U15 A v King’s Canterbury

Result: Lost by 9 wickets
Review: Felsted 106 all out (30.1 overs) (F. Burns 36), King’s 107-1 (26.2 overs). 

Having made the long journey to Canterbury, we were asked to bat. It looked a decent surface - a bit on the slow side, but no terrors in it, and with 35 overs at our disposal, we should have been confident of setting a challenging target.  Unfortunately, having worked on running between the wickets on Friday in training (and doing so well!), we got it wrong immediately, and Max Malins found himself out for 0.  Things soon deteriorated, as Ollie Grayson fell leg before wicket, and Tom Latham was given out caught behind (although he didn't hit it!).  With the need to rebuild, Tom Kingham joined Harry Brooke - the pair that had put us back on track against BSC recently.  Unfortunately, after a few overs of gathering ourselves, Harry managed to miscue a full toss, and get caught at mid on.  James Smith threated to play a fighting innings, before being done by an excellent yorker, but it was Freddie Burns who top scored again, making 36.  Kingham fell for 18, Begley ran himself out, Jackson was bowled aiming a blow to the legside, and Williams was done by the fatal combination of beamer (hit in the grill!)and a straight ball (stumps rearranged), as we fell for just 106.

Realistically, this was not enough on this pitch, so we had to give it everything.  When Brooke struck in his first over, we had a chance to make inroads, but their captain, along with the opening batsman, got stuck in, and a succession of chances and half chances were missed (six in all).  If we had picked these two up at around the 50 mark, we would have been able to apply the pressure, and our spinners would have threatened.  As it was, they survived, and both grew in confidence, hitting over the top, as they ended up racing to their target with just one wicket lost.

Back to the drawing board.  There is plenty of talent in this group of players, but runs don't score themselves, and catches need to be caught. Freddie Burns had another good game, and Harry Brooke's bowling looks more and more of a threat.  This needs to be the week when the rest start to contribute more as well, if we are to start winning games.  I hope that we will have a cup game this week, and on Saturday, we are home to Haileybury.  I look forward to a performance that is worthy of your support!
Player of the match: Freddie Burns