U 13's MATCH REPORTS - 2009

WBCC U 13 v Featherstone U 13 April 19th 2009

After a long winter of indoor net sessions in a freezing cold sports hall, Sunday saw the dawn of a new season. The weather was dry and sunny and although a touch cold was still a million degrees warmer than it had been indoors.

Featherstone won the toss and elected to bat. Opener Connor Harvey took full advantage of some wayward bowling and poor fielding to race away to a fast start. After 3 overs the score was already over 30.

Jake Punton, who had conceded 18 in a nervous opening over, settled in to a fine spell of outswing bowling and with newcomer Matt Wright started to ask questions of the Featherstone openers. However WBCC were unable to take the chances offered by Harvey as he continued to attack and they were under the cosh until Jake produced the ball of the season. It pitched leg and hit the top of off to remove the other opener. Harvey was now having to work hard for his runs and with the other batsman unable to dominate WBCC began to claw their way back into the game.

Matt Wright took his first WBCC wicket and finished an excellent spell with 1 for 11. Jake finished with 1 for 23 and was replaced by Thomas Wright who produced the crucial breakthrough when he had Harvey well caught by Matt Wright for 43. Once he had gone, the WBCC bowlers dominated with Thomas Wright, Nat Aitchison, George Donkin, Aiden Punton and Dominic Young all bowling well.

With improved fielding, with Dominic Young to the fore, it meant that Featherstone were unable to capitalise on their good start and with runs hard to come by they eventually finished on 94 for 6.

Whilst WBCC were pleased to restrict Featherstone to below a hundred they knew it was a challenging total that would require them to be at their best to beat. Openers Lewis Longstaff and Sam Cable weathered a testing opening spell from Featherstone’s opening bowlers. One was tall and bowled fast whilst the other was left arm over with a nice in swinger. They started well with Lewis’ mixture of cuts and pulls being supplemented by extras which enabled Sam to play himself in carefully as the run rate exceeded 5 an over.

When Lewis was bowled by first change bowler Harvey for a promising 16 the score was already 45. No 3 Nat Aitchison was soon bowled as well by Harvey and F started to entertain hopes of a victory.

However Featherstone then set the field deep and Sam and Matt Wright kept the board ticking over with lots of sharp singles and the occasional boundary. As he grew in confidence, Sam started to attack the bowling and the final 30 runs came in a flurry as he hit several fours and a six to finish the game in the 16th over. Sam was 40 not out and Matt 9 not out.

This was an excellent start to the season by this promising WBCC team. It was a pleasure to watch them perform so well as a team.. The key to how successful they will be this year is whether they can maintain and improve upon the standard they set in this first match.

 
WBCC U13 V Ackworth U13 April 26th 2009
WBCC 108-2 Ackworth 42-6

A WBCC side stricken by football and rugby commitments and 2 broken thumbs arrived at Ackworth to find the home side similarly afflicted, apart from the broken thumbs. WBCC had 10 players and Ackworth 8 so WBCC batted first and lent Ackworth 2 fielders.

Lewis and Sam opened and Lewis took 11 off the opening over. However, in the second over, believing himself to be a reincarnation of Usain Bolt, he ran himself out attempting a suicidal single. When Sam was bowled in the 4th over attempting to force the ball through mid wicket, WBCC were precariously placed at 26-2.

The two Thomases, Wright and debutant Patrick, set about rebuilding the innings with a mixture of singles and boundaries. In an unbroken partnership of over 70 they had put WBCC into a dominant position before TW retired at the end of the 17th over for an excellent maiden half century, including one big six over midwicket.

Nat Aitchison came in to face the last over, bowled by Regan, the youngest and smallest of the Acworth player. Only singles were scored of this last over and WBCC closed on 108-2, with TP not out 27 and Nat not out 2. Credit is due to the Ackworth fielders for the excellence of their ground fielding, without which the total would have been much higher.

Jake Punton and Lewis opened the bowling and immediately put the openers under pressure with some lively swing bowling. Jake took a wicket with the last ball of his first over, Lewis with the last ball of his third and after 6 overs Ackworth were 20-2.

Nat Aitchison came on to replace Lewis and effectively ended the game as a contest when he took 3 wickets in his first and only over, including a hit wicket and a smart stumping by wicketkeeper Sam Cable.

