It’s been a thoroughly fantastic start for junior cricket at DCC, with the weather holding off just enough for us to get plenty of matches in already. One of the key parts of the junior season are our Friday night BBQs, and with All-Stars just beginning, they’ll only get bigger and better! With thirty-two games of cricket played already by our boys and girls, across 16 junior teams, there have been so many great performances and highlights to write about. This will hopefully serve as a summary of some of the amazing things our junior cricketers have been up to in this first part of the season.

Start of the league season

We’ll start with our youngest! The U9s have had an exciting start to their season. With three games played already; they’ve won all three with brilliant performances, the highlight being a thrilling one run win vs Urmston! The U9 Diamonds have also been in action, winning two out of two to start their season off in style. The U9s and U9 Diamonds have packed the club on a Sunday morning, and on a Monday evening respectively, with a great turnout with plenty of new faces joining returning players from last season. This has been reflected in the teams where there have been lots of debuts for players as they kick off their cricket journeys!

It’s not been all plain sailing though, with our U15 boys having some difficulty in their opening league games. The Pythons have had a strong performance vs NE Cheshire to bounce back from two earlier losses, as they piled on 189/3 with three 40* retirements from Ibby, Junior, and Isaac, a total that proved to be too much to chase, with Blake picking up three wickets. The Vipers have picked up two wins from three, the first a nail biting two run win vs Timperley, Matthew picking up three wickets in the final overs to help his side hold on, and with a young side travelling to Toft, two retirements from both Nates resulting in a solid total of 133/1, and the Vipers were able to bowl out their opposition for 97 to pick up their second win. It’s been a good early showing from the 15s with hard work being put in at their training sessions on a Thursday night.

The U15 Diamonds have had plenty of success. Despite an early loss in a low scoring affair at Whalley Range (Shock) they’ve bounced back with three solid wins. The first a comfortable 59 run win vs Wythenshawe, the hosting Diamonds piling on 138/0 from their 16 overs, Leila and Maya both crashing 30* retirements. Evelyn’s 30* vs Brooklands (the highest individual score on the day by some margin!) was crucial in them posting 76/5 from their 16. Due to some tidy bowling and fielding, they were able to defend their total by 16 runs. In their third match, Maya led the way again, retiring 30* off 20 balls setting up a decent 116/3 total, and despite a great effort by Hale Barns to chase it down, steady wickets taken by the Diamonds meant a back to back 16 run win. The U11 Diamonds have kicked off their season with a win, though the scorecard appears to have vanished! Hannah says that they beat Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge, so we’ll take her word for it! The U13 Diamonds have also started well, with Libby taking 3 wickets to help her side in a pairs game victory over Mottram. Monday evenings are a great sight, with the nets and outfield packed full of our Diamonds, training and working hard on their development.

Over to the U11 boys. The Lions lost on the final ball in their opening fixture (despite taking a wicket on the penultimate ball!) as Alderley hit a four off their last ball to find the win. Following this, and despite their next game sadly being washed out, the Lions have bounced back well with a great win over our Kingsway rivals. Captain George leading the way with a superb 25* off 16 and was supported fantastically by Aidan who crashed three 4s and an almighty 6 on his way to 25*. The Tigers have had a similar story, bouncing back with a great win vs Bowdon Vale after disappointment vs Ashton on Mersey. In a low scoring affair, Abhishek (25*) partnering up with Ibraheem (26*) gave the Tigers an important partnership as six ducks marred the rest of the Tigers’ innings. Not to be outdone (or out-ducked!) the Tiger’s bowlers collected six ducks themselves, with none of the opposition’s first six batters scoring a run! A seventh and final duck would bring the 26 run victory. The Leopards have had two pairs matches and with plenty of new faces involved and many making their first steps into cricket matches, it’s been a positive start. Signs across the age group is that the U11s are only improving game by game. Their Friday night sessions have been action packed with great attendance.

