Under 14s Staying positive! |
Somerset at Blundell's School on Sunday 9th July, 2006 won by 56 runs
Wet overnight but with weather improving through the morning and there was every prospect of play starting on time. Movement of the covers revealed a firm but greenish wicket but discussions as to the optimum choice veered more towards batting, should Matt Thompson win the toss. This he did (4 out of 5) and he duly chose to bat. It was a bold move, based more on our strengths and the strong gusty breeze than anything else really. However – the first 10-12 overs were going to be all for the bowlers and it was to be a stern test of the openers’ mettle.
In the first over disaster struck when Lewis Gregory fell to a diving legside catch by Barnes off left armer Hardwick. Matt Hickey joined Luke Tuckett and tentatively they began to construct a platform for the side. It was a sterling effort with the occasional and inevitable play and miss which had the fielders gasping. But the lads had one eye on the run rate as well and by 10 overs they had advanced to 37 with no further alarms. By 15 overs they were up to 50 and then almost against the run of play Luke Tuckett stood slightly backward on one from Wilmott and was snapped up at short cover by Spurway for 16. An excellent recovery partnership of 57 was ended but the momentum of the innings was now well established and James Toland joined Hickey and the next eight overs they played with increasing freedom adding 47 to the score. By now Somerset were operating spin at both ends and after Toland despatched Spurway for a towering 6 towards the road we anticipated an intriguing contest of guile versus bold hitting. The visitors and particularly Spurway were one jump ahead however, and had 5 boundary fielders strategically placed. It was increasingly frustrating for the batters and although Matt Hickey had been particularly patient and chanceless in reaching his excellent 50, he lofted one towards the mid-wicket boundary and was snapped up by one of those patrolling sweepers. 9 balls later Toland became Spurway’s second victim, although he was more a victim of his own devices really! His innings of 31 bore so much threat and promise and Somerset must have been mighty relieved to see the back of him. At 122 for 4 in the 32nd over with two new batters in, Devon faced a hard task of posting a reasonable total. But Henry Parkin and Matt Thompson set about the job with a clarity of thought and preciseness of execution which was a joy to watch. They played the short game, which the situation cried out for, with considerable ease – and pushed the score up to 156 in the 39th over.
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