Parley’s aspirations of a successful debut season in HCL County 1 were fairly high. However losing four out of the first five games (having lost only six in the previous four seasons) was not the way it had been planned. Subsequently, winning 11 out of the remaining 12 matches showed the ability and resolve within the side which, remarkably, finished runners-up, only one point behind champions Hythe & Dibden.
By the time those first five games had been completed, finger and hand injuries to captain and Dorset Minor Counties opening batsman Sam Collins and opening bowler Tom Blackley meant they would miss the next 17 games between them. What a season it might have been if they had not played in the first five !
A total of 25 players were used during the season with their ages ranging between 14 and 63. Individual honours are easy to identify with Alex Nippard winning the County 1 batting award, with 758 runs and Ollie Green finishing as top bowler, with 35 wickets. Other notable achievers were Shane Green (502) and Roshan Embalagama (500). With the ball, Harry Beardsley took 25 wickets and Dave Elrick rolled back the years taking 18 wickets.
After such a poor start, to finish as runners up in County 1 ranks as a pretty good effort. However, Parley have been denied promotion to the Southern Premier League due to various accreditation issues.