U15 A v New Hall

Wednesday 22^nd May
Result: Felsted won by 74 runs
Review: Felsted 125/7 (20 overs) [H. Hoare 53]
New Hall 51 all out (18.5 overs) [A. Halls 3/10, H. Hoare 2/5]

New Hall arrived early for the quarter final clash, and with high hopes of turning over Felsted on home soil.  With our warm up limited to a few minutes, winning the toss and batting was a big bonus, and Henry Hoare and George Hitchcock got us off to a very bright start, taking 38 from 4 overs.  Then, Hitchcock fell hitting across the line, Ashleigh Cox was caught off a full toss, and Alex Jackson and Ned Potter were not able to give Henry the support he needed.  The run rate began to slow, but with John Brodie chipping in with a breezy 14, and Alex Gilham displaying an assortment of shots in making 13 not out, a reasonable total of 125 was posted.  Henry made 53, his sixth half century in eight innings - a remarkable return, while Max Boyce hit the last ball of the innings for four.  Given the start, and a good pitch, this was below expectations, but gave the bowlers a chance to win the game.  New Hall can be proud of their effort in the field, holding on to all their catches, and bowling competitively.

In the field, it was great to see Archie Halls charging in with the new ball, and his spell of 3 for 10 in 4 overs meant that the game was over as a contest, as New Hall collapsed to 14 for 5.  Two good run outs, and wickets for Hoare (2), Wisbey, Hitchcock and Gilham meant that there was no come back, and it was only a total of 21 extras that allowed New Hall to scrape to 51 all out, for a very comprehensive victory.  The team should be proud of their efforts, and while we still need to be more ruthless with the bat, and cut back significantly on extras, there is some quality coming through in this squad, built around good team work, and a sense that individuals are working for one another.

Player of the match: Archie Halls

U14 B v Bishop's Stortford College

Tuesday 21st May 2013
Result:Lost by 8 runs

Ronan Willis won the toss and elected to bowl first on a grey and overcast afternoon. With the Stortford openers proving difficult to shift it took the introduction of Tom Carrington’s pacers into the attack, to stem the flow of runs. With Tom having removed one of the key Stortford openers with a delivery that pitched on middle stump and hit the top of off, Ronan then brought himself on to bowl. He bowled quick and straight and the Stortford batsmen had no answer to his pacy outswingers. His figures of 5-8 were the best of the season so far but nevertheless, the Stortford total of 117 off 30 overs was an imposing one. Felsted made a brave attempt to chase down the runs with Angus Muir scoring a gutsy 30 and being particularly severe on any short-pitched deliveries. Fergus Cock played some bold shots and both Ben and Tom Carrington contributed good cameos lower down the order but in the end, Felsted fell just 8 runs short of overhauling the Stortford total.

U15 A v Bishop’s Stortford College

Tuesday 21st May
Result: Felsted won by 8 wickets
Review: BSC 107/9 (30 overs) [A. Gilham 2/20, G. Hithcock 2/18]
Felsted 108/2 (16.4 overs) [G. Hitchcock 21, A. Cox 53*, A. Jackson 21*]

Having won the toss, Ashleigh Cox (leading in the absence of Henry Hoare) asked Stortford to bat, and Felsted immediately put them under considerable pressure.  Their shaky batting line up saw them fall to 20 for 4, with Alex Gilham picking up two wickets in two balls.  Although they showed a bit of fight, the scoring rate on a good pitch was never likely to challenge the resources of the Felsted side, and the fielding team seemed happy to allow their total to climb just past 100 in the 30 overs.

When Max Boyce missed one in the first over, there was a little anxiety, but with George Hitchcock continuing his positive form, and Ashleigh Cox playing powerfully all round the wicket (especially with one straight six), the target was quickly reduced.  Hitchcock fell for 21, after adding 58 with Cox, and this allowed Alex Jackson time to add another fifty, and finish the match with a powerful 6 over square leg, and a win by 8 wickets with more than 13 overs to spare.

Player of the match: Archie Halls

U14 B v King's Canterbury

Saturday 18th May 
Result: Felsted won by 134 runs

With Jamie Metson injured, Ronan Willis stepped in as captain and led from the front with the bat, scoring a well-constructed 35, which really set a platform for the later batsmen like Alex Dalman, Ed Padfield, Fergus Cock and Ben Carrington to come in and play their shots. However, the best innings of the day was played by Tom Dalman who batted through the whole innings in a really mature and disciplined way for 67 not out, the team’s first half century of the season ! Having set an imposing total of 169 off their 30 overs the Felsted bowlers then went to work, led once again by slow left armer, Joe Lodge, who opened the bowling and bamboozled the opposition top order, to return impressive figures of 5-2-4-3. With Beau Carter, Jack Clark, Tom Carrington and Seb Stoner also amongst the wickets the King’s Canterbury team were dismissed for only 35, meaning a victory for Felsted by 134 runs! With the batting now starting to click and allied to a very strong bowling attack, hopes are high that this team can really go on and achieve great things in the remainder of the season.

