2014 Year Review

Sal and the rest of the governing body all did a fine job over the last 12 months culminating in different Champions in both divisions. People should not forget that everything they do will not always be perfect but they do everything voluntarily as their commitment to the league far outweighs all the other issues people seem to throw at them. It is not an easy position to fill but I applaud all of them for the time and effort they donate to the league and it's affairs. Hopefully, if they carry on, they try and improve on all the good work they have started or at least leave the league in a stronger position from when they took over. Either way, they deserve recognition from all of us for their time dedicated to softball cricket in Florida. Thanks guys.

The Hustlers 2 team endured a tough year with players arriving and also players leaving. Promises of players joining not materializing as anticipated but we still managed to end up in the Spring Div 2 Final where we lost to the Warriors team that was packed with Div 1 calibre players just for that one off season.

Division 1 was an experience for most as availability was very poor throughout but we still managed to see out the Summer season as a team but finished 2nd from bottom in the table with only 2 wins, one being a forfeiture win. The league needs to look at how many teams should get promoted and relegated for the future and betterment of the league in my opinion. The Champions should automatically go up as the only team.

The third and final season saw us once again struggle to raise an 11 every week but we still reached the Div 2 semi final where we were beaten by the eventual Champions Lehigh  CC. Our whole playing squad comprised of only 14 players  for all the season of which 2 of them never qualified for the playoffs. It was indeed a tough season for us all.

The third season saw the introduction of the power play 30 yard zone for the first time in the SFSCL and after much deliberation about whether it would work or not, we all accepted it as a great success. Batsmen were throwing wood like there is no tomorrow in the first 6 overs where possible and bowlers began to use their heads trying to bowl tighter lines. It was a great addition and success to our game in South Florida. All the captains of the teams now would have to be more proactive with their field settings. No more 8 men on the boundary  before the first 6 overs were bowled !!!!

If a change was necessary in the league in the future then I believe any leg side delivery should be called a wide automatically. Bowlers intentionally target legside bowling to negate attacking shots on the offside. Not only will this improve the accuracy of our bowlers but it would also make batsmen play through the offside rather than woodchopping it over the legside side like they are cuttting cane. It just a thought guys, don't beat me up on the suggestion as I know a lot of batsmen can't play offside cricket at present and a lot of bowlers can't bowl 6 good balls outside the off stump either.Trust me,this would definitely improve both batting and bowling standards for the future.

The Annual Awards Presentation night is a great idea but in reality it is too boring for guests to sit there for 4 hours watching cricketer after cricketer going up and down all night collecting awards. Instead of collecting individual awards, why not call up teams awards all at once, give them all their awards in one shot and only save the batting, bowling, all rounder top players and Championship teams awards for the end. This way there is plenty of time for the guests to eat, drink, and dance for a few hours instead of the customary 30 minutes before it's time to get out?

What are your thoughts about anything else you think would improve our game?
Reduction of overs to 20 in the Summer season?
Neutral umpires from outside the SFSCL for all final games?
Forming a saturday league?
The league designating a  monthly Friday night game for 2 of the top sides at the stadium to help promote the game?
Presentation awards night only for bowlers, batsmen, all rounder of the seasons, and Championship teams?

Having been through another 12 months of cricket with varying degrees of success for the Hustler 2 squad, I would just like to say we all still managed to have fun in the park every sunday no matter what the result was. Our team in my eyes, is one of the best to be with not only for the fun and jokes, but also for the way we play on the field. We won't let any decision going against us cause us to argue like some other teams would do when the result is not going their way and that is why my team is always going to be a Champion team irrespective of where we finish in our division.

Championship teams are not only the ones who lift up the silverware at the end of the season.........My team will always be CHAMPIONS for the way we conduct ourselves off the field and also the way we play the game every week on it.

Chris