Devon Cricket Board - Devon U12s

Devon U12s 2011

DEVON V WALES

The 2011 campaign began with a game against Wales at North Devon Cricket Club’s Instow ground.

We decided to bat on a very decent pitch and were looking in quite good nick as Harvey Sargent and Harry Ward opened the innings. The first wicket went for 28 and the second for 52. From then on it was downhill as the remaining eight wickets were lost for just over 40 runs. Ward top scored with 28 but our total of 94 all out was never going to be enough.

Ollie Reed gave us some hope with a fine spell of 2-9 from his first five overs. Will Christophers also chipped in with 2-26 from four. But Wales crossed the finishing line reasonably comfortably for the loss of five wickets in the 22nd over.

It wasn’t exactly the best start to the season but there is still a very long way to go. Lessons to be learned include shot selection, spending time at the crease and batting out the overs – basics ( a word you will hear constantly from Julian and I over the coming weeks). Players need to have confidence in their own ability – something we are sure will improve and grow as the season progresses.

SCOREBOARD - Devon 94 (Ward 28), Wales 97-5 (Reed 2-9, Christophers 2-26) Devon lost by five wickets.

BERKSHIRE v DEVON

What a day. Preparation was far from ideal as we had to switch grounds due to pitch problems on arriving in Berkshire. Then once we had found an alternative venue the heavens opened and it was game abandoned after just 15 overs. Mind you there was a big positive to come in that short space of time and that was the way openers Sargent and Ward went about their work. They put on 54 without loss – Sargent 33no and Ward 15no – and played with a lot more freedom and expression than the first game. The lesson here is not to play with fear, something the two batters took on board.

SCOREBOARD - Devon 54-0 Game abandoned.

DEVON v CORNWALL

No chance of play here after torrential rain all day. We are hoping to re-arrange the game.

                                                                                   DORSET v DEVON

Still looking for our first win – but we are getting there.
More importantly, the key to all these games is picking up lessons that we can learn from for the games, months and years to come.

Set against the stunning backdrop of Canford School, we ended up bowling first on a decent track and were set a challenging total by Dorset of 199-4 from 40 overs.

Alex Hannam with 2-26 from six overs was the pick of our bowlers. Lesson one: key to the Dorset batting was having wickets in hand which allowed them to score more than 90 runs from their last 10 overs. It has to be said it was our best fielding performance to date.

Lesson two: taking the pace off the ball towards the end of an innings makes it more difficult for batters to score quickly. Using spinners more is something to be looked at.

We needed a good, quick start but it wasn’t to be and the Dorset total always looked a step too far. There were encouraging knocks from Billy Rudolph (35) and Ollie Reed (20) and a 54-run partnership at the end of the innings between Noah Wright (35no) and Joe Hagan-Burt (17no) We finished on 133-5.

SCOREBOARD - Dorset 199-4 (Hannam 2-26), Devon 133-5 (Rudolph 35, Reed 20, Wright 35no, Hagan-Burt 17no). Devon lost by 54 runs.

DEVON v GWENT

Our first win of the season and we did it in style

We opted to bat first at Brixham Cricket Club and proceeded to deliver our best batting performance of the season.

Openers Noah Wright and Ben Phillips gave us a terrific start. They punished any bad ball and rotated the strike well to put on 114 for the first wicket.

Wright was eventually out for 83 which came from just 65 balls Phillips weighed in with 50. Billy Rudolph (46) kept the momentum going with a quick fire knock and with wickets in hand (remember one of those lessons) we finished on a formidable 240-4 from 40 overs.

Gwent were never really in with a shout and finished on 153-5. Christian Cabburn finished with 2-16. It would have been nice to have grabbed more wickets, but one step at a time. This was a terrific all-round team performance.

SCOREBOARD – Devon 240-4 (Wright 83, Phillips 50, Rudolph 46), Gwent 153-5 (Cabburn 2-16). Devon won by 97 runs.

DEVON v SOMERSET

Firstly, thanks to Barton Cricket Club and their volunteers for hosting the game after a very last-minute switch from rain-soaked Budleigh Salterton.

Now to the match!

We won the toss and asked the visitors to bat and ended up having to chase 187 from 40 overs, a formidable score on a damp wicket and relatively slow outfield after all the rain in the previous 48 hours.

The Somerset batters put away the bad balls – there were too many of them. Just as importantly, they were able to put our fielders under pressure when it mattered the most and we struggled to cope. We need to bowl at the stumps and we need to keep going when the pressure is on.

The brightest spark from the Somerset innings was Joe Hagan-Burt’s bowling stint. He finished with 4-26 from six overs, including three wickets in his last over. Christian Cabburn also contributed with a tidy spell of 2-23 from seven.

As we have talked about before during then winter workshops, batting straight and having wickets in hand are key in these games.

