Devon Cricket Board - DCBYA U14s 2013 Dorset Match Report

On a perfect day for cricket Joe HB won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket we felt would spin as the game went on. Harvey Sargant and Finlay Marks began well helped by some wayward bowling before Marks was trapped LBW for 10. In came Billy Rudolph, Sargant hit a straight drive, which hit Billy on the pad which then ricocheted to the bowler and with Rudolph seemingly in a state of confusion he was run out! 33-2 and all of a sudden we are in a bit of trouble. Next to the crease Noah who with Harvey had some rebuilding to do. Both batters looked in control and played some lovely shots all round the ground; Harvey in particular looked in fine form. Having put on 90 and with drinks about to be taken Harvey was caught at cover playing a tired looking shot which was understandable given the conditions. Enter the skipper to bat with Noah. However shortly after drinks Noah’s innings also came to an end when he was caught behind. The cardinal sin had been committed, losing two set batsman within the space of a couple of overs and the pressure was back on us. Neal entered the fray to try and provide some much needed impetus but was bowled for 5 with one that kept a little low. Jim Shepherd was next man in but was caught behind. We had gone from 123-2 off 30 over’s to 141-6 off 37 overs which magnifies the danger of losing two set batsman. Suddenly from looking like we were going to score 230/240 we were struggling to make 200. The captain was still there and with Phillips they set about trying to get us up to the 200 mark. Unfortunately Hagan-Burt went with the score on 169. Fortunately for Devon Phillips 21 off 23 balls was joined by Ward who with 14 off 11 balls guided us to a total of 200. There were only three boundaries in the 30 partnership demonstrating the importance of running twos and making good balls into singles. We did not do this in our innings during the middle overs and coupled with losing Harvey and Noah in quick succession was the reason we only just scraped to 200.

So 201 to win, we felt slightly below par score. However if we bowled straight and fielded well it would be a challenging score. Langers and Noah opened the bowling but there was little in it for either bowler and neither were helped by some disappointing fielding. Sargant replaced Langers and the ball did spin. The metronomic Rudolph was the other bowling change as we set about trying to take a wicket to stem the flow of runs. Rudolph began in typical fashion (with a maiden) and Harvey was causing problems with his off spin. Unfortunately Billy’s next over went for eight and he was taken out of the attack and replaced by Pethers who made an instant impact trapping Dorset opener Morris LBW for 27. Three overs later with Pethers and Sargant bowling in tandem Sargant trapped wicketkeeper Thomas LBW for 6 which made the score 70-2. The scoring rate slowed and Sargant was soon to claim his second wicket, a beauty bowling Clarke through the gate. 89-3, GAME ON! With Sargant and Petherbridge coming to the end of their excellent spells bowling changes were needed. Neal and Joe HB had a go but to no avail. Enter Jim Shepherd enticing Shrubsole down the wicket and Phillips doing the rest with a good stumping. The impressive Willows was still there though and had gone past fifty, when Shepherd managed to get Willows to play a rare false shot which Osborn caught well. 153-5 with 12 overs to go and real game on! A mini partnership ensued with Dorset taking the score up to 178 when Billy trapped Robinson LBW for 10. Then following the same pattern of our innings a flurry of wickets followed putting the game back on a knife edge. First to go was Hai who hit the ball to Marks in the covers who dived, got to his feet and with a direct hit ran him out much to the delight of some new supporters (or was it supporter) Marks had made when patrolling the cover boundary! With that run out the score was now 178-7 with Dorset still the slight favourites. Then with the score on 181 another fantastic piece of fielding this time from Sargant accounting for another run out, the score was now 181-8. 21 to win, two wickets needed, 5 overs to go. The new batter was Fish who ran well and scampered 2’s and 3’s to take Dorset within touching distance of the win. Now was not the time for extras but unfortunately there were some wides and Fish hit the winning runs off Rudolph to steer Dorset home by two wickets.

A game we should have won. The batting in the middle overs we have to work on and as talked about before we cannot lose two set batsman in quick succession. We need to ensure the intensity of our running between the wickets is present throughout the innings and not just in the last 5 overs. We must run more twos and threes and put pressure on fielders. Bowling wise I thought we bowled with a little too much width (16 wides didn’t help our cause), Pethers and Harvey bowled well on a helpful wicket for spin and Jim took two crucial wickets. Our fielding was inconsistent, occasionally brilliant, sometimes frustrating with balls being dived over and two many twos being run. A major positive was the way we kept going even when it looked as if Dorset would win, we showed good resilience and character to keep coming back into the game, an excellent trait for any side. I believe as a side we played to about 50% of our maximum against Dorset and still came very close to winning. We will start to win games if we all work hard at our game and improve what we do 10-20%; keep believing, keep learning, keep smiling and never ever give up. Nick Watkin

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