Colts Match Reports 2006

Sunday 18th June 2006
Avorians (110-6) lost to Whiteley Village (137-4) by 27 runs.
Avorians Man of the Match – Chris Smith
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The U13 league season came to a finish on Sunday with the As just falling short in an exciting run chase. The As were weakened by the late withdrawal of in form James Palmer, leaving Jonny Tribe to captain. The As lost the toss and were sent into the field. Playing on the southern smaller pitch, high scoring was always a possibility, and Whiteley Village made a confident start. The 50 came up in the 8th over and the score was 64 before Sam Moore trapped Roberts in front for 21. Patel came to the wicket and, in what was probably the turning point of the match, the Whiteley Village No 3 was missed off two difficult chances in two overs. He hit well and was retired for 33, the second Whiteley batsman to be retired. Tribe and Will Davis took three wickets in the last four overs, two of them to good catches by George Mather, and Whiteley closed on 137-6.

138 was always going to be a challenging but gettable target on the small pitch. Chris Smith and Ewan McTaggart made a good start, getting to 29 until Ewan was unluckily given run out. Rob Partridge got a good one early on, bringing the captain Tribe to the wicket. He and Smith batted confidently to take the score to 75 in the 14th over and then Tribe played too early at the off spinner Heard and was caught at mid off. Soon after, Chris Smith was retired for 30 and the As lower order was caught having to score too fast too quickly. Runs came but so did wickets and De Jesus took two in the last over to leave the As to close on 110-6.

The league season has ended and a young As side has held its own against bigger and more experienced opposition. This season has seen all the batsmen develop and become more confident and the last match has had our first 30 retired. The bowlers have gained accuracy and penetration and the last match was a record for fewest wides – 7. The fielding has improved and the squad has gained a large amount of cricket knowledge across the season. This development must be looked at in concert with the fact that all of the team fielded today will be eligible for this fixture next year, and indeed we have only three actual U13’s in our U13 squad. Such promise in the squad leads us all to look forward to the 2007 league season with a great deal of anticipation. Until then we move to friendly cricket, along with the regular Friday night coaching sessions and all the squad will be looking forward to continue the upward curve of development that we have started this year.

Sunday 11th June 2006
Weybridge 182-6 beat Avorians 52 by 130 runs
Avorians Man of the Match – James Palmer

On a grilling hot Sunday morning at West End, Esher, Avorians were comprehensively beaten by an older and aggressive Weybridge side. The toss was won by Weybridge who started briskly as the As bowlers struggled to control the new ball. The 50 came up in the 7th over and both the Weybridge openers raced to 30 run retirements. Hope flickered briefly for the As as two wickets fell quickly but then Ashley-Collins and Bates also both reached 30. The As could have been facing over 200, but two tight overs at the end of the innings from James Palmer and Dominic Worth held Weybridge to 182. Palmer and Worth were the pick of the bowlers taking 2-12 and 2-19 respectively.

To chase down 182 needs a good start and Palmer hit two fours in the first over, but then the As found scoring difficult against accurate bowling. The As reached 23 without loss but were well behind the scoring rate. They needed to take control over the Weybridge change bowlers, but such an approach is risky, Palmer was caught in the deep for a brave 13, Tribe hit to cover, Rossi was bowled and McTaggart misjudged an off break. At 29-5 resistance came from Partridge and Davis who took the score to 41 before both were out. Yorke, Mather and Moore all batted bravely but in the end, in an outcome disappointingly similar to the previous week, the innings closes in the 20th over with the score on 52.

The match was almost a carbon copy of the previous week’s as our team came up against a powerful and older side. We are in our first season competing with a young team whereas Weybridge have had an established colts section for a number of years. Again 10 of this team will be available for this fixture next year, which promises great things for the future. Although outplayed the As heads never went down, and spirits were kept up through the vocal captaincy of James Palmer, assisted by “senior pro” Jonny Tribe. The fielding, in spite of the score, was sharp although it was disappointing to see a return of “wideitus” as the As struggled to control the new ball. The team demonstrated a great spirit today and they are all looking forward to working on the game at the next coaching session.

Friday 9th June 2006
Result: Stoke D'Abernon won by 146 runs.

