Competition for places in the team intensified, as the number of players featuring for Mallards this season rose to 28. This was Phil Holmes’ golden season, as he headed the scorers with 239 off 14 innings (one a not out) for an average of 17.07. Peter Brearley – in one of his two seasons with Mallards – accumulated 163 (5 times out, one n.o., av. 32.60), but top of the averages, in between roll-ups, was the phlegmatic Jim Staley (109 runs, 3 times out, two not outs, av. 36.33). Stone and Morgan had similar totals (108 and 106), but from more innings. Steadily improving his reputation with the bat was Gareth Taylor (41 runs, nine innings, three times out, av. 13.67). That unreconstructed Mackem batsman, Ian Lincoln, accumulated 85, followed by Geoff Davis (65) and Colin Brown (53).

Top man on the bowling side was John Howard, whose deceptively fast arm action produced figures of 12 for 144 off 35 overs. Workhorses Welsh and Stone each sent down 41 overs (for 7-179 and 9-226 respectively), but Geoff Davis did better, off just 24 overs (9-161), and Gareth Taylor’s four overs yielded 3-23, for an average of 7.67. Tony Cleaver, in his rookie season, returned 4-51 off 14 overs, although it was not until 1993 that his unique batting style was unveiled.

This was also the year when the Mallards’ Awards system was inaugurated. It was not a drawn-out ceremony, as today, since there were just two awards up for grabs: the Cross-Bat Trophy and the Mallard Ball. Both had been imaginatively fashioned in Ian Stone’s garage (show-casing his Grade 3 in O-level Woodwork). Phil Holmes and John Howard, respectively, were the proud recipients of these inaugural awards.

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Next: Season 1993