All the remaining bowlers bowled accurately and were well supported by good ground fielding with George Donkin and Dominic Young to the fore. Good catches were taken by Tom Patrick and Aiden Punton.

Little Regan came in as last man and showed great determination and skill to be not out at the close along with the Ackworth No 3 who finished 16 not out.

This was a pleasing win for WBCC as it proved that they have a number of batsmen capable of good scores. There was also a marked improvement in the fielding and catching which was testament to the hard work put in at Friday practice, even though that practice was the cause of one of the broken thumbs. However, with harder games to come the boys will need to keep improving if they are to achieve a top 3 finish.

WBCC U13 V Team Hirst U13 3rd May 2009

Another sunny Sunday at WBCC saw a young and inexperienced Team Hirst travel to take on undefeated WBCC, who were again missing several players due to football, holidays and fractures. WBCC had 10 players, Team Hirst 9, so WBCC lent their opponents a fielder and took first knock.

WBCC set off at lightning speed. Captain Lewis Longstaff dominated from the start with a succession of sweetly timed cover drives that brought a succession of fours. At the other end, cousin Matthew Green saw little of the strike, but did manage, on one of the few balls he faced, to score his first ever Under 13 run. Eventually the Lewis onslaught began to slow as the field went deeper and potential fours were reduced to singles. As Matthew saw more of the strike his confidence grew and his first ever single was soon joined by his first six and four.

When Lewis retired for his maiden fifty the score was already over 70 at a run rate of 8 an over . Nat Aitchison joined Matthew and with both batsmen scoring freely the score fairly rattled along at a cracking rate. Despite the umpire slowly freezing in the bitter wind, Matthew was finding it increasingly warm work as Nat increased the tempo with some aggressive running between the wickets.

Matthew was unluckily run out in the 19th over for an excellent 41 following a fine piece of fielding as he and Nat tried to pinch another run. Nat followed almost immediately for a career best 30 as he was bowled attempting a big hit by the Team Hirst opening bowler who had bowled well with no previous reward for his efforts. With only 8 balls left Thomas Wright and Jake Punton were free to attack and they pushed the score up to 169 at the end of the final over with Thomas not out 12 and Jake not out 1.

With such a big score on the board, WBCC shuffled their bowling pack but even so there was little respite for the Team Hirst batsmen. Opening bowlers Jake Punton and George Donkin produced fiery opening spells of 3 overs each in which both took 2 wickets. With the innings in tatters, Oliver Shearman took a wicket with the first ball of his only over. Dominic Young took a wicket in his only over before 9 year old George Wright took two wickets in his first over to end the innings.

Credit to Lewis and Nat who took two catches each and to stand in wicketkeeper Matthew Green who did very well behind the stumps. Team Hirst have now suffered two heavy defeats in their first two games and we hope that their results improve as the season progresses and they gain more experience.

WBCC U13 v Thorpe Audlin U 13 May 10th 2009
WBCC 80 all out Thorpe Audlin 59-5

For the first time this season there were no football or rugby commitments, so only still broken thumbs prevented WBCC picking from a full squad. Nevertheless, squad rotation was necessary and Aiden Punton and Oliver Shearman were rested.

Thorpe Audlin won the toss and put WBCC in to bat on a tired looking wicket. First impressions proved correct as the ball came off slowly or bounced at ankle height which made batting difficult for openers Lewis Longstaff and Tom Wright against accurate swing bowling. Lewis survived an early chance to short extra cover before he came to terms with the pitch and hit a firm on drive for 4. Tom played a majestic pull through mid wicket for 4 before he was yorked.

Sam Cable came and went quickly, undone by the lack of pace in the pitch and when Lewis was bowled by an absolute ‘Jaffa’ WBCC were in trouble. Worse was to come when Tom Patrick was bowled and TA decided to keep their opening bowlers on for a fourth over apiece to try and get another wicket. The two Matts, Green and Wright, launched a counter attack with some powerful leg side shots which started to wrest the initiative back from TA. Just as they were beginning to dominate Matt W was bowled by a long hop shooter for a well played 19.