The Avorians were forced into the field by outside elements against a strong Stoke side that had a considerable size and age advantage. However the Avorians bowling was poor and we must put more work in on the training night to get line and length better. Our batting was better considering that this was the first competitive match for three of the Avorians team, a brave effort from Kristian Wilkes and Bashir Mitchell who overcame nerves to have a partnership worth 14. As always fun was had but we have much to work on.

Sunday 4th June 2006
Avorians U13 (73) lost at home to Walton on Thames (141-3) by 68 runs
A's Man of the Match – Ewen McTaggart
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Summer arrived with a bang on Sunday in Cobham but the A's again came up short against the powerful Walton on Thames side. The A's were weakened by holiday commitments and fielded another young side, with only one player who would not be available for this fixture next year. Walton won the toss and batted, starting slowly against accurate bowling by Ewen McTaggart and Chris Smith. At 52-3 in the 11th over, the A's were in tight control, but there would be no more wickets to fall as the powerful Walton middle order took toll of a bowling attack missing key players and weakened by the late withdrawal through injury of Sam Moore. On a beautiful batting track, Walton scored freely and finished on 141 after their 20 overs.

The As lost an early wicket, when Chris Smith was bowled early on, but then James Palmer and Robert Partridge took the score to 23, without really looking in trouble. The fast Walton change bowlers, it’s doubtful that we will face such pace again this season, ripped through the middle order to leave the A's reeling at 34-5. The rot was stopped by a 6th wicket partnership of 24 between Ewen McTaggart and debutant Jack Foulkes, before Jack was caught in the deep for 11. Ewen battled on but wickets fell on a regular basis and he himself was out for 11, going back instead of forward to an off break. By now it was a case of batting the 20 overs for pride and the A's got to the last over before George Mather was bowled by the returning fast bowler, Newell, who finished with 4-9 off 2.2 overs.

In spite of the heavy defeat there were many positives to be drawn from another improved performance for the As. The last time these teams met, on the 12th May, Walton scored 208, restricting the A's to 51 off their 20 overs. However, the scores themselves only partially reflect the improvement. The side was positively led by James Palmer, the fielding was sharp, the running between wickets was much improved, Ben Yorke put in another solid display behind the stumps and the bowlers conceded only 8 wides across the whole Walton innings. It was such a performance that the management were wistfully thinking of holiday commitments that came at the wrong time, a man of the match performance from a 10 year old and a feeling of what might have been, against a team rapidly becoming our particular rivals.

Friday 2nd June 2006
Avorians U10 vs Normandy (A) - Normandy 266 off 20 overs by Avorians 231 off 20 overs

Ewan Mctaggart the captain won the toss and decided to bat to take advantage of the good light conditions. Worth and Mctaggart made a solid start scoring 15 runs, Hadley and Lee-Brown continued the good work adding 10. Yorke and Saunders scored at a good rate but gave their wickets away to easily, Bea Mathers and Foulkes batted well and bravely against some very good bowling. The Moore bros did well considering the opening bowlers were back on but still manged to steer the Avorians to a total of 231 which was always going to be a hard target to defend.

Normandy reached the total fairly easily despite some good bowling, Mctaggart and Worth leading from the front bowled well and were always threatening and were unlucky not to take more wickets. They were backed up well by Yorke and Saunders, Saunders bowling overs taking three wickets for 10 runs and no wides. Special mention should go to Tom Moore bowling in his first game bowled two overs taking one wicket and only one wide. Good effort.

We lost to a very competent Normandy side who have been playing togethor for two years so in only our second game we did very well we must concentrate on reducing the number of wides bowled and must learn to take all the runs on offer, but overall we competed well.

26th May 2006
Avorians U10 (62) beat Cobshot Rascals (45) by 17 runs

Avorians U10 got their hardball season off to a winning start on Friday evening beating a competitive Cobshot Rascals by 17 runs. U10’s play pairs cricket where all people bat in pairs for 3 overs each, with a 4 run penalty for each wicket lost. Avorians won the toss and batted. They made a solid start and crucially protected their wickets, losing only 2 across the whole innings. Their total was boosted by James Lindon-Travers and Jack Hames who had an impressive 22 partnership in the last three overs. Best bowler for Cobshot Rascals was Niall Saunders, an Avorian himself, in his first match back after injury who took 1-4 off his 2 overs.