U15 A v King’s Canterbury

Saturday 18th May
Result: Felsted won by 1 wicket
Review: King’s Canterbury 173/6 (30 overs) (H. Hoare 2/13, G. Hitchcock 2/36)
Felsted 176/9 (28.4 overs) (A. Cox 65*, J. Wisbey 25)

It is hard to know where to start with this match!  King’s won the toss, and batted on a good surface.  Knowing that fielding would be crucial, when Alex Jackson put down a regulation chance off George Hitchcock’s first ball, heads began to drop.  The opener made a very good 30.  However, with Henry Hoare gaining significant turn, and conceding only 13 in his six overs, with two wickets, Felsted retained a degree of control.  Unfortunately, this fell away in the closing overs, as the King’s captain, dropped at square leg by Alex Gilham when in single figures, took the bowling apart, making a very good 63.  A good final over from George Hitchcock, which included three wickets, and a dropped catch, limited some of the damage, but King’s had smashed more than 90 in the last 10 overs, and Felsted had looked tired, and bereft of ideas in this period of the game. 

After a break for tea, things went from bad to worse.  Boyce fell for 1, followed quickly by Brodie for the same score.  Hoare chipped one up, and suddenly we were 13/3.  Alex Jackson stroked two good boundaries, but was then bowled, and at 29 for 4, the game seemed over.  Fortunately, Josh Wisbey and Ashleigh Cox had not given up yet, and managed to put together a partnership of 63 in 12 overs, to keep us in the hunt.  George Hitchcock played very brightly, to keep up the tempo, but got out when we seemed to be back in control, and Jiffy Lennon briefly threatened.  However, as wickets fell at the other end, and the rate climbed, Ashleigh Cox was being left with a great deal to do.  With Squibb gone, the equation was 44 required in six overs, with 2 wickets left.  At this point, in strode Alex Gilham, to put together a fantastic partnership of 42 in 26 balls with Cox, only ending when he ran himself out with victory in sight.  Fortunately, Cox retained the strike, and with eight balls to spare, he smashed a boundary over square leg to bring Felsted a famous victory.

King’s were utterly deflated, having felt that victory was in their grasp just 20 minutes earlier.  Felsted march on with a fourth successive victory.

Player of the match: Ashleigh Cox

U15 A v Brentwood

Thursday 16^th May
Result: Felsted won by 44 runs
Review: Felsted 125/7 (20 overs) (A. Cox 46, E. Potter 20)
Brentwood 81 all out (17.5 overs) (H. Hoare 2/10, A. Jackson 2/6)

The match began with a minute’s silence in memory of Mrs Janet Halls, Archie’s mother, who had passed away unexpectedly the day before.  Archie would have played in this game, and the team was keen to offer a small gesture of support for him and his family.

Brentwood asked Felsted to bat, and with Hoare and Hitchcock falling in consecutive balls, soon followed by Alex Jackson, they seemed to have made a good decision.  It took a partnership of 51 between Ned Potter and Ashleigh Cox to get Felsted back in contention, and a flourish at the end saw John Brodie score 13 from just 5 balls, including striking a six first ball over square leg.

Despite this, 125 was by no means out of reach.  The openers bowled well, but Henry Hoare, with a spell of 2 for 10 from his 4 overs, closed out the match.  Josh Wisbey took two good catches at long off, there were two excellent run outs, and George Hitchcock took a diving catch as well, as the fielding effort was very good.  The wickets were shared around, and it was only a bright last wicket stand of 15, and a surfeit of extras (28) that flattered Brentwood in a game that Felsted totally dominated, to move forward to the quarter finals of the Essex cup, to face New Hall

Player of the match: Ashleigh Cox

U15 A v Haberdashers

Saturday 11th May
Result: Felsted won by 78 runs
Felsted 215/5 (35 overs) (H. Hoare 66, A. Cox 58, W. Buttleman 37 not out, E. Potter 28)
Haberdashers 137 for 9 (35 overs) (J. Brodie 2/30)

Haberdashers and Felsted were battling it out for a place in the last sixteen of the National Lord’s Taverners competition.  Felsted had called up Will Buttleman and Ned Potter to strengthen the squad, and Haberdashers had recalled two of their Year 10s who are already regulars in the 1st XI, so the quality was likely to be high.
Habs struck first, removing George Hitchcock for 6.  All this did was bring together Henry Hoare (66) and Ashleigh Cox (58) for the decisive partnership of the match, as they added 94 in 15 overs.   Although neither went on to bat through the innings, the momentum was kept up with Will Buttleman making 37 not out, Ned Potter chipping in with a rapid 28, and Alex Jackson clearing the ropes in a quick 12.  A total of 215 for 5 looked good at the half way point, on a pitch that had something in it for the bowlers.

The Habs batsmen could not cope with the pressure applied by Felsted, and with wickets falling in overs 4, 5, 7 and 10, the game was over as a contest.  Harris (46) and Shah (34) tried to mount a fightback, but it was too little too late.  John Brodie picked up two wickets, while Cox and Hoare followed up their batting with economical spells (for 17 and 14 respectively in their seven overs) to close out the match.
 
This was a notable win for this Felsted team, which is showing an appetite for cup competition already.

Player of the match: Henry Hoare and Ashleigh Cox.