Nat Aitchison joined Matt G and they continued to attack. Eventually, when he had made the top score of the match, Matt missed a sweep shot and was bowled. Jake Punton came in and WBCC were looking like posting a good score when wickets started to tumble in a hurry. Jake was run out when Nat called him for an impossible run and two balls later Nat was stumped. Sam Pawson came and went in 3 balls and when Dominic Young was also stumped WBCC were all out for 80 and had failed to use 2 of their allotted 20 overs.

Nevertheless, 80 was just about a par score on a difficult pitch and WBCC were confident they could defend it if everybody bowled well. Lewis and Jake opened the bowling and it soon became evident that their extra pace caused the ball to bounce better and make run scoring slightly easier. Even so Jake took an early wicket thanks to a catch by Nat at short extra cover. TA were up with the run rate when the openers came off after 6 overs and WBCC turned to their slower bowlers. Nat and Matt W started to gain control as the ball bounced lower and lower and run getting became very difficult. Nat took a wicket with another shooter and at half way TA were 37 for 2.

From then on run scoring became almost impossible and the batsmen came under increasing pressure as the required run rate climbed steadily. When Nat and Matt completed their 4 overs, the required rate was up to 6 an over. The batsmen now had to attack and George Donkin bowled the TA no 3 with his first ball to end a good innings. With Matt Green giving nothing away at the other end the rate needed soon climber to 2 a ball. This was beyond TA and in the end WBCC only conceded 22 runs in the last 10 overs, an excellent effort.

As well as the bowlers bowled their efforts would have been in vain had it not been for the tremendous support they got from the fielders in our best fielding display so far this year. Sam Cable, Tom Patrick and Dominic Young were superb in the outfield, whilst the in fielders gave enthusiastic and committed support to the bowlers, as did Sam Pawson behind the stumps.

This was the hardest game of the season so far but the boys rose to the challenge well to maintain their unbeaten start. The strength of this team is its strength in depth. We have had a different top scorer in each game and everybody that has bowled has taken at least one wicket.

WBCC U13 V Netherton U13 May 12 2009
WBCC 155-2 Netherton 117 -4

WBCC entered this first round cup game in a confident mood after four straight league wins. They won the toss and elected to bat on a sunny evening with a cold easterly breeze.

Openers Lewis and Matt G got the innings away to a positive start at 5 runs an over with Matt initially the more dominant of the two. They were both particularly severe on anything short and leg side with a series of well timed pull shots. When the opening bowlers came off after 6 overs they had set a good platform for the innings with the score in the 30s.

The change bowlers found it impossible to slow the scoring rate and as Lewis started to find the gaps instead of the fielders the rate climbed gradually as the batsmen became more aggressive. To his great delight Lewis hit a six into the mid wicket fence before surviving a difficult chance high to the keeper’s right hand.

The initial target of 100 was revised as the rate pushed up towards six an over with the bowlers helpless to prevent a steady flow of boundaries. 120 became the target as the bat continued to dominate with both Matt and Lewis scoring freely. Overs 13 and 14 saw the bowlers slow the rate for the first time with only five runs scored. However a double figure ‘bonus’ including a massive pull for six by Lewis saw the target revised to 130.

Matt was eventually bowled for 45 in the 18th over, the second time in a week that he has fallen just short of a maiden fifty. The target was continually revised upwards as the onslaught continued. 130 became 140 and then 150. Sam Cable came in and scored a quick 8 before he sacrificed his wicket in the search for runs. Matt W continued the attack and the end of their 20 overs WBCC had amassed 155 for 2. Matt was not out 4 and Lewis not out 63, the highest score made by one of our U13s since I have been coaching them.

After their excellent bowling and fielding display against Thorpe Audlin on Sunday, everybody was confident that the boys would be able to defend this total with ease. However, the Netherton boys proved undaunted by the challenge and set off in pursuit at 5 runs an over, the same rate at which WBCC had started their innings. Although the bowlers bowled tidily, they received little support in the field.

Fielding techniques and concentration showed frailty against some powerful hitting. Several catches, some difficult were spilled. Balls went through fielders legs and throws to the wicketkeeper were wild and invariably at ankle height, making it difficult for him. WBCC used a number of bowlers as they sought the vital wicket of the big hitting Netherton No 3. However, nobody was able to dismiss him and he reached a fifty which his attacking display deserved.

