The cricket season has started well this year. Training sessions have been punctuated by athletics trials and bouts of rain but despite this we have had some very competitive games so early in the year.
The 1st and 2nd teams won both their opening matches again Thomas’s Battersea and Dulwich College. The under 10 boys had some very close games against Dulwich College and they showed some great composure in either setting or defending targets. The early season batting collapse or self-destruct with the ball seems not to have appeared this year with all the teams involved in close competitive matches.
The same can be said for our under 11 boys who played their opening fixtures against Dulwich College and Trinity. In three of these encounters matches were either won or lost in the final over. The U11A team put on a great run chase against Trinity last week. Needing 14 off the final over they lost by only 2 runs. It was great to hear about their controlled and mature approach to the run chase.
Our under 12 boys have played Northcote Lodge and Dulwich College. Victories against Northcote U13s gave us some much need confidence before playing Dulwich College last Saturday. The boys competed well against DC but as is always the case in cricket, dropped chances or missed run outs cost us the result in close games.
A few highlights from the U13 games against Dulwich College include the second team’s run chase. Having been set a target in excess of 160 they boldly went forward and passed the total with only 1 wicket down with both Laki Basic and James Hawkins scoring half centuries. The first team started slowly in their game and after only having 55 on the board at 15 overs, we eventually set them a target of 158 once we had completed our 25 overs. This was largely down to a brutal innings from the first team captain, Ollie Sykes who scored 79 off 49 balls. Of the 49 balls, 21 were dot ball so he effectively scored 79 off 28. It was a tremendous innings to watch (from the safety of the umpiring position) both for its composure and ferocity.
It has been a successful start to the season overall and we hope the weather plays its part after half term so that we can have an uninterrupted run into the summer break.
