Didsbury U11 v Brooklands U11 Cup Match 7th June 2018

If the plan was to clear the fixture list to concentrate on the league competition, then this was very well executed.

In reality this was a cup game where the Didsbury boys look tired in the field. Maybe unused to playing evening cricket, there were uncharacteristic lapses in the field and most of the bowlers took an over to get in their stride. Usmaan took the new ball in an attempt to unsettle the Brooklands openers with his leg spin. Unfortunately, he dropped too short in his first over which gave the batsman plenty of time to watch the spin and pick their shots. Ben bowled his his best spell for some time and applied a bit more control, joined by Christian at the other end finding some rhythm. Zak removed one of the openers with a ball jagging back in to clip the top of middle. Despite this Brooklands were racking up