In the end, the margin of victory looked quite comfortable, but if any of the other Netherton batsmen had been able to score at the same rate the result could have been in doubt. Whilst delighted to progress to the next round, the boys know that they will not be able to get away with such a poor fielding display if they are to defeat the better sides they come up against.

WBCC U13 v Fishlake U 13 May 17th 2009
WBCC 102-1 Fishlake 90-5

This game was an excellent advertisement for Under 13 cricket with two skilful and committed teams producing a compelling match of high standard, played in a tremendous spirit.

The outfield was damp and WBCC chose to bat first in the hope that they would be able to bowl with a dry ball in the second innings. Openers Lewis and Matt G soon found that they were unable to dominate the bowling as they had done in previous games. The bowlers bowled a tight line and length and run scoring was difficult with the ball running slowly over the wet grass. When Matt missed his favourite sweep and was bowled, the score was only 2. .

Sam Cable joined Lewis, but the bowlers continued to give nothing away, backed up by some superb ground fielding and throwing. Overs continued to tick away and a change of bowling brought no let up in the pressure being applied to the batsmen. Despite our best efforts, the score was only 30-1 at the halfway stage of our innings.

A mid pitch conference set an initial target of 4 an over for the rest of the innings to ensure a total of at least 70. The turning point came in the 11th over, when Lewis pounced on two leg side deliveries and whipped them away for 4. This proved the catalyst WBCC needed to kick start their innings and from then on the bat dominated the ball.

The target of 70 was quickly revised to 80, then 85 and then 90 as a scoring rate of at least 6 an over was achieved. Throughout this time the Fishlake fielding continued to be of a very high standard. Despite this, Lewis reached his third fifty of the season with one ball of the innings remaining. Tom Wright knocked this away for a single and the innings closed on 102-1. Sam Cable was 26 not out in an innings showing great maturity.

The key to our finishing with a good total was that Sam and Lewis didn’t panic when run scoring was difficult when Fishlake were on top. Once they got some momentum into the innings they sustained it until the end.

Fishlake’s openers attacked from the start and were quick to seize on any width offered. Aided by some uninspired fielding they set off at the required rate of 5 an over preventing WBCC from getting control. Both openers were adept at working the ball behind square for singles, whilst the powerful Jonathan Cowan hit boundaries on both sides of the wicket. The smaller opener, Will Holling showed great invention and confidence when he walked down the wicket to Lewis and ‘ramped’ the ball over the wicketkeepers head. The first time I’ve seen any body play this shot in Under 13 cricket.

A change of bowling at both ends saw Tom Wright and George Donkin coming on, whilst an injury to wicketkeeper Sam Pawson gave the gloves to Sam Cable. Tom and George settled into good spells and as Whitley’s fielding started to improve the Fishlake batsmen began to find it harder to score

WBCC were in urgent need of a wicket when Holling clipped the ball to square leg off Tom Wright and Nat Aitchison took a sharp chance just by the umpire. 43 for 1 in the 9th over.

Tom Patrick set the standard for the fielding with a brilliant one handed diving stop at short mid wicket to deny a certain boundary. This picked the rest of the fielding up and throws to the wicketkeeper suddenly became more accurate as we began to build pressure. When Lewis took a sharp catch at mid off , also off Tom Wright, to dismiss the dangerous Cowan the game was evenly poised. At halfway Fishlake were 47-2.

Tom Wright came off after 3 overs and was replaced by Nat Aichison, whilst Aidan Punton replaced George Donkin, who had bowled 4 excellent overs for just 13 runs. Nat and Aidan’s slow bowling asked questions of the Fishlake batsmen and meant they had to attack as the required run rate slowly inched higher. Good catches by Lewis and Tom Patrick gave good support to each bowler and when Nat bowled the No 6 the game had swung slightly in favour of WBCC. However, the Fishlake No 4 was picking up runs steadily although the boys were working hard to keep him off strike as much as possible. Nat Aitchison gave him nothing to hit through the off side and turned the ball just enough to defeat the attempted big shots as the left handed No 4 went for boundaries.

