It was always going to be hard for Newbuildings to repeat their 2022 heroics, and so it proved, although they did have their moments as they reached the cup final again and denied Brigade in the league run-in.

They were hampered by Johnny Thompson's shoulder injury which severely restriicted their new-ball wicket taking ability.

The batting charts was led by Jason Dunn who really enjoyed a breakthrough season on his way to 750 runs at 41.67 with a top score of 192 and three half centuries.

Ross Dougherty' unbeaten double century in the cup against Letterkenny saw him to 623 runs at 51.92, while Hanu Viljoen had a bit of an up and down season on his way to 559 at 46.58 (1 hundred, 5 fifties).

JT also got five fifties on his way to 553 at 32.53, while Mark Hanna got his side off to some rapid starts with a strike rate of 134 in his 551 at 27.55 (3 fifties).

Ryan Hunter made 544 at 34 (4 fifties), while skipper Gareth McKeegan made 384 at 24 - one hundred.

The bowling was led by Trent McKeegan who had two five-wicket hauls on his way to 34 wickets at 17.44.

Teenager Charlie Downey had a rapid start and that helped him to 31 victims at 19.29, while Ross  Hunter claimed 28 wickets at 19.89.

Ross Dougherty took 21 at 19.71, while JT managed 18 at 23.72 and spinner Jason Dunn got 17 at 27.06.

Late signing Greg McFaul and Hanu Viljoen each reached double figures too.

What then for 2024? The retirement of JT will be a blow, but the club have one of the most vibrant youth set-ups in the region. With the addition of one or two quality signings, they will once again be right in the mix for silverware.

TOP RUNS

# Name Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s
1 J Dunn 25 21 3 750 192 41.67 701 106.99 1 3 65 48
2 R Dougherty 23 17 5 623 201* 51.92 531 117.33 1 2 65 24
3 H Viljoen 19 18 6 559 106 46.58 621 90.02 1 5 53 16
4 J Thompson 23 21 4 553 80* 32.53 497 111.27 - 5 43 41
5 M Hanna 20 21 1 551 90 27.55 411 134.06 - 3 69 30
6 Ryan Hunter 22 21 5 544 68 34.00 642 84.74 - 4 63 8
7 G McKeegan 25 19 3 384 100 24.00 353 108.78 1 - 35 21
8 T McKeegan 24 13 4 183 43 20.33 196 93.37 - - 10 12
9 C Downey 24 10 5 78 23* 15.60 173 45.09 - - 6 1
10 J Bell 12 7 2 65 36 13.00 52 125.00 - - 6 4
11 Ross Hunter 25 8 2 37 12* 6.17 87 42.53 - - 4 -
12 C Simpson 3 3 - 26 19 8.67 59 44.07 - - 4 -
13 G Mitchell 11 2 1 17 17 17.00 21 80.95 - - 3 -
14 Greg McFaul 7 4 2 12 6* 6.00 27 44.44 - - 1 -
15 J McIvor 7 3 1 4 3 2.00 21 19.05 - - - -
16 D Guy 1 1 1 2 2* - 2 100.00 - - - -
17 L Campbell 3 1 - 2 2 2.00 7 28.57 - - - -
18 M Irwin 1 1 1 1 1* - 2 50.00 - - - -

 

TOP WICKETS

# Name Mat Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI Ave Econ SR 5WI wds nbs
1 T McKeegan 24 122 12 593 34 5-19 17.44 4.86 21.53 2 49 6
2 C Downey 24 107 8 598 31 5-31 19.29 5.59 20.71 1 25 3
3 Ross Hunter 25 102.3 7 557 28 4-38 19.89 5.43 21.96 - 15 1
4 R Dougherty 23 81.5 10 414 21 4-15 19.71 5.06 23.38 - 10 -
5 J Thompson 23 86.3 6 427 18 3-26 23.72 4.94 28.83 - 28 2
6 J Dunn 25 81.1 6 460 17 4-21 27.06 5.67 28.65 - 5 -
7 Greg McFaul 7 31.3 3 164 10 3-12 16.40 5.21 18.90 - 5 7
8 H Viljoen 19 37.2 1 284 10 2-0 28.40 7.61 22.40 - 15 1
9 G Mitchell 11 18 - 160 4 1-15 40.00 8.89 27.00 - 5 2
10 Ryan Hunter 22 2.2 - 27 - 0-4 - 11.57 - - 1 -
11 G McKeegan 25 2.1 - 33 - 0-4 - 15.23 - - 2 -
12 L Campbell 3 9 - 57 - 0-20 - 6.33 - - - -