Cobshot Rascals started the chase brightly but, in an indication of what was to come, lost their first wicket in the 3rd over. They kept up well with the chase in spite of being consistently pegged back by losing wickets. Needing 11 off the last three overs, Cobshot Rascals looked the favourites but in spite of their excellent running between the wickets, the loss of 3 wickets finally pegged them back to a score of 45. Bowling honours for Avorians went to debutants Thanushan Varatharajan (1-2 off 2 overs) and Jack Hames (1-4 off 2 overs). Special mention must go to James Lindon-Travers who put in a great performance behind the stumps and shows great promise as a wicketkeeper.

A very enjoyable game was watched by many enthusiastic parents and special mention should go to John Lane who defied the odds with the inclement weather and ensured we had a good pitch to play on and also to Simon Yorke for bringing his invitation XI to Avorians yet again.

26th May 2006
Pyrford U13 92-6 (20 overs) by Cobham Avorians U13 87-6 (20 overs) by 5 runs
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The Under 13s were narrowly beaten by Pyrford in an enthralling match which went down to the wire. The A’s won the toss and put Pyrford in on a muggy evening and the swinging ball caused significant problems to the opening attack with 18 runs being conceded in wides and no balls in the opening 4 overs as Pyrford raced to 35-0. In the 5^th over, Will Davis removed Pyrford opener Chisholm for an excellent 13 as the A’s clawed their way back into the match. Tight bowling from George Mather, James Palmer, Carl Vilela-Mansell, Will Pocock and Toby Webb in the middle of the innings backed up by some excellent wicket keeping from Avorians man of the match, Ben Yorke, restricted Pyrford to just 92-6 off their 20 overs. Jonathan Tribe picked up a double wicket maiden in the last over of the innings but a whopping 61 extras was to prove to be the difference between the two teams.

James Palmer and Chris Smith continued their hot streak opening the innings with a partnership of 34 in just 4 overs as the A’s hurried towards victory. However good bowling in the middle of the innings again, this time from Booth who picked up 4-10 and Robinson, meant that despite a cameo of 16 from Jonathan Tribe, the A’s were left needing 10 to win off the last 4 overs. Amazingly with one over to go the target was only down to 7 as Will Pocock and Toby Webb struggled to put bat to ball. A single was taken off the first ball of the final over but 3 dot balls followed before Will Pocock was bowled going for a big hit. This left Will Davis to come in and score 6 off the last ball which sadly was not to be.

Avorians yet again beat their highest score of the season as they showed the batting is improving well but it was the 50 wides conceded in the field which was our downfall. With 2 wins out of 4 matches our young side should not be downhearted – more work on our bowling accuracy is clearly required though!

21st May 2006
Cobham Avorians U-13 63-2 off 13 overs
Old Woking 60-7 off 20 overs
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Following the disappointment of the defeat at Chertsey on Friday (report to follow), the Under 13s bounced back with a resounding defeat of Old Woking this Sunday morning in the pouring rain. The A's won the toss and put Old Woking in and skipper Will Davis soon took two quick wickets to put Old Woking under pressure. Tight bowling from Chris Smith strengthen the Avorians grip on the match and then 3 wickets from Ewan McTaggart and Dominic Worth, our two 10 year olds, left Old Woking in deep trouble at 56-7. Ben Yorke excelled behind the stumps as Old Woking ended their 20 overs on 60-7. In reply man of the match, Chris Smith, revelling in his new position as opener and Carl Vilela-Mansell opening for the first time, equalled their record stand of 32 achieved in the opening match of the season for the 10th wicket - it's not often the same two batsmen share the record 1st and record 10th wicket partnership in the same season! Rob Partridge kept the score ticking along with Smithy when Carl was out and then when Rob departed, Jonathan Tribe came in and finished it off in style with a six and two fours as the Avorians crusied to victory by 8 wickets. With 2 wins and 1 defeat from our opening three league games, the U13s should be delighted with a great start to the season. Their next game is away to Pyrford on Friday.

