Published 13 May 2012

Worcestershire in the MCCU Minor Counties Tournament

Captain's report 2011-12 season - Ray Collett

The team performed much better than in recent years registering two wins, one draw, and two losses finishing mid-table. Worcestershire beat Shropshire and Greater Manchester by narrow margins, drew against Derbyshire and lost narrowly - and a little unluckily - to Leicestershire and heavily to Lincolnshire. The win against Shropshire was our first for two seasons in this competition.

Date Match Result
15 Oct Shropshire - Worcestershire 7½ - 8½
5 Nov Worcestershire - Derbyshire 8 - 8
3 Dec Worcestershire - Greater Manchester 8½ - 7½
28 Jan Leicestershire - Worcestershire 9 - 7
10 Mar Worcestershire - Lincolnshire 5½ - 10½

Leicestershire and Lincolnshire are playing in the national stages of the minor counties competition.

Position Teams Played Won Drawn Lost Game Points Match Points
1st + Leicestershire 5 4 0 1 44½ 8
2nd Lincolnshire 5 4 0 1 52½ 8
  Derbyshire 5* 2* 1 2 45½ 5
  Worcestershire 5 2 1 2 37½ 5
  Shropshire 5* 2* 0 3* 35½ 4
  Greater Manchester 5* 0 0 5* 24½ 0
+ Leics beat Lincs in the individual encounter. * Includes defaulted match

The improved results stem partly from the participation of Carl Hibbard, a former county champion, and Pavel Besedin, the 2011 Worcestershire Open winner. They reinforced Peter Kitson and Brian Turner on the top boards.

Thirty different players represented the county during the season, five of them for all five matches: Carl Hibbard, Pavel Besedin, Peter Kitson, Kevin Hurney, and Nigel Towers. The county avoided defaulting any games. I am extremely grateful to Dave Scriven, Roy Peters, Richard Collett and Terry Pountney who turned out at short notice for the county team.  New players for Worcestershire this season were: Pavel Besedin, Jorges Zavaleta, Charles Higgie, and Craig Evans. Although not called upon to play, I'm grateful for the counsel of Jason Cole the team's vice-captain and to players who agreed to act for me in the playing hall.

Details of all matches are available on the MCCU website.