When Nat finished his four over spell with figures of 2 for 15 Fishlake needed 17 and Captain Lewis came on to try and close out the game. You could feel the sense of relief that went through he home supporters as the first two balls flashed past the bat and into the keeper’s gloves. A single off the third ball brought the left hander back on strike but the task of scoring 16 off 3 balls was too much.

There is an old cricketing adage that ’catches win matches‘. This proved true in this game with the boys taking 4 good catches to remove batsmen 1, 2, 3 and 5. This was a hard fought game that could easily have gone Fishlake’s way on another day. The players on both sides deserve a great deal of credit for the high quality of their play.

WBCC U 13 V Townville U13 May 24th 2009
WBCC 58-6 Townville 55-6

For the first time this season we had sunshine without the biting wind to chill the bones. Townville won the toss and chose to bat. Lewis and Jake opened the bowling for Whitley and run scoring from the bat was negligible. Only a flow of wides and extras kept the board ticking at 2 runs per over.

After 3 overs apiece Lewis and Jake were rested and replaced by George D and Matt W . The batsmen continued to find run scoring difficult but the trickle of wides and extras helped the score to continue creeping forward at 2 runs per over as Matt and George continued their excellent early season form.

One wicket apiece for Jake, Matt and George meant that Townville were under the cosh after 12 overs with too few runs on the board and too many early wickets lost. Nat and Tom W took up the bowling attack. Tom wasn’t quite at his best, but still took a wicket when a delivery rose sharply to take the shoulder of the bat and give wicketkeeper Sam P an easy catch. Aidan replaced Tom after 2 overs with his left arm spin whilst at the Weelands Road end Nat produced another fine spell of off spin bowling bowling which gave the batsmen nothing to hit despite their desperation to try and push the scoring along. Nat finally got his deserved wicket when he deceived the batsman in flight and had him bowled trying to push the ball through the leg side.

Townville finished on 55-6 which included 25 extras with wides top scoring with 16. Whilst the boys bowled well, they know that 16 wides is too many to bowl.

Townville only had 10 players so WBCC lent them their 12th man, Dominic, who was to play a crucial and almost vital part in the game.

The two Toms opened the batting with instructions to ‘do nothing silly’. A poor piece of running by one and an over optimistic call by the other resulted in Tom P being run out in the first over with only 2 runs on the board. Matt W came in and went on the attack immediately, which got the scoreboard moving but kept the fielders interested as two fierce hits almost stuck as fielders made brave attempts to catch him. When Tom was bowled for 9 by a good delivery playing forward the score was 20. Oliver joined Matt who was almost immediately very well caught by Dominic running in from cover for 15. .

In came George Metcalfe for his first game of the season after breaking his thumb. He was quickly bowled for 1 and the score was 28 for 4. Captain Lewis joined Oliver who was promptly bowled. 28 for 5. The in form Nat joined Lewis. Surely we would now see some calm batting. But no! Lewis struck a couple of boundaries but was lucky to be bowled off a no ball, whilst Nat played some frenetic ’air’ shots as the pressure of being 5 down played havoc with their confidence.

Another disaster threatened with nearly every ball and duly arrived in the shape of a comical ( as long as you weren’t a Whitley supporter) mix up between Lewis and Nat which ended up with Nat being run out. Nat hit the ball straight to short cover and there then followed a ’yes no yes no’ interlude that had every body confused and both batsmen running in the same direction at least twice. Eventually Lewis decided to head back to the safety of the non strikers end, unfortunately Nat decided to follow him and an easy return to the keeper saw him well out of his ground.

38 for 6 as a nervous Jake came out to the middle. Lewis decide to attack and try and finish the game quickly before any more calamitous batting cost us more wickets. A savage and full blooded pull appeared to be whistling to the mid wicket boundary when Dominic at short mid wicket flew to his right and the ball smacked into his outstretched right hand and stayed their for a tantalising split second before falling to the ground. It was a magnificent effort, it would have been the catch of the season and it would probably have left WBCC with too many runs left to score to win.

With Jake wisely deciding to hold up an end Lewis put us all out of our agonies with some fierce back foot boundaries to carry us past Townville’s total. Lewis finished 26 not out, a true Captain’s innings.

