Sidmouth toasted ‘absent friends’ at their annual dinner and awards evening, writes Conrad Sutcliffe.
More than 60 players and club members took every dining table seat in the Fortfield pavilion to celebrate last season’s achievements.
The 1st XI regained the Premier Division title by a distance, finishing 71 points clear of runners-up Plymouth.
Exmouth, who took the title off Sidmouth in 2013, were a distant third in the final rankings.
Key to Sidmouth’s title win were the performances of opening bowler Dan Babula – 46 wickets at an average of 12.93 – and batsman Josh Bess.
Devon captain Bess made 684 league runs – no one else in the Premier Division made more – and finished with an average of 52.62.
Babula and Bess were the absent friends as both are playing cricket in Australia.
Sidmouth 2nd XI made it a Premier double for the club by winning the 2nd XI competition as well.
Skipper Nick Gingell was batsman of the year with 554 runs at an average of 50.36.
Bowler of the year, not for the first time, was Charlie Dibble, who took 27 wickets at 12.07 each, just pipping Miles Dalton on 24 wickets.
Dibble has won the bowling award eight times in the last 11 seasons and consecutively for three years in a row.
Harvey Sargent won the senior colt of the year trophy. He featured regularly in the 2nd XI, where he made 367 runs.
The 3rd XI missed the promotion boat last season, finishing fourth in the table.
Captain Graham Munday led the way with the bat, scoring 574 at an average of more than 50 with a best of 148 not out against Plymouth CS&R. He was batsman of the year.
Toby Seldon took the bowling trophy for 26 scalps at 14.58. No one bowled more overs than Seldon (111.4) in the B Division 2nd XI last season.
The Fowler family had plenty to celebrate, starting with son Jordan, who was named young colt of the year.
Mum and dad – Lorraine and Rob – were jointly named clubmen of the year for their work with the youth section.
The awards were handed out by Somerset batsman James Hildreth, who registered for Sidmouth in the Devon League last season but wasn’t needed.
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