The 13s boys have started off their season well, providing the match entertainment on a packed Friday evening for our club BBQ. The mighty Bears have won two out of their three, with strong performances against Bredbury and Macclesfield in the Cheshire High Peak league. It’s been a run-fest! Three retirements for Zayn, Sunay, and Reuben were the highlights vs Macc, and four vs Bredbury, with Fahad, Raafe, Luka, and Robert all walking off not out! Despite a dominant start vs Stockport, the Bulls have been second place in two of their three encounters. A 10 wicket win in the first game, with Ben picking up three wickets as the main highlight, was quickly followed by a great game of cricket vs Heaton Mersey. Despite the cold and the rain, the Bulls battled hard but lost in the final over. A 33* from just 21 balls for Bilal was well supported by 28 from 22 from Sufian got them a solid total of 121/5 but after a bulldozing opening partnership it was just not enough as Heaton Mersey crawled over the line with three balls to spare. The Buffs have only had two games due to a bye week but have had resounding victories. A comfortable win vs Bowdon Vale, Adi and Raafe both retiring set up a good total, and steady wickets taken by the Buffs bowlers meant a 61 run win. (136/2 beating 75/9). In what is always a tough fixture vs Brooklands, Adi did the damage with the ball, picking up three wickets in the opening overs. Three run-outs kept the Brooklands total under 100, as a calm and steady chase from the Buffs was finished off by great partnership from Aryan (25) and Sunay (20* off just 15). The hard work of their Tuesday night training sessions being shown off with the players showing a great attitude towards their development.

U18s boys await the start of their seasons post-exams! We wish them the best of luck with their GCSE’s and A-Levels over the coming weeks.

Cup Results

Sadly, the U19 Diamonds side were beaten in their opening fixture by constant rivals Lindow A 156/2 total for Lindow was just too much as the Diamonds never recovered by being 14-4 in reply. The U15 and U13 Diamonds sides have not started their cup games yet, and begin later on in the season. The 13s kick off their cup on the 28th May, home at Didsbury, whilst the 15s start on the 1st June, away. The 13s and 15s are also in league cup action on the 2nd June and 31st May respectively, and so have plenty of exciting cup cricket ahead. We’ll be hoping to see them carry on from their early league success so far!

The U15 boys played their round one vs Whalley Range at DCC, on a cold and dark evening. A tidy start with the ball from our opening bowlers Nate and Milan, and an excellent run-out from Pranav and Krishav saw Whalley Range’s innings stutter before it had even started. Despite some big overs hit towards the short boundary of Wilmslow Road, they never quite got going. A fantastic spell from Patrick whose three overs only went for 10 runs as he picked up two wickets in the back end of the innings. With only 98/9 posted, Didsbury were confident at the break, only the dimming light the cause for concern. A calm approach from Krishav and Ibby saw us get to 68/1, and despite a moment of chaos when Krishav was well and truly barbecued by his partner Milan, which was immediately followed by a first ball duck for Nate, Milan’s calmness was paired with some powerful hitting from Isaac to saw us over the line in the 16th over. Only the fact it was pitch black due to an incredibly slow over rate from our opposition marred a good game of cricket. A good start for the U15s, with plenty of skills highlighted, and somewhere for them to get better from.

The U13 boys also kicked off their cup run, meeting Wythenshawe at DCC. After winning the toss and batting first, we suffered an early wobble with Zayn out on just the second ball of the match. A calm and steady partnership from Bilal and Sumukh was just what was needed as the two both retired (32* off 25 and 30* off 38 respectively). The pair blasting six fours, and a six each as they got us off to a flying start. A wobble in the middle as we lost a handful of wickets was mitigated by some excellent running and an important innings of 14* from Adi. With 120/6 posted from our 20, it was over to our bowling. Fahad and Sufi starting us off fantastically, both picking up wickets early as their skill and pace looked too much for the opposition. Siddharth’s return of two wickets for just three runs in the middle saw the end of any feasible chase as Didsbury claimed a 72 wicket win. With lots of new faces in the team from last year, it’s an excellent marker put down for the team to aim to repeat, and improve from here.

So far plenty of individual and team success on the field, to match the amazing attendance and attitude from all our juniors players across their training sessions. Hopefully the start of another bright season for our junior section.