Category: 2010 u13

Friendly vs Belhus u13B (Home)

Rayleigh U13B 108 for 3 off 20 Overs

Belhus U13B 112 for 6 off 18.4 Overs
Belhus U13B won by 4 wickets

Team; Nathan B, Cameron G*†, Chris H, Charlie M, Chris M, George C, Mahir P, Alex D, and Jordon J.

Having agreed to run the match on Friday morning by Saturday evening I was beginning to regret my decision (Thanks for stepping in. MH). I got back from Great Wakering at 19.40 to find I had just 6 players, I left at 12.15 thinking I had 9 and was waiting on two others. The next two hours was spent trying to find Colts to make up the team, between Friday and Saturday I tried 24 in total! By mid-day on Sunday I had absolutely no regrets, as I was part of a fantastic match played in the true spirit of cricket.

Batting first Rayleigh put a more than respectable 108 on the board with both Cameron and Charlie (a first) retiring on 28 and 27 respectively. This gave us the added bonus that, if needed, we now had 11 batters. The big question was, could we defend our second highest batting total of the season when we took to the field?

The first over was a little expensive, the first person to react to this was the Belhus coach who asked for two volunteers to field for Rayleigh. He had a queue of willing lads.

Apart from the keeper, Cameron, who is also the skipper, everyone got to bowl. Jordon, Mahir, Chris M and George each picked up a wicket. There was also two run outs: one was a fine piece of ground fielding by one of the Belhus lads to remove one of his own. Belhus went past our total with eight balls to spare.

To a man all the players left the field with a smile on their faces, no tears or tantrums or even the often heard “I wasn’t out”.

Finally my thanks to Murray for scoring, Hugh for Umpiring, the ladies for tea, the biggest thank-you goes to the two sets of players, for a highly entertaining game of cricket.

SEDCB ‘B’ League East Group vs Canvey Island u13 (Home)

Canvey Island 145 for 8

Rayleigh 69 all out
Canvey Island won by 76 runs.

Team: Charlie W, Nathan B, Connor B, Ben E, James H*, Ben L†, Ben C, Chris M, George C, Chris H, Louise H.

The penultimate League game of the season and things should be running smoothly by now. James H was captain for this week and had asked for the team list in advance. Having got the final version from Mike Sullivan only the night before I passed it to James to consider his batting and bowling attack. When all 11 players turned up there was only the one change so James had a more accurate list than Nathan the week before.

Canvey Island won the toss and chose to bat first. The first ball delivered by our attack was a wide which made their decision look good. The second was a wicket which caused judgement to be reserved. Generally our bowling was slightly better but still needed work. Several of the bowlers either don’t get their bowling arms higher than their shoulder and/or don’t use the non-bowling side to help with accuracy and power.

There was some good bowling from Louise (3–0–12–0), Chris H (3–0–10–2), Nathan (2–0–7–0) and James (2–0–13–1) with Chris H taking 2 wickets as well. Ben E took a couple of wickets but was a little expensive giving away 26 runs in his 3 overs.

Canvey batted well punishing balls that were there to be hit and scoring boundaries on a frequent basis. Our fielding improved during the game and, although 145 is a high score, in a slightly perverse way the score was high because our bowling had improved enough for the batters to hit it. Now we need to bowl a little fuller to reduce the cross-batted pull to long leg.

At half time the team recognised that the score was quite daunting and that we needed good running as well as some boundaries to win. Nathan and Charlie opened the batting and Nathan called a quick single from the first ball, which he got. Unfortunately he then tried to pull a highish full toss, got a top edge and was caught. 1 wicket down for 1 run. Charlie soon followed him with the first LBW dismissal I have seen this season. 2 down in as many overs did not bode well.

However Connor B batted well, eventually having having to retire on 25. The rest of the team was less successful with a combination of some good catching by Canvey, straight bowling and, possibly, some self imposed pressure meaning wickets went with no other individual getting to double figures and the team total of 69 being lower than our recent efforts. One more League game to go, against SOSEMT on the 25th.

SEDCB ‘B’ League East Group vs SOSEMT u13 (Away)

SOSEMT 136 for 0
Rayleigh 84 for 9
SOSEMT won by 52 runs.

