Marc Ward: Debut 2007 FOC (future Offley Captain)

The three-time Young Player of the Year represents the future at Offley. The valedictorian of the Colin Keeley Academy, Ward has become a regular in the team since making his debut in 2007.

The fast bowler has taken 50 wickets for the club and has routinely opened the bowling in the absence of more willing senior players. Despite a propensity to bowl wides and no balls, not to mention an inability to grasp that Offley is not the best place to bowl short, Ward has consistently caused problems for batsmen with his swing. He bowled the third most overs at the club in 2009 and his 29 wickets were the most taken by any fast bowler (Matthew Freeman’s 32 scalps were earned as a result of his medium-pace trundlers) so Ward can arguably claim to be the most potent seamer at the club. If one takes into account the extra deliveries required to compensate for the wides and no balls, Ward may actually have bowled the most overs in 2009.

His batting can be filed into the all or nothing category. In 2009 he scored 224 runs; two innings produced unbeaten scores of 70 and 55 while the remaining 28 trips to the crease yielded the rather unimpressive return of 99.

There are times when he looks utterly clueless at the crease, apparently bereft of talent and keen to usher the ball on to his stumps with a flourish worthy of a matador. Despite his tender years he has already stormed into a tie for 13^th place on the all-time duck chart and at one stage threatened to walk away with the award in 2009 before Symon Wardley signed for the club.