U11s V Timperley

What a game!

A swelteringly glorious evening was decorated with a fantastic cricket match. The boundary thronged with supporters, urging their teams, living and breathing every ball bowled in the middle. Wickets were lost, runs were stolen, boundaries were scored, more wickets were lost and it came down to this. Last ball, last pair at the crease and 3 needed for the win, 2 for the draw. Didsbury could only scamper a single and Timperley came out on top, winning by a solitary run. In reality though, this ding dong battle was not about the result but about 22 players giving their all to the cause.

Before the game, the Didsbury team talked about each player showing the improvement they have made this season. At under 11s we are looking for players to enjoy the game and improve as players and the 11 that took the field on Monday were brilliant adverts for junior cricket.

With Timperley batting first, Oliver opened the bowling along with Jamie and showed the great strides he has made in terms of consistency. Oliver has fielded fantastically all year and backed up his usual dedication in the field with a quiet confidence in his bowling display here. Jamie showed that he can become a really dangerous bowler. Some his deliveries were unplayable and with some practice can become a more threatening prospect next season. George then took the ball and reminded everyone about the virtues of bowling straight, being rewarded with 2 wickets and showing that he can be an important player at this age group next year. Sam and Noah then bowled really tight spells. Both are strong allrounders. Whilst their style of bowling is not really best served by the soft pitches we have seen for most of the season they should be really proud that their bowling is always excellent, each having improved their accuracy significantly. Harry B bowled by far his best spell of the season, regularly beating the bat when he get the ball to go across the right handed batsman. He bowled in partnership with Luuk, who after a sticky start showed excellent determination to bowl a super second over picking up a wicket in the process. Harry M bowled nicely too – he has developed a good action this season after plenty of hard work in the nets which he will be able capitalise on as he gets stronger. Raheem and Joab then bowled well at the close of the Timperley innings. Raheem showed good variation with slower balls and the odd cuter without losing accuracy. Joab gets away drift which when he bowls with control like he did here makes it difficult to score off and they kept the score down to a target that Didsbury could chase.

6 catches and a run out in the Timperley innings shows what an excellent fielding unit this squad has become – sticking together, encouraging each other and always supporting the bowlers. These are foundation values that will serve the team really well in future years.

Whilst the fielding and bowling was a model of consistency, the batting was more eccentric and had an entertaining air of unpredictability about it. The boys backed themselves to be more positive in this innings and not be timid in their batting and here they backed up their own words. Raheem was back on form. When he commits to his shots rather than gentle prods he can be devastating. Here there was a clip through square leg and a drive down the ground that were up there with the best shots of the season. Sam was out to the best ball of the day which sometimes as a batsman you just have to accept will happen. Noah was out to some, shall we say, unconventional bowling that is unlikely to happen again. Jamie, Oliver and Harry B all found ways to get out that in a way summed up their seasons with the bat. For the start of next season they need to work out what sort of batsman they are and commit to an approach that I’m sure will bring more runs. Struggling to keep up with run rate, Adam was determined to make a score and almost by sheer willpower he did just that. He took 17 balls to get off the mark and then scored 25 off the next 27. It was a superb knock and something that Adam and the rest of the team can learn from – build an innings, look for singles, find ways of scoring runs off good bowling. Joab supported him brilliantly with running between the wickets that really put the pressure back on the fielding side and brought Didsbury back into the game. With Adam retiring with just a couple of overs to go, George, Harry M and Luuk did everything they could in the final hectic moments of the game but just ran out of overs to get Didsbury over the line. Their time will come.

A great game finally came to a conclusion and for those that saw it, it was a privilege to be there. Roll on next season.