Iles over the moon after Goatacre promotion (From Swindon Advertiser)

Iles over the moon after Goatacre promotion

7:00am Tuesday 30th August 2011 in Cricket By Sam Morshead

TWENTY years ago, Kevin Iles won a national trophy with Goatacre at Lord’s, hitting the fastest-ever century in the process.

For most cricketing enthusiasts, that feat would be pretty hard to top. But Iles ranks Goatacre’s Glos/Wilts Division success on a level pegging as that famous triumph in 1990.

The veteran all-rounder, who has claimed 23 wickets at shade under 20 runs apiece so far this term, told the Advertiser the Lord’s win was special, but this year’s title charge is something else.

“If you ask anybody who plays football they’d like to play at Wembley, rugby Twickenham and obviously Lord’s for cricket,” he said.

“We achieved that as a village team and that was lovely, but this is right up there with it because it’s over the whole season.

“To be fair that was a village competition. We are now playing Swindon, Cheltenham, Trowbridge - they’re county towns.

“I’ve played here all my life and if somebody had told me 20 years ago that we would be playing and beating Cheltenham and Swindon I’d never have believed it.

“It’s a bit weird but it’s nice.”

Goatacre will start next season at the highest level they have ever played, when they start life in Premier 2.

It’s just reward for a series of consistent contributions from throughout the small village side’s line-up, and the input of two key players.

Ed Kilbee, with 660 runs at 66, and Liam Dawson, with 280 runs and 15 wickets, have been a crucial element in this year’s surprise package. But Iles refuted claims Goatacre are a one-man, or maybe more appropriately a two-man team.

Instead he pointed out centuries for Brad Dawson and Jif Wilkins and the senior opening bowling attack of himself and Craig Gibbens, who between them have snared 49 victims to this point.

“It’s brilliant and something I never thought we could achieve this year,” he said.

“I thought if we could stay in midtable that would be good, and it has surpassed anything I’d thought we’d do.

“Batting wise, Liam Dawson’s helped us out and Ed Kilbee’s been fantastic but there have been other scorers.

“Brad’s got a hundred, Ed Wilkins got a hundred, we’ve bowled well and fielded well and it’s been really good.

“They’re generally a young bunch, who enjoy playing together with a few older ones who stick around to do our bit.

“We’ve probably had the oldest opening bowling attack in certain games in the whole league, in myself and Craig - we’re into the high 90s and not in miles per hour - but we’ve been getting out lads who are 25 and very good players. So we’ll keep going.”

In a league littered with overseas professionals commanding handsome wages, Goatacre have stuck to their guns in blooding local talent once again in 2011.

And defeating the likes of Biddestone, boasting Dwaine Perry, and Cheltenham, with Jackson Thompson in the line-up, speaks volumes for the camaraderie and quality in their ranks.

For Iles, whose entire career has been spent with Goatacre, it is the most telling fact of all.

“If they’re not born in the village or parish, there’s a link,” he said.

“Their father might have been born here or we all might have gone to school together.

“We’ve never paid anybody for playing cricket which I love - I absolutely love that because most other sides we play have an overseas player. Somebody they pay to play cricket.

“We’ve never done that and I think that helps us as a team because there’s nobody different.

“We all pay our six quid or seven quid after the game and that’s it.

“Liam (Dawson, Hampshire pro) plays and pays his teas and his match fee, and that’s fantastic.”