North Middlesex captain James Parslow lauded Luke Hollman as the best player in the Middlesex League Premier Division after he inspired them to victory against Shepherd’s Bush.
The 19-year-old all-rounder scored 128 runs to help his side to a score of 342-9 with Joe Cracknell scoring 75 as the Middlesex duo opened the batting.
In reply, Shepherds Busy were bowled out for 177 with Hollman picking up five wickets to round off a quality performance.
“Luke Hollman is the best player in the league and it was great to see him feast, he loves to feast, and he’s doing really well with his cricket at the moment and is looking really dangerous,” Parslow said.
“It’s an easy game when the opening batsman, no matter who they are, can score the runs up front, and our groundsman has been working flat stick for the last month to prepare these wickets.
“Our groundsman is showcasing that he is one of the better groundsmen in north London by providing a wicket like that.
“But putting a performance in like that against Shepherd’s Bush, who are a great team, I’ve got a lot of respect for them and we’ve had some great tussles with them, so it was good to bounce back after a loss to Teddington.”
The skipper says when a side has the likes of Hollman and Cracknell opening the batting it makes life easier for the rest of the team.
“When you get yourself on a really good cricket wicket like that and score runs early on it takes the pressure off everyone to play their own natural way,” added Parslow.
“Our whole order is full of attacking players, that fits into our game plan, and our whole team basically bowl, so it’s a lot easier when you’ve got 300 on the board and you’ve got seven or eight different bowling options.”
They now travel away to Brondesbury on Saturday and the captain says they will not take them lightly.
He added: “Momentum is the key, especially in a nine-game season. Obviously we didn’t have the loss planned, but it’s important to bounce back and I think we showed what a quality unit we are by putting serious runs on the board against a good side like Shepherd’s Bush.
“We won’t be taking Brondesbury lightly at all, we’ve lost to them before, they’ve got a couple handy players and they’re really good at home.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here