Unfortunately, there were too many poor shots – going on the back foot is a risky option on a wet wicket as several players discovered as they made their way back to the pavilion – and we lost wickets at regular intervals.

Disappointingly, we finished well short on 91. Hagan-Burt followed his decent bowling spell by top scoring with 14. There was also a sensible knock towards the end from Pieter Keenan (12) but that is as good as it got.

We had a decent chat after the game and I hope all the players take on board what was said. It is about getting the basics right, preparing properly, being switched on when you need to be switched on and approaching the game more seriously – and have some fun at the same time, of course.

SCOREBOARD – Somerset 187 (Hagan-Burt 4-26, Cabburn 2-23), Devon 91 (Hagan-Burt 14). Devon lost by 96 runs.

                                                                             DEVON  v GLOUCESTER

Gloucester won the toss and elected to bat on a hot, sunny day at Torquay CC.
It wasn’t the best of bowling performances to put it mildly and the visitors took full advantage racking up 213 for the loss of just three wickets. We have talked about, and worked on, line and length. Unfortunately both were lacking a lot of the time. To our credit, we kept going in the field. Harvey Sargent (2-21 from five) was our most successful bowler.Harry Ward featured in a fourth wicket partnership of 63 with Will Christophers who top scored with 51 which included some good attacking shots. We finished well short on 159.Still plenty of lessons to be learned before we go into the festival.

SCOREBOARD - Gloucester 213-3 (Sargent 2-21), Devon 159 (Christophers 51, Ward 30) Devon lost by 54 runs.

                                                                            2011 TAUNTON FESTIVAL

DEVON v LANCASHIRE
This was a brilliant and encouraging start to the festival. We looked as if we may struggle to set a decent total despite good contributions early on from Noah Wright (44) and Joe Hagan-Burt (34). But an eighth-wicket partnership of 50 between Ollie Reed (26no) and Finlay Marks (19no) gave Lancs something to think about as we settled on 183-8.

Good bowling – led by Pieter Keenan (2-35) and Alex Hannam (2-39) - supported by great fielding and a lively team spirit had Lancs on the ropes at 115-7 but we just could not kill them off as they won with just two wickets to spare in the 47over.

DEVON v ST STITHIANS
Hopes were high after the very encouraging start to the festival but we were no match for the u13 far bigger and better boys from South Africa. Balls disappeared to all corners of the ground as St Stithians rocked up 300-6 declared. Joe Gore (3-56) was our best bowler. Our batting crumbled to the ‘giants’ as we were skittled out for just 97. Harvey Sargent top scored with 17.

DEVON v SURREY
Rain reduced this game to 30 overs which we hoped would work in our favour. Surrey set a formidable total of 178-1 but we kept going in the field and with the ball. The aim was not to lose and we did just that with some stern batting at the end of the innings from Billy Rudolph and Marks which gave us the draw on 80-9.

DEVON v GLOUCESTER
This was our cup final to decide who would stay off the bottom of the table. Sargent left the way with 59 and Rudolph scored 39 to put on 104 for the second wicket and put us in a good position. But we lost six wickets for 30 runs and had to settle for 176-8. Gloucester looked well on course in the run chase but spinners Keenan (3-43) and Harry Ward (2-20) gave us a glimmer of hope as four Gloucester wickets fell for just seven runs. But it was too little too late as they ran out winners with two wickets to spare in the 39^th over.

FESTIVAL SCOREBOAD
Devon 183-8 (Wright 44, Hagan-Burt 34), Lancashire 185-8 (Keenan 2-35, Hannam 2-39). Devon lost by two wickets.
St Stithians 300-6 dec, Devon 97 (Sargent 17). Devon lost by 203 runs.
Devon 158 (Cabburn 37, Phillips 23), Hampshire 161-2. Devon lost by eight wickets.
Surrey 178-1, Devon 80-9 (Wright 17). Match drawn.
Devon 176-8 (Sargent 59, Rudolph 39), Gloucester 179-8 (Keenan 3-43, Ward 2-20). Devon lost by two wickets.

This was always going to be a tough festival and so it proved to be at least results wise. But Julian and I have always emphasised that the tournament – and the season for that matter – was all about learning and developing. I think we have made great strides in both those areas. Our intent was to make the players more aware of the game both on and off the field, to build stronger characters capable of playing harder cricket. We are getting there. It will be sometimes be a slow, hard and difficult process for players of such a young age but the transformation from the summer friendlies to the festival – especially in our first game against Lancashire – was remarkable. It showed the players have something about them. It’s just a case of showing that all the time. It’s also about getting the basics right, learning all the time, working hard and setting and achieving goals you never thought you could reach. For some those unreachable goals have already been achieved. Now it’s time to look to the future.