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Peter Murphy reports
After a season of changing fortunes and well-contested cricket, the hard facts which emerged at the end spoke much for the health of the League and the depth of the competition: three trophies, three new names.
It has not been unusual for clubs to prosper in their first year in the League, but prior to 1988 (and excluding the League's inaugural season) no club had ever actually finished top on its debut. What makes Brook's feat more noteworthy is that this was their first year in any League competition. The last of their three defeats (to eventual runners-up, Woking) took place on 18th June, from which point they set a pace no one else could match by winning eight of their last 11 matches. Southern Railway and Old Ruts set a fast early pace and remained in prominent positions, while a good mid-season run carried Egham to top place as July turned to August. It was Brook and Woking, however, who sustained the challenge for honours best, and kept close enough to one another to ensure that nothing was settled until the last Saturday of the season. In 1987, Woking had finished 15th, but even their change in fortunes was overshadowed by that of Teddington Town. Last season, their first in the League, had seen them finish third in the First Eleven League and 15th in the Second. In 1988, their First Eleven slumped 14 places, but the seconds made an exactly equivalent improvement to secure the title by three points from 1987 champions Old Hamptonians. Old Ruts demonstrated the depth of their resources by finishing third in both Leagues.
The League Cup got off to a somewhat disappointing start with the winners of each of the three preliminary round ties walking over when the opposition failed to raise a side. Thereafter, however, there was some good competitive cricket, exemplified by the Semi-Final in which Horley won through on losing fewer wickets after both they and Egham had scored 252 in 45 overs. Horley went on to defeat Long Ditton in a low-scoring Final, maintaining the tendency for the Cup to go to a side which has done well in the League without actually winning it (we still await our first "double" winners). The competition seemed to keep on the rails rather better than in previous seasons as a result of the tighter rules and scheduling agreed during last winter. Nobody would look back on 1988 as much of a Summer weather-wise, but the statistics (19 abandonments in the two Leagues compared with 75 in 1987) showed that when it rains matters more than how much. Other analysis of the tables shows that in the First Eleven League, the proportion of definite results fell to 64% from last year's 68%, but remained well above the levels of 1985 and 1986. The figure for Second Eleven matches was 67%, the same as in 1986 and just 2% lower than in 1987.
Although the League itself was let off lightly by the weather, the representative side in the C.C.C. competition suffered as much as it had in both the last two seasons. Astonishingly, the team has now taken the field just four times out of the last 14 attempts. It should be added that weather was not the only problem, and that for three seasons running we have had to suffer late cry-offs by Leagues unable to raise a team.
Things looked promising for this season when we got a match in at the first time of asking and beat the Sussex Championship decisively with good performances all round, but particularly by Ian Smith (Roehampton) and Gary Clarke (Egham). But the next four attempts were all abortive, against the Surrey Slazenger (first match rained off, the second conceded) and the Cherwell League (both matches rained off, the second only after the team had travelled to Oxford). Pat Robinson's success with the coin put us through to Quarter-Final against the Second Division of the Surrey Championship, but availability (perhaps not surprisingly) was disappointing for this game and a side well short of the best we could put into the field finished a distant second in spite of more good bowling by Smith, well-supported by Fraser Fillingham (Old Hamptonians).

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The beautiful Brook ground - Champions 1988.