On paper this should have been a simple run chase for the boys. However, the beauty of this great game is that it isn’t played on paper, a lot of it is played in the mind. For the first time, the boys let their nerves get the better of them, they gave away too many soft wickets and very nearly lost the game. They know how lucky they were to escape with a victory after such a disappointing batting display. Nevertheless, they have now won all 7 games they have played, which is a magnificent start to the season.

WBCC U 13 V Netherton U13
Sunday 31st May 2009 - WBCC 21-1 Netherton 17 all out

On a beautiful hot sunny day WBCC travelled to the Calder valley to take on Netherton on their pretty little ground. When the two sides had met in the cup earlier in the month, Netherton had scored a creditable 107-4 in reply to the Bridge’s 155.

Netherton won the toss and chose to bat first. An uneventful first couple of overs saw the Netherton openers looking comfortable against some untidy bowling . After two overs the score was 10-0. The game started to turn dramatically in Jake’s second over when he clean bowled one of the openers and then caught and bowled the No 3 to move the score to 11-2. Lewis’s second over was even more dramatic. A sharp underarm throw by keeper Sam Cable earned Whitley a run out. When Lewis bowled the No 5 and had the No 6 caught by leading catcher Nat, the innings was in tatters at 11-5.

Jake’s next over saw the No 7 also beaten for pace and bowled and with Lewis proving too quick and accurate for Nos 7 and 9 the score had collapsed to 13-8 at the end of over No 6. 8 wickets had fallen for just 3 runs in only 4 overs.

The remaining bowlers found that the Netherton tail enders were determined not to give their wickets away as they showed sound defence against a quartet of Oliver, Aidan, George D and Dominic. The wickets went to George and Oliver, but credit to the Netherton boys for resisting for another 7 overs before being dismissed.

A total of 17 was never going to be a challenge. However, Matthew Green was unable to repeat the good form he showed against them in the cup and was bowled for 1 with the score at 3. George M and Nat then saw us safely home. In order to give everybody a game, it was agreed that we would continue batting with our batting order reversed and batsmen retiring when they had scored 15.

George M completed his 15 and showed welcome signs of a return to form after his broken thumb. Nat was out to a good catch for 7 which brought in Dominic to face the impressive opening bowler, Ben Wiper who had only conceded 4 runs in his previous 3 ½ overs. Dominic proceeded to pull his first ball for a majestic four, his first ever boundary, and followed it up next ball with a fine lofted drive over mid on for another.

Other boys to bat well were Aidan who scored a career best 10 and Matt W and Oliver who both retired. Oliver’s innings was particularly short and sweet comprising of four powerfully hit 4s.

All in all this was a very impressive performance form the boys. It is pleasing to see all the Friday fielding practice bringing benefits on Sundays with catches and run outs. It was also nice to see more boys having the confidence to play attacking shots on Sunday. Who knows when we will need one of our lower order batsmen to score us a vital winning run.

WBCC U13 V Glasshoughton 7th June 2009
WBCC 127-1 Glasshoughton 70-9

After the torrential rain of Friday which caused the cancellation of many senior Saturday fixtures, it was a pleasure to find that Sunday’s forecast rain had not arrived.

WBCC won the toss and chose to bat first. Openers Lewis and Sam C took control from the first over, being quick to punish anything short with strong pulls. A deep set off side field gave them the chance to pick up a single from nearly every good ball, but their running and calling was a little hesitant so that singles were missed.

With the run rate running consistently at between 6 and 7 an over the half way score was 68. A final target of 150 was identified as realistic, particularly as the boys had now got the pace of a slow wicket and were unleashing some powerful drives. However, the inconsistency in the running meant that the run rate did not accelerate, albeit when Lewis retired in the 16th over the score was already past 100. Lewis’ 51 was his fourth half century of a prolific season and contained 8 fours.

Matt W joined Sam and the score continued to tick along at the same rate. The ability to push the ball into gaps and score of every ball is a skill the boys need to develop and improve so that they can turn good situations like this one into dominant positions. Sam was eventually out LBW for a well played 40 having turned down an easy single off the previous ball. A harsh lesson in the importance of taking every run that is on offer.

