Nationality: South African

Senior Sileby Town Debut:

Nicknames: The Excoset

Batting Style: Right Handed

Bowling Style: Right Arm Medium

Senior PB With The Bat: 120 not out v Wymeswold for the First XI in 1998

Senior PB With The Ball: 5-53 v Narborough & Littlethorpe First XI for the First XI in 1998

Summary: The mild mannered Mike is generally regarded as Sileby's first overseas star after he arrived at Mill Lane just before the start of the 1998 season with a remit of keeping the First XI in Division One. Suffice it to say, he did more than that!

With a penchance for the leg side, no matter where the ball was bowled, Mike made himself an immediate favourite with the Mill Lane faithful with his wholehearted displays with the ball and sometimes elegant but more often than not savage batting.

Mike's main love was for the evening cup competitions, where he registered two tons, as Sileby bagged the Joe Orton Cup and also gained promotion from Division One of the Everards League.

His total runs in Division One was nearly 700 (686) and his average was an impressive 57.17, including seven half centuries, with a top score of 90 away at Syston.

While he may have appeared to be a medium paced seamer, who made use of any moisture in the track, his accuracy was excellent and he finished the league season with 31 scalps at 21. Not satisfied with that, he also took nine catches and gained two run outs as he almost single handedly took the Firsts to promotion.

While he may have had lots of successes on the field, Mike was not one for celebrating with a pint or ten and he will be generally remembered for his batting and inability to hold his beer.

The only down side to the story was the fact that Mike was only able to play for Sileby for one season, as he headed off to the big city to take up a job in London and to play his club cricket in the capital.

Mike remained in London for a number of years and only recently headed back to his native South Africa after a spell of some eight years in England.

His contribution to the club, in just one season, was unbelievable and he showed us what was possible.Mike continues to be a great friend of the club and will always be welcome back in the future.

Sileby Playing Record