The turbulent GMCL cups mixed with poor weather has meant a chaotic couple of weeks for our junior boys cup teams. Some excellent performances in rounds 1 and 2, but now into the finals and what is the gateway into the Lancashire Cup to play the best clubs from around the seven leagues in the county. Hoping to repeat the success of the last couple of years, we had to first get past our GMCL opponents.

Wild weather at Whalley Range is where we start. The U13s, in the Semi-Final of the GMCL cup, had found a break in the rain and wind to get the game on. Whalley Range, obviously a local opponent in the SMJCL, is often a tough ground to win at, and they know how to play and win in their conditions. We travelled there early on a Sunday morning, with a strong side and we were thankfully rewarded for our attempts to get the game on by a decent morning, albeit a tad windy! Whalley Range won the toss, and inevitably had a bowl. Not the correct choice in this competition, and on the pitch we had, it was only going to get tougher.

With the ball swinging wildly in the wind and jagging sharply off the pitch, we needed a solid start. Raafe provided it, with one of the best junior innings I've watched considering the conditions, he battled through for 32* off 35. Not the prettiest, and probably in his head not one of his best, but it was just what we needed. A scrappy innings fighting for his team. He and Nate put on a great partnership, as the scoreboard continued to tick upwards. We’d lose steady wickets however, and looked like we’d limp to a score of around 80 or so. A very defendable score in the conditions, but would be a nervy defence… we’ve had enough of those in the last couple of years! Captain to the rescue. Harry, reigning in some of his more expansive shots, buckled in (ba dum tiss) and refused to be moved. A late flurry of runs from Harry, and ably supported by Sumukh and Patrick, got us up and past 100. Harry’s 27* off 30 the key in that effort. Only 9 boundaries hit by us, only 36 runs out of 107, highlights how well we ran between the wickets. Scampering and stealing what we could, it was an excellent watch and the result of plenty of hard work at training. Not our most free flowing, but certainly a great effort. 107/5. Looked more than enough.

We had to make it look like a mountain. A quick start for them and suddenly it looks far more reachable. Nate with the first over quickly highlighted to the opposition that it was going to be a tough ask. Five good dot balls, hitting an uncomfortable length, resulting in a false shot off the last ball, a leading edge. Up the chimney. Caught and bowled. More dot balls came, with Harry and Nate providing nothing for Whalley Range to score freely off. The pressure brought about another wicket, bowled by Harry, caught smartly by Raco. Followed quickly by a panic in the middle. Run-out. More dot balls, more pressure. 4-1-9-1 for Nate, and 4-0-10-1 for Harry. Our openers with another emphatic performance. Patrick into the attack, and strikes early. A great delivery, just passing the outside of the bat to crash into off stump. He’d pick up another a couple of overs later, bowling their tallest player by sneaking one under the bat. Two wickets for Raco, a good caught and bowled, and a sharp stumping by Rafe, a combination I hope to see plenty of, saw the end of their chase, finishing 27 runs short. The final push from 80 to 107 in our batting innings clearly made the difference. A brilliant win, in tough conditions and against a decent side. A great team performance again, meant progression to the GMCL final vs Edgworth.

It’d be the 15s up first though. Who made what is now a very frequent trip to Prestwich. We’ve had some very good wins at Prestwich, who we seem to play with one of the age groups every season. A GMCL final, with the Lancs Cup looming, it would be a good time for another. Rain threatened, and would eventually fall late morning/early afternoon. We needed a quick win, and early start. With out team present, and not many of the opposition, a warm-up completed and still unsure which pitch we were on, the opportunity for an early start came and went. With five overs an end before swapping, we hoped to make up lost time. Prestwich, backing themselves on their own ground, won the toss and had a bat. What transpired was a very… interesting approach to cricket. I’m not a massive subscriber to strike rates and caring to much for them. However, at the end of the day it’s a game of T20… there has to be some impetus to your batting. With Aarron and Ash continuing their double act with ball in hand, they bowled with their typical pace and skill. The scorecard after the first five overs read 6-1, with Ash bowling one of their openers for the wicket. Now, the pair bowled well; but not *that* well. A policy of blocking and leaving practically everything had been employed. Not a great choice in a T20. We continued to bowl well. They continued to block, leave, and miss. Only some average fielding by us kept the scoreboard ticking. Ash and Aarron would finish their four overs with 4-1-4-2 and 4-1-4-0 respectively. One of their openers faced 67 balls for 37 runs, as they posted a rather limp 60/3 from their 20 overs. Strike rates of 22, 56, 34, 38, and 50 from their batters underpinned a real lack of intent to score. I can’t take too much away from our bowling efforts though, an excellent display of control and quality, with only three extras in the 20 overs. Not the biggest chase required, but can never take things for granted, especially away from home. However, Kush and Tanmay had little interest in copying their counterparts and set about their business at a good rate. A single of the first, and a four of the fourth to get us going. Tanmay continuing in his good run, splattered a handful of fours to the rope much to the enjoyment of the Didsbury spectators. On he’d continue rattling 38* off 28 with eight fours. Kush, happy to watch his partner for a while, would not sit idle for long, blasting three fours himself and an almighty six into the trees for his 24* off 20. A comfortable 10 wicket win, 64 scored in just eight overs. U15s claiming their GMCL title for the fourth successive season. I think! The GMCL’s previous use of crichq and transfer to playcricket in the last couple of years makes it a little complicated to track. Very well done to them!

