It was a mixed campaign for Woodvale who didn't hit the heights of 2024 as they finished eighth in the Premiership. They did enjoy a run to the semi-final of the Challenge Cup, but didn't impress in the T20 Cup.

The batting was dominated by their big two with the ever-consistent Ruhan Pretorius scoring 939 runs at 44.71 (3 hundreds, 3 fifties), well ahead of overseas professional Ludwig Kaestner who hit six fities and a hundred in his 692 runs at 57.67.

Finn Restieaux came over to replace his brother Ronan and managed 449 runs at 26.41 (2 fifties), while Carl Robinson scored 329 runs at 29.91.

Skipper Harry Warke will have been disappointed with his return of 244 runs at just 13.56, while Stephen Bunting was sixth in their aggregates with 213 runs at 13.31. 

Replacement pro Eddie Moore played just three times but scored 199 runs at a Bradmanesque 99.50 (1 hundred, 1 fifty).

The bowling unit was weak, lacking quality and variety, whihc meant they struggled to bowl teams out.

Pretorius managed to top the bowling too despite carrying an injury that meant a restricted run-up - his 31 wickets coming at 20.74.

No other bowler passed 20 wickets, with James Martin's 18 wickets at 36.94 next, just ahead of Ludwig Kaestner who claimed 17 at 24.94.

Three others managed double figures - Carl Robinson (15 at 33.40), Finn Restieaux 14 at 34.07, and Ashwin Shetty (10 at 38.60).

Woodvale have already dipped into the market, adding Patrick Tice to keep wicket, and you suspect there may be another signing or two over the winter if they are to get back to nearer the top of the table rather than the bottom.

WOODVALE BATTING

# Name Club Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s
1 R Pretorius Woodval 23 22 1 939 163 44.71 800 117.38 3 3 93 52
2 L Kaestner Woodval 16 16 4 692 112* 57.67 745 92.89 1 6 69 27
3 F Restieaux Woodval 22 21 4 449 56 26.41 521 86.18 - 2 46 10
4 C Robinson Woodval 18 15 4 329 64 29.91 393 83.72 - 2 25 15
5 Harry Warke Woodval 19 18 - 244 45 13.56 326 74.85 - - 36 6
6 S Bunting Woodval 17 17 1 213 31* 13.31 397 53.65 - - 27 4
7 E Moore Woodval 3 3 1 199 128* 99.50 161 123.60 1 1 13 13
8 James Rose Woodval 21 17 - 161 27 9.47 276 58.33 - - 16 1
9 A Shetty Woodval 10 7 1 118 52 19.67 104 113.46 - 1 9 8
10 James Martin Woodval 20 13 2 75 20* 6.82 153 49.02 - - 5 4
11 J Gibson Woodval 15 10 2 73 21 9.12 115 63.48 - - 6 1
12 Zarar Khan Woodval 7 6 1 70 49* 14.00 95 73.68 - - 10 1
13 M Maduwantha Woodval 1 1 1 47 47* - 61 77.05 - - 7 -
14 Ross Copeland Woodval 3 3 2 33 23* 33.00 45 73.33 - - 3 1
15 M Peak Woodval 13 9 2 31 21 4.43 29 106.90 - - 2 2
16 C Donnelly Woodval 8 5 1 22 12 5.50 62 35.48 - - 1 -
17 D Thanivelil Woodval 10 7 4 22 10* 7.33 38 57.89 - - 2 -
18 K Walsh Woodval 13 5 2 13 8* 4.33 30 43.33 - - - -
19 Ryan Copeland Woodval 2 1 1 12 12* - 9 133.33 - - 2 -
20 L Boobyer Woodval 2 2 - 10 10 5.00 22 45.45 - - 1 -
21 D Chavara Woodval 2 2 - 8 7 4.00 16 50.00 - - 1 -
22 Anek Anil Woodval 1 1 1 3 3* - 3 100.00 - - - -
23 P Robinson Woodval 5 2 - 2 2 1.00 16 12.50 - - - -
24 Syed Huzaifa Khalid Woodval 2 1 - 1 1 1.00 5 20.00 - - - -
 

WOODVALE BOWLING

# Name Club Mat Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI Ave Econ SR 5WI wds nbs
1 R Pretorius Woodval 23 145.3 18 643 31 4-27 20.74 4.42 28.16 - 27 2
2 James Martin Woodval 20 89.1 1 665 18 4-43 36.94 7.46 29.72 - 35 1
3 L Kaestner Woodval 16 83.4 4 424 17 4-36 24.94 5.07 29.53 - 11 -
4 C Robinson Woodval 18 90.1 3 501 15 4-27 33.40 5.56 36.07 - 17 1
5 F Restieaux Woodval 22 60.1 1 477 14 4-69 34.07 7.93 25.79 - 9 4
6 A Shetty Woodval 10 78 6 368 10 5-42 36.80 4.72 46.80 1 14 2
7 K Walsh Woodval 13 57 1 390 9 3-42 43.33 6.84 38.00 - 14 -
8 M Peak Woodval 13 18.1 - 174 5 2-6 34.80 9.58 21.80 - 20 4
9 D Thanivelil Woodval 10 30.4 - 204 4 1-15 51.00 6.65 46.00 - 7 -
10 S Bunting Woodval 17 25.4 1 208 3 2-22 69.33 8.10 51.33 - 15 1
11 C Donnelly Woodval 8 4.5 - 30 2 1-12 15.00 6.21 14.50 - 5 -
12 M Maduwantha Woodval 1 8.4 1 52 1 1-52 52.00 6.00 52.00 - 1 -
13 P Robinson Woodval 5 34 2 131 1 1-40 131.00 3.85 204.00 - - -
14 Syed Huzaifa Khalid Woodval 2 1 - 8 - 0-8 - 8.00 - - - -
15 James Rose Woodval 21 1 - 14 - 0-14 - 14.00 - - - 1
16 E Moore Woodval 3 18 - 127 - 0-8 - 7.06 - - 2 -