With Sway having just completed its 5-year development plan, we thought it would be interesting to see how the various local clubs have progressed over the previous 5 years.

In order to do this we designed a simple scoring system as follows:

 

SEPL Team	9 points
CD1	8 points
CD2	7 points
CD3	6 points
CD4	5 points
RD1	4 points
RD2	3 points
RD3	2 points
RD4	1 points

Hence if Bloggs CC had a 1st team in RD1 and a 2nd team in RD4, the club total would be 4+1 = 5 points.

We then looked at the position of the local clubs in 2006 which was as follows:

		2006
1	Bashley	23
2	Totton	22
3	Lymo	21
4	New Milton	19
5	Calmore	16
6	Paultons	14
7	Fawley	13
8	Mudeford	13
9	Langley M	12
10	Bramshaw	12
11	Cadnam	12
12	Ellingham	10
13	Hythe & D	9
14	Pylewell	8
15	Ringwood	6
16	Wellow	5
17	Bransgore	5
18	Burley	5
19	Alderholt	5
20	Brock	4
21	Hordle	4
22	Nomansland	4
23	Sway	3
24	Milford	3
25	Exbury	3
26	Beaulieu	1

As is obvious the big 4 clubs were pretty dominant with little old Sway right down in the "village" cricket.

By 2011 the picture had changed somewhat:

		2011
1	Bashley	27
2	Totton	22
3	Lymo	20
4	New Milton	20
5	Calmore	17
6	Paultons	16
7	Fawley	16
8	Langley M	16
9	Mudeford	12
10	Bramshaw	12
11	Cadnam	12
12	Ellingham	12
13	Hythe & D	12
14	Wellow	9
15	Bransgore	8
16	Sway	8
17	Pylewell	7
18	Burley	6
19	Ringwood	4
20	Alderholt	4
21	Brock	4
22	Hordle	4
23	Nomansland	4
24	Milford	4
25	Exbury	2
26	Beaulieu	1

By the current season, Bashley had become the undisputed kings of the forest with 5 teams, 2 of which are in the SEPL. Sway of course are zooming up towards mid-table, but still a way behind more established mid-sized clubs such as Hythe & Dibden and Ellingham.

However, if based on current league table positions, we project what the situation might be in 2012:

		2012
1	Bashley	27
2	Totton	23
3	Lymo	21
4	New Milton	20
5	Calmore	17
6	Paultons	17
7	Langley M	17
8	Fawley	16
9	Bramshaw	13
10	Cadnam	12
11	Ellingham	12
12	Mudeford	11
13	Hythe & D	11
14	Sway	11
15	Wellow	10
16	Bransgore	10
17	Pylewell	8
18	Burley	6
19	Brock	5
20	Ringwood	4
21	Alderholt	4
22	Hordle	4
23	Milford	4
24	Nomansland	3
25	Exbury	2
26	Beaulieu	1

Bashley are still dominant but a number of rapidly improving clubs are starting to breath down New Milton's neck. Sway have now firmly in mid-table, challenging for a top 10 position.

Finally the projected difference in points between 2006 and 2012 is very interesting:

1	Sway	8
2	Langley M	5
3	Wellow	5
4	Bransgore	5
5	Bashley	4
6	Paultons	3
7	Fawley	3
8	Ellingham	2
9	Hythe & D	2
10	Totton	1
11	New Milton	1
12	Calmore	1
13	Bramshaw	1
14	Burley	1
15	Brock	1
16	Milford	1
17	Lymo	0
18	Cadnam	0
19	Pylewell	0
20	Hordle	0
21	Beaulieu	0
22	Alderholt	-1
23	Nomansland	-1
24	Exbury	-1
25	Mudeford	-2
26	Ringwood	-2

Sway are by far the most improved club over this period - and would still top the table even in the (hopefully unlikely) scenario that none of its sides got promoted in 2011. More interesting however is the fact that cricket in the south New Forest area seems to be in rude good health. Out of the 26 clubs covered 16 have improved over the last 6 years, 5 stayed the same with only 5 clubs suffering relatively minor downward movements. Aside from Sway Langley Manor, Wellow, Bransgore, Bashley, Paultons and Fawley have all stepped up quite a bit - and it is almost certainly no co-incidence that all these clubs have strong colts sections.