After the U15s rather one sided affair, it’s back to the U13s, and their own GMCL cup final. This time at home vs Edgworth. The 15s had dispatched their counterparts in the first round, but their 13s had scored well and looked to be a good side. We’d won the toss, and as always, we wanted to bat. Raafe had given us a strong start in the last two rounds, retiring against both Royton and Whalley Range but today we were to be without his runs. Caught, (perhaps controversially!) at backward point on just the third ball. Archie had batted well at Royton, only a great diving catch removed him. We’d be without his runs as well, bowled trying to work one down leg. Harry, who had put in a captain’s performance with the bat against Whalley Range, would also fall. Bowled for just 1. We were 10 for 3 in just the fourth over. Oh dear. However, copying their England men equivalents, our young cricketers took the aggressive approach despite the pressure they were under. Isaac and Nate both crashing fours to the fence, and there was an immediate change in body language from the Edgworth fielders. Quick singles and well ran twos, made the pair seem unpressured. We’d lose Nate, but his 14 off just 10 balls had shifted the tempo of the game, and with Raco joining Isaac we continued to score at a good rate. We continued to run well, and hit the odd boundary, but it was a well launched slog sweep for six from Isaac that felt like a turning point. Bowling spin to the short boundary is not necessarily advisable, and the Didsbury players tucked in to some short and legside deliveries. Isaac would retire. His 30* off 33 only containing 1 four and 1 six, with the vast majority of his runs coming from singles and twos, it was a very calm and measured innings. We were 10-3 when he walked in, and we were 71-4 when he walked off. A brilliant innings to dig his team out of a hole. Raco would continue for a brief period after losing his partner, his 22 off 25 was a excellent contribution considering the situation we were in. His batting continuing to come on leaps and bounds. It was now time for our strength in depth to shine. Valuable contributions from Sumukh (19* off 19), Patrick (8 off 10), and Sufi (13* off 7) saw us calmly and quickly jump past the hundred mark and all the way up to 120. Our numbers 7,8, and 9 adding over forty together highlights how great our depth is. From 10-3 to 120-6. Outstanding.

As a team, they’d do their job with the bat. Batted our twenty, scored at a good rate, ran our singles well, and posted a strong total. With ball in hand, only boundaries and extras would get them close. A hunt for early wickets began, and it wouldn’t take long. Swooping from cover in the second over, Captain Buck cleanly collected off an attempted quick single, and threw the stumps down at the bowler’s end. Unreal fielding. Right in front of the watching first and second team, who roared in approval. Harry in action again a couple of balls later, a short ball ploy coming good as their captain pulled one straight to Bilal at mid-wicket. Our opening pair in usual form, but Edgworth did keep ticking up and up. A change in bowling, an brave choice from the captain to go to spin early was a good one. A maiden from Raco just built up the pressure, and his partner at the other end, Patrick, reaped the reward. A false shot, and good catch from Isaac. Raco would team up with Raafe once again, picking up a sharp stumping in the next over, and finish his spell 3-1-9-1 to give us control during the middle overs; Patrick by no means his second fiddle with figures of 3-0-12-1. A good partnership would build between their number 5 and 6, but continued pressure applied by us combined with the damage already done up top by our openers meant they were a long way behind the game. 38 runs behind the rate at one point, they batted well to try and get close but the game would come to a conclusion at 92/4 from 20, a 28 run win for Didsbury, and a fourth (Again, I’m not entirely sure!) successive GMCL cup win.

Both age groups are champions, and progress into the Lancs cup. Another excellent achievement for our boys section. Lots of great individual match winning contributions amongst strong team performances mean we are in a good place for what should inevitably be a bigger challenge in the coming rounds. Our 13s play relatively soon, with a trip to Farnworth Social Circle CC on Tuesday 10th, who have been our opponents coming out of the NWCL for the last few years. A good set-up and coached well, it will be a tough trip to Bolton for us. For the 15s, we are drawn at home, asking Blackrod CC to make the journey to us on Sunday 15th for a very early start. It promises to be a good match with them having a handful of high quality players. However, as both age groups have shown over the years, its our strength in depth that should be the difference.