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.
 

U15 A v Haileybury

Result: Felsted won by 10 wickets
Haileybury 137 for 8 (30 overs) (G. Hitchcock 3/24, H. Hoare 3/25)
Felsted 141 for 0 (15.3 overs) (G. Hitchcock 53 not out, H. Hoare 76 not out)

After the disappointment of Bedford, it was important that the side got back to winning ways.  The return of Ashleigh Cox to the side gave a lift before play even started, and a very steady performance in the field limited Haileybury to just 137 in their 30 overs.  Hitchcock and Hoare shared six wickets between them, but all seven bowlers used did a decent job for the side, and at the half way point, the side was very confident.

After just 2 overs, the scoreboard read 31-0, and it was clear that this Haileybury side was not going to stop Felsted.  Henry Hoare crashed his way to 74 not out, with ten fours and a six, and George Hitchcock smashed 53, with nine fours.  The only disappointment was that we were not given a tougher challenge, but the victory was very pleasant.

 

Player of the match: Henry Hoare and George Hitchcock