This game was always going to be a challenge for our team, not because of the opposition but because of the small number of players available. We thought we had nine players but we had a late cancellation but Kirkham kindly lent us a player in the field.
William skipper for the match won the toss and elected to field; wise choice. Our bowling tonight was the best as a unit that we have done. In particular there were some personal bests both with the ball and with our fielding. You cant ask for anything else as a coach.. Sam S, our best bowler of the evening finished with astounding figures of 2 overs, 3 wickets for 2 runs and what's more took 2 great catches. Great stuff! But not let's forget our other great bowling performances. Of note was Benedict with 3 wickets in one over...brilliant, Daniel with a 'Shane Warne' (or Moeen Ali for the younger cricketers) type delivery and 'Mr Reliable' Isaac (rarely does he not pick up a wicket). Unfortunately a very dodgy umpiring decision (by me) denied Amy her first wicket of the season. Amy's run up is helping her deliver more consistent deliveries in the right area. Well done Amy. Finally a mention about our catching: A fantastic 5 in total. 2 by Sam S and 3 by William C. In seniors we always think if you are a man short you lose approximately 10 runs in the field so their total of 103 was probably more like 83. A more achievable target to bat towards. A shuffling around at the top of the order meant Woody and Sam W opening. Woody did the hard part of his job but a slight loss in concentration (that's all it takes at this level) and he lost his wicket. Benedict strolled to the wicket carrying a pre-game injury. If he can bat like he did carrying an injury goodness knows what he will be like when he's 100%! The best batting partnership we've seen in the team to date was Sam W and Benedict. They fully concentrated on every ball, playing each ball on it's merit, very technically correct. Great to see.The more time that you spend at the crease the better you get and the more runs you will score. The 2 best shots of the day, from either team, were almost identical - one from Benedict and one from Sam W driving the ball behind the square. Vital runs at the end with good running by Amy ensured we got 61 for 6 at the end and hence a batting point.. Well done - for we got 3 bowling points and 1 batting point. Don't forget we bowled their side all out and they only got 6 of us out. Thanks to Super Phil for scoring (we hope you have thawed out!) and to all the parents (and Woody's Grandma) who came along to support the players. Finally a word to William E.- we are all thinking of you and we wish you a speedy recovery for your hand injury. Hopefully the recovery time will soon pass and you will be straight back in the team. The Team misses you. |
How we can improve
We bowled well as a team with everyone contributing. The catching was outstanding.
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What we must learn from this game
Even with 8 players if everyone plays their part we can still compete.
We must learn how to cope with opposition tactics when we are batting. We will cover this in the next training session. |
Magic moments
The two magic moments were
Sam S's 2 caught and bowled in one over and Benedict's 3 wickets in one over. Tremendous. |