best ever witnessed according to all that saw it so massive congratulations to him on getting the team over the final hurdle last weekend.
As always though I’ll stress that across the season this has been a great team effort again. Even last Sunday, Tousif Miran joined the team at last minute and ended forging a crucial partnership with Sam for the victory. It’s no doubt that we have some outstanding star players in the team and without them we wouldn’t be where we are – congratulations to Andy Bradley on overtaking Bob for all time first time wickets, but at the same time you can’t win a league with 4 or 5 players. It does not work like that. Countless catches, innings, bowling spells and tactical advice made to me by all members of the team all come together to add up to league glory.
I am particularly proud of this success as this is the first time Prestwich 1st XI has ever retained any trophy, it’s a sign of skill and mental strength which I am proud to say we have in droves.
We’ve been consistent all season, Danny and James have regularly given us great starts with the bat which Matt and Sam have built on. With the ball, as with last year we’ve mainly rotated 3 bowlers in league games who have done a top job- the signing of AP Taylor early in the season was a crucial turning point in my eyes. In the field, we’ve been led by the ever outstanding Chris Thomas and Tom Gibson – not sure there are any better than these two in the field. Steve Orrell, The G.O.A.T has again stunned us with some gems at short leg and we have always looked athletic with the likes of Oli and others patrolling the boundaries.
While it’s a great way to be signing off, it will be a very emotional day for me as I play what could possibly be my last game at Prestwich Cricket Club. Around halfway through the season I decided that I needed to move to London to further my career which means I will no longer be able to play for the club. The only thing that could have held me back from going was the cricket club – which has been my second home all my life and the place where without doubt I hold my most treasured moments in all sports. I made my debut in 2000 at Cheetham Hill, taking a catch and not bowling or batting – in fact I seemed to make the biggest impression in the showers. 90 odd catches later and 12 years on, here we are today and what a decade it has been.
From a personal point, I have no doubts in my mind that I have never achieved what I should have done as an individual player. The early years were overcome with negativity in my mind which held me back. I used to dread batting and put way too much pressure on myself. It’s a lesson that I always try to pass on to our younger players to this day- you cannot achieve anything in this game unless you believe in yourself.
In fact, it was only when I took the captaincy on in 2007 that I was able to stop worrying about my own game so much and played a little bit better, from that point on I spent more time worrying about our professionals hitting the ball in the air! But for me, the most important thing has always been team success. You can score all the runs and take all the wickets you want, but ultimately if you’re not playing for a successful team I don’t feel you could ever feel a true sense of collective accomplishment.
From 2001- 2004 I played as a teenager in the team led by Steve Orrell which ultimately took Prestwich’s first league title in many a decade in 2004. This team had 3 top class players in Humphreys, Walker and Duxbury but was not as rounded as the teams we have had in recent years. I batted 80 balls for a red inker on the last day which saw us take the title and it was pretty much the only good innings I’d played all season but that was something so special to be a part of. I’ll never forget the scenes at the club with so many of the members in tears- it really meant so much to everybody after decades of failure.
From 2007, I became captain and this has been without doubt the best thing in my life- ever. It has meant the world to me to lead Prestwich for 5 seasons (missing 1 through injury) and to win the title 3 times in those seasons is something that will stay with me forever. I can genuinely say that I have lived and breathed Prestwich cricket through the whole time I have been with the first team and I am absolutely gutted to be letting it go, but I know I have to do it. I don’t think people have ever been brought to tears in the Sheraton Hotel in St Louis over a game of cricket before but there I was last week in the lobby as I was getting ball by ball coverage from Wiley.
I would like to sincerely thank everybody associated with the club over the last 12 years for their support. The players, the committee and the supporters. It has always been a team effort and it must continue to be in the future. Success is about the quality of people involved in the process and I am sure the club can continue to thrive – I am very alarmed by the problems the 3rd X1 have had in getting a team out in recent weeks so we can’t afford to rest upon our laurels – this is a generation where the youth have more options to do other things than play cricket and we must meet this challenge head on.
So I look forward to one more day in the home dressing room today immensely, I know I will miss it very much but the main thing is that I have absolutely no regrets and I am ready to pass on the captaincy in the knowledge that we’ve had a great run and I’ve been very lucky to spend my career with such great people.
Thank you.
Steven Lorenzini