Tom P joined Matt and both hit a boundary apiece as they took the score to 127, a good score but a little disappointing from the comfort of 68-0 after 10 overs. Matt finished not out 11 and Tom not out 8.

Jake and George D opened the bowling and both continued their good form, so that after their opening spell of 3 overs each, Glasshoughton were reduced to 22 for 3. Jake had two wickets for 3 and George 1 for 15. With the game firmly in control, the Bridge set attacking fields and rotated their bowlers to give everyone, including 12th man Ian, the chance of a bowl. Wickets were taken by George M with 2 for 3 and Dominic with 1 for 11. Dominic took the wicket of top scorer Sam Angel, who scored 21.

WBCC again fielded well as demonstrated by 3 run outs. Two were due to good work by Lewis and Matt W but the third was due to a calamitous mix up between the two batsmen.

This was another good performance by the boys, who are growing in confidence as their unbeaten run continues. They will get a better test of their ability on Thursday, when they are away to Conisbrough in the second round of the cup. Conisbrough will be keen to avenge their defeat in last year’s cup.

WBCC U11 v Streethouse U13 June 14th 2009
WBCC 117-0 Streethouse 85 all out

The spectators who came on this beautiful sunny Sunday were treated to the best display of Under 13 ground fielding and throwing I have ever seen. Streethouse belied their lowly league position to produce a magnificent fielding display which saved them 30/40 runs.

WBCC batted first with openers Lewis and Sam C facing up to a good bowling attack, with a left arm round quick bowler and a right arm away swing bowler. The field was deep set from the start and the boys started off at five an over with a mixture of singles, byes and wides as the bowlers struggled to control the swing of the new ball. The quality of the out fielding meant boundaries were hard to come by as numerous powerful shots were stopped and accurate throwing prevented more than a single. However, the defensive field meant the boys were able to keep the board ticking over with singles, and whilst we never had a really big over, we were always scoring at a good rate.

The boys showed good confidence and maturity as they built the innings towards a competitive total and didn’t become impatient at the lack of boundaries. Their stroke play was selective and controlled and with a bit more aggressive running they could have pushed the scoring rate over 6 an over. However, 117 was a very good effort, with Lewis finishing on 49 and Sam 39.

The boys were set the target of matching the quality of the Streethouse fielding when they took the field. Whilst the bowlers rose to the challenge magnificently, with all 6 bowlers used turning in good performances, the fielding display was erratic, ranging from excellent top very poor. Whilst some very good catches were taken, several were dropped, numerous straightforward run out chances were missed and casual ground fielding gave away too many soft runs.

With Jake resting under our rotation policy, Lewis and George D opened the bowling and gave nothing away with miserly opening spells which pushed Streethouse behind the asking rate from the start., despite their positive running between the wickets as they took quick singles to rotate the strike. Lewis bowled 3 overs for 13 and George 4 overs 1 for 12, with his wicket courtesy of a catch by Lewis.

WBCC were just on top when first change bowlers George M and Tom W came on. Although they were not quite as economical as the openers they benefited from the pressure that had been created as the batsmen started to take chances. Despite the fielding erratics, Tom Wright took two excellent catches, one off a skier and one off a fierce straight drive as wickets started to tumble. George finished with 2 for 15 in 3 overs and Tom 1 for 26 in 4 overs.

The decisive turn that finally put WBB firmly in charge came when Nat came on to bowl after 12 overs. He produced an excellent spell of controlled off spin, his 4 overs costing just 11 runs and producing 2 wickets as he gave the batsmen nothing easy to score off. At the other end, Aidan came on to bowl overs 18 and 20 and benefited from the pressure that had been created to pick up 3 for 7 in just 2 overs.

Amidst the fielding dross there were some notable performances. As well as Tom, Lewis took 2 good catches and both boys showed good ground fielding techniques. Aidan took one brilliant diving catch, although sadly it was off a no ball and we did finally take one of the run out chances.

Following on from the nail biting victory at Conisbrough in the cup onTuesday this was a much improved performance. The boys have now won all 11 games that they have played so far and have exceeded our wildest hopes for the season. They are currently top of the league and have a lot to play for in the next 2 weeks with a cup semi final against South Kirby and a league game against Brodsworth, who are the other undefeated team in the league.