19th May 2006 (delayed from Monday 15th)
Chertsey U13a (Away)
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The A’s U13 were at Chertsey on a very dull Friday evening for the game that was postponed from Monday 15^th. As the sides were warming up before the game, the rain started, gently at first, but it became heavier as the match progressed. Jonathan Tribe won the toss for the A’s, and with probable worsening light conditions in mind, chose to bat first.

James Palmer & Chris Smith made a solid start against a pacey and accurate Chertsey attack, led by the substantial figure of Jacob AKA “The Honey Monster”. In the 5^th over with the score on 13, Jacob struck twice in successive balls to remove Chris and Rob Partridge, both with very good deliveries. The captain came to the crease and successfully negotiated the accurate Chertsey attack, and together with James they took the score to 73 before Jonny was LBW for a valuable 13. Will Davis chipped in with a few, but in the chase for quick runs he only lasted a short while. Toby Webb came in and found it very difficult to score against continued accurate bowling and the still worsening conditions. However these two, with help from Carl Vilela-Mansell, helped James in the final stages and the A’s finished with a respectable total of 84 in the 20 overs. James held up one end well, and even if only accumulating 9 not out, he still did a job and provided stability in the top order for a good base to the innings.

Will Davis and Jonathan Tribe opened the bowling and despite the presence of the imposing Chertsey opener, The Honey Monster, they both grabbed an early wicket each. Hopes seemed high at this stage, however The Honey Monster started to dominate and smashed a quick 30 to retire in quick time. From here on it was always going to be an uphill struggle for an in-experienced A’s attack. Chris Smith took some unusual punishment, as did Sam Moore, however Sam did pick up the 3^rd wicket of the innings. Dominic Worth and Ewan McTaggart bowled the final overs, but by then the game was over and Chertsey ran out winners by 7 wickets.

Given the obvious age and size difference between the two sides, the A’s can expect to lose a few more games this year when up against the older boys in the age group, however it was a very creditable team effort in appalling conditions, so we can take a lot from this game. Thanks all who stayed out in the rain to umpire, score and support the team.

12th May 2006
Walton-on-Thames U-13 208-3 (20 overs) by Cobham Avorians U-13 51-8 (20
overs) by 157 runs
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The academy were soundly thrashed by an older and bigger (6ft in one case!) Walton team who took advantage of a very short square boundary to run up 208 off their 20 overs. Despite the small boundary, man of the match Will Davis bowled very well and Robert Partridge also managed to keep things tight as the ball was flying to all parts of the ground. Missing the sick Jonathan Tribe, the batting held up very well against a strong Walton team. James Palmer again batted well top scoring with 9 and the whole team batted sensibly to bat out the full 20 overs. But a total of 208 was always going to be too much for our young team. Rob Partridge batted well and Chris Smith again showed his resilience to collect his second not out of the season and Smithy is certainly putting himself forward to bat higher up the order! We have a re-arranged match against Chertsey this Friday and I expect the team to bounce back well with their helds held high after showing such great spirit. Well done lads, keep up the good work!

6th May 2006
Cobham Avorians U-13 68-9 (20 overs)
Chobham U-13 62 all out (20 overs)
Win by 6 runs.
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After losing the toss, the A's were put into bat and were soon in trouble at 26-7 despite 11 from opener James Palmer. However Avorians were saved by an unbroken last wicket partnership of 32 between Carl Vilela-Mansell and Chris Smith who raised the score to a competitive 68 off the allotted 20 overs. In reply demon opening bowler Will "Slogger" Davis took a wicket first ball, caught by skipper Jonathan Tribe who went on to take 4 excellent catches. Chobham were soon in trouble at 28-6 thanks to some very accurate bowling from all the attack. Special mention to our two ten year olds, leg-spinner Dominic Worth and seamer Ewan McTaggart who both bowled very accurate spells. George Mather took two wickets in two balls to dismantle Chobham's middle order but a late partnership of 24 for the 8th wicket took the match into the last over with 7 required. An excellent last over from man of the match James Palmer kept things tight and Chris Smith ran out the last batsman on the last ball of the match to secure a very tense victory, out first win in our first match in the league!The next match is in the ECB National Knockout Cup at home to Walton-on-Thames on Friday evening 6pm start.

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