Team: Chris M, David C, Nathan B*, George C, Charlie W, James H, Ben L†, Ben C, Matthew A, Ben E, Neil K.

On the ground that Australia scored 721 in one day and Don Bradman scored 187 runs in just over two hours we played SOSEMT on a sunny Independence Day. Nathan was captain, won the toss and decided to field first.

After some confusion because the team sheet I’d supplied bore little resemblance to the players that actually turned up (Mike Sullivan has a lot to do trying to run 3 youth teams and co-ordinate the Colts’ coaching across the club) Nathan worked out his bowling attack over by over and the game started. SOSEMT had the knack of leaving the wide balls and hitting the closer ones for 4. All the bowlers suffered to an extent although Neil K, Charlie W and David C all turned in better than average figures. Unfortunately we were unable to take any wickets.

At half time the feeling was fair: 136 was just over a run a ball and we had some good batters. However losing two of them in the first over and 2 of the top 3 for nought meant we were behind the rate almost from the off. There was some good, aggressive (sometimes suicidal) running between the wickets which put SOSEMT under pressure and generally we got away with it. The only person run out was Ben L who was injured by a full toss, returned after running repairs and wasn’t quick enough for the single he called. Generally SOSEMT bowled faster than we did getting through several players defences with all the rest of our bats clean bowled.

Another loss but another improved performance. Although not as good as the Australians in 1948.

Rayleigh U13B vs. Leigh U13 27/6/2010

Leigh 134 for 6
Rayleigh 104 for 4
Leigh won by 30 runs.

Team: Sam A (captain), Dan H, Charlie M, George C, Chris M, Connor Brooks, Ben E, Cameron G, Charlie W, Ben L, Jack B.

On the hottest day of the year so far we hosted Leigh in the return fixture of the League. Sam A was captain for the day, won the toss and opted to bowl first. Both teams were changed from our earlier meeting with some new players with little experience. We started well with Charlie M getting a wicket in the 4th over but Leigh batted well with their opener retiring on 26 undefeated. He was the only one though with a further 5 wickets being taken by Rayleigh bowlers and fielders (1 bowled, 3 caught and 1 run out). Leigh scored a solid 134 for 6 with Sam’s view at half time that we’d allowed too many runs in the field and bowled too many extras being harsh but fair.

Chris M and Dan H opened the batting with Chris unfortunately being out without scoring. Dan followed him not long after for 1. Connor B (26*) played a valuable innings as did Sam A (12) and Cameron G (25*). We did fall behind the run rate due to some good bowling and fielding by Leigh so the ‘tail end Charlies’ (W and M) were not able to push on when it was needed. We finished on 104 for 4, 31 runs short of vistory but overall a fair performance with two retiring undefeated.

Given the heat the team kept at it well for both innings.

Rankins vs. U13A 30/5/2010

Team: Luke Keeley (capt), Steven Lynch, Jai Patel, Charles King, Kelly Castle, David Cox, Ben Eagles, Charlie May, Neil Kelly, Francesca King, Chris Hall

Rankins won by 4 wickets.

Our second league game of the season saw us at the picturesque setting of Rankins’ Stambridge ground. Winning the toss, Luke chose to bat first and get runs on the board. A lively 25 run opening stand in 4 overs between Luke and Steven was broken when Steven was bowled for 11. Luke again held the innings together quite brilliantly for 27 (ret), and some lusty blows from Charles King (10) pushed the score along. From then on, our middle order found scoring difficult against a disciplined home attack and we closed on 92–5, probably 20 runs short of a challenging target on some short boundaries.

 

Continue reading “Rankins vs. U13A 30/5/2010”

Belhus vs U13A 23/5/2010

The second round of the cup competition presented us with a tough away draw to Belhus at their North Stifford ground. On a gloriously sunny morning, Belhus batted first and a talented batting line-up posted an impressive 138 for 2, with 2 of their batsman retiring on 30 and a third finishing not out on 28. Again, the 2 Lukes bowled well, (4–0–20–1 and 4–0–23–1), along with some tidy overs from Jai Patel, Charles King and Steven Lynch. Our remaining bowlers did their level best to contain some hard-hitting Belhus batsmen but this was never going to be an easy task. We had a mixed day in the field with some great efforts interspersed with some not so great ones, but the 13 conceded in wides this week is a massive improvement on the Benfleet game.

The home side’s attack proved to be extremely accurate and gave little away. A solid opening stand between Luke K and Steven put on 60 in 12 overs with Steven retiring on 30. Luke K fell on 27 to one that kept low and skipper Matt J (25no) mounted a late assault but the run-rate proved beyond us as we closed on 96 for 3. Certainly we were not disgraced here against a good Belhus side and are now, as they say, free to concentrate on the league.

 

OSSC u13B vs. Rayleigh u13B 16/5/2010

OSSC 183 for 1
Rayleigh 66 for 4
Rayleigh lost by 117 runs.

Team: Ben E. (Capt), George C., Ben L., James H., Ben C, Nathan B., Cameron G., Sam and Aaron.

OSSC U13s batted first and their first three players retired undefeated. Their opening bats were a bit older than our bowling and they played the sweep shot to good effect. We also gave away quite a few extras.

Our fielding was improved on last week (although at times it was unclear who was setting the positions). With the U13Bs nearly everyone wants to input (which is good) – all I need to do is allow them to create some order. Ben E was captain for the second time (so will probably be stood down next match). We did have new wicketkeepers – Cameron did the first 10 and Aaron the second part.

OSSCs scored 183 for 1 (with 3 retired) from 20 overs which was a big target. The sun had also gone in making my decision to wear shorts look hasty and ill-judged.

During our batting we were a lot more disciplined than last week. The ball kept low, there was some rain and quite a breeze so caution was important. A couple of wickets fell reasonably quickly then Nathan and Ben L had a stable parnership which, whilst not high scoring, was very impressive. We may need to work on scoring, but most importantly they both stayed and batted for a decent period. Possible Test batsman of the future?

When Nathan was out towards the end George took his place and played solidly being beaten by a straight delivery that bounced three times before it hit the wicket … but only twice before the popping crease which means it was a legal delivery. Ben E then saw the innings out with Ben L.

Overall an improvement on last week, most people seemed to enjoy themselves, the weather must get better soon and maybe next week we will have 11 players.

Benfleet vs. U13A 9/5/2010

For the 13As’ first league game of the season, we travelled to Benfleet with my own hopes for an extended lie-in dashed by the rain easing off towards the scheduled start time. With the outfield slowed by the early morning showers, a low scoring affair was in prospect, where the game would hinge on solid teamwork and moments of individual inspiration. Benfleet batted first, and were restricted to 75–9 thanks to two such moments, with Luke K clean bowling Benfleet’s dangerous opener Charlie without scoring and a superb run out from the bullet-like arm of Chris Hall to remove the other opener Josh who was going well on 13. A mixed bowling performance from our lads, who conceded a startling 43 in wides and no balls. Luke S (2 – 15 from 4) and Luke K (1 – 7 from 4) providing the main spearhead.

A lively and accurate Benfleet opening attack restricted scoring, but some careful defensive play (a mis-print SURELY?!) from Steven L and Matt J saw off the openers with Matt falling in the 4th. By the 10th over the score had reached 27 for 4, still with work to be done. Another solid partnership between Steven and the unflappable Luke K for the 5th wicket took the score to 58 before a bizarre mix-up with the poor shivering scorer (sorry!) led to Steven being given out LBW when he should by rights have recorded a second retirement of the season. It was left to the wise old head of Luke K to shepherd us home with 3.5 overs to spare. A keenly fought contest between 2 evenly matched teams, played in a good spirit by both sides and despite the grim weather well supported by both sets of parents. Some important lessons from the game — 1) extras can potentially be costly, 2) parents who can’t add up should be kept well away from the scorebook, particularly when their own offspring is batting…

 

u13A vs Southend on Sea Echo Monarchs and Trojans, 7/5/2010

The season’s first competitive fixture saw our u13As with a home draw in the cup against the newly merged SOSEMT. Batting first, a sensible opening partnership of 76 in 14 overs between Steven L (30 retired) and Luke K (24) with a late flurry from Luke S (16no) gave Rayleigh a very competitive 114–2. The visitors worked hard for runs against some very tight Rayleigh bowling backed by a sharp fielding performance, closing on 29–9 (Charles K 2–4, Jai P 2–3, Mihir P 2–1). So the boys progress to the second round .