Grosvenor 100-7 (25 overs, limited overs) S.Anselm’s 101-2 (15.3 overs) Isaac S 29, Edward S 26*, Bertie W 20*
The S.Anselm’s U11’s were able to overcome the combined threat of Nottinghamshire U11 cricketer Joshua Pavis and the rain to win our final match of the season! It was my 208th consecutive and last U11 cricket match at S.Anselm’s since taking over from Peter Cook (now the Headmaster of Wellow House School) sixteen long summers ago ...
A dry morning offered us some hope that the fixture would go ahead but the rain started to fall soon after 1 p.m. and was well set in by the time Grosvenor arrived. I suppose I was grateful that they were ‘already on their way’ ... had it been raining at 11 a.m. we’d probably have had to cancel, whatever the afternoon forecast. The match began in the drizzle ...! Edward S struck in his first over and Alex W opened well too but Pavis,J was soon into his stride as Edward bowled a full toss and it was pulled over the fence and onto Mr Salt’s pitch! Edward S was soon involved in the action again, however, as Lyon was run out by a direct hit. There’s never been more direct hits than this summer, and there was one more to come as Pavis tried to ‘farm’ the strike and Wilkins was run out by Oliver R. The score had, however, reached 61-2 by that stage as numbers 3 and 4 gave good support to Pavis who played a quite outstanding innings. Our bowling was satisfactory, but not quite as good as I hoped, partly due to the very damp conditions. Pavis hit Edward S over the fence three times – perhaps you were bowling from the wrong end as the pitch at this late stage of the season was on the far side of the square. Oliver R started well enough and Elliot T was reasonable too, but the all important breakthrough came when Pavis was very well caught by Elliot T at mid on from Jonah G’s bowling which had been a very mixed bag of no balls and full tosses and very good balls ... indeed, Grosvenor were (at 89-3 from 15.5 overs) really starting to run away with things. I suppose if Pavis had made 100 and Grosvenor 150 we would still have been able to chase down the total. Isaac S bowled well enough, but the Grosvenor batting line up was somewhat different by this stage ... indeed they only scored runs from 2 balls in the final 9 overs (no balls / wides counted as two with no extra ball in the over ... hence the ‘balls faced’ doesn’t tally quite as usual).
Pavis,J could bowl too, left arm over the wicket fast/medium, but he was too short today and was well kept out by Isaac S and Matthew N. When we realised that the remaining Grosvenor bowlers were no more than mediocre, the match was soon heading our way. By this stage, after tea, the rain had stopped and the sun was even trying to break through ... as Mr Northcott said at the end of the match, how right we were in trying to keep things going! Matthew N’s U11 season came to an end as he narrowly failed to make it through for a ‘two’ he’d called for. Matthew hadn’t found it easy to keep wicket in the conditions either. That said, you’ve had a marvellous U11 season that you’ll remember for many years to come! Isaac S showed a very good eye throughout his innings ... there were a lot of very well timed shots off their back up bowlers even if, strictly speaking, they were not technically correct. Isaac S was beaten by the flight / slowness of the 5th bowler but already by that stage Bertie W was well into his stride. The end came all too quickly without me having the opportunity to take it all in! Edward S timed a number of superbly placed off side shots despite Wilkins bowling well. I don’t know what age he is, but he was accurate, quickly up to the crease, and a talented all rounder. Back to Bertie W ...! There were a number of very well placed leg side pulls and forward defensive strokes. The bowling might not have been all that threatening, but you looked very much the part at number 3 ... rather like Andrew C, I feel a little guilty that you didn’t bat a little more earlier in term!
I have to mention it ... the win ensured we had our first unbeaten season since 2007 (but our 13th in these 16 years). It is at moments like this that we think of Theo H and Ollie R’s defensive partnership against Foremarke or Edward S’s innings against Wellow ... with our lack of experience at the start of term, I’d never have imagined that we’d get through 15 matches unbeaten. We were never bowled out all season ... our bowling might have improved a lot over the term, but it is our dedication to batting, concentration and focus that has led to our success!
Posted on
Thu, July 8, 2010
by MAC