Denmark: Svanholm's 11 year title run continues as Herning falters in front of finish line

From our last report Herning CC was on top of the league and looked like after 2 failed attempts these 2 last years to take the Championship, but like modern tales there is always a catch. Herning have like Svanholm suffered after the ICC Trophy in Canada with injury problems. Hernings best spinner and mentor Lejf Slepsager has been out since Canada with injury and he has been missed.

On the 26th of August things went wrong against Skanderborg who were fighting to avoid relegation. Skanderborg made 191 all out thanks largely to overseas player Steven Marshall with 71. Herning on the other hand collapsed to Skanderborg's captain M.Christensen's swingers and they were out for 116.

Things got worse the following week where Herning went to Copenhagen to meet Ishøj, who are holding the other teams up and Svanholm. Ishøj pulled one out of the bag and defeated Herning by 3 runs in a cliffhanger. Ishøj actually managed to bat all 50 overs and scored 185 with Omar Faroug hitting 53.

Herning ran out of batsmen in the second last over. Herning's young captain however didn't managed his bowlers well enough which cost him the match.

Herning could still be champions if they defeated Svanholm the day after, but again it went wrong. Hernings main batsmen failed with only captain Carsten Pedersen making any impact with 49 out of Hernings 131 all out.

Svanholm lost only 2 wickets making the total in wet conditions and became Danish Champions for the eleventh time in succession. In the same weekend Skanderborg got themselves out of the relegation zone by beating Husum from north Germany, who after the summer recess have had a bad run.

The final weekend on the 8th and 9th of September had two issues to solve: (1) The play-off place for relegation (second last) had to be decided between Esbjerg and Husum and
(2) the silver and bronze medals had to be decided between Herning and Glostrup.

Glostrup have had a good run after the summer recess beating both champions Svanholm and Herning. Glostrup could only win silver if Herning lost their final match by a mile. Glostrup however had difficulty in winning their match against Nørrebro, so they had to settle for the bronze.

Match of the day was at Esbjerg. Esbjerg have an artifical grass pitch put in earlier this year and it has turned out to be difficult to play especially in damp conditions. It was damp at Esbjerg that morning and the air was heavy so it was perfect for the swing bowling. Esbjerg had no hesitation in putting Husum in to bat and 21 overs later they were all back in the pavillion and the scoreboard showed 20. Esbjerg's Steen Anker Nielsens analysis was 10-4-11-6, bowling inswingers which took off from the pitch. Husum couldn't cope with this and neither with Frank Christiansen at the other end. Esbjerg used 6 overs and one wicket to avoid relegation.

However Husum's low total opened a debate on wether it was a new record for the lowest total. This was denied from the statisticans as it was proved that AB in 1968 were bowled out for 12 by Skanderborg.

The battle for promotion in the First Division turned out to be a three horse race between Aalborg, KB and Albertslund. All three sides lost matches towards the end, but Aalborg made sure of direct promotion by defeating Nykøbing Mors in the last weekend in the rain, while KB managed to hang on the play-off place only due to a bowl-out in Copenhagen where it rained heavily.

KB had to play Husum last week for a place in the Premier League next season. The weather forecast had been bad, but it managed to stay dry enough to play a full match. Husum opened with 177 for 9 in their 50 overs with Tim Jensen (ex-Glostrup) making 35. KB couldn't hang on thanks to Jürg Krügers in-swingers and they were out for 126.

Husum will play in the top-league again next year. Århus had a hopeless season and have been bottom all the time, while Fredericia could not do as well as last year and they ended second-last. Both these sides are relegated to the Second Division and are replaced by AB and Holstebro.

The womens' championship this season has not been easy as the number of clubs have been reduced. It seems that women's cricket is on the way out unless something drastic happens. Herning won both the championship and the cup competion rather easily, but too many matches never got played to really sense the competition.

Herning took the Boys Championships but the Small Boys final was a battle between Husum and KB. As the weather this weekend has erratic the result is not yet in. The Colts championship will have to continue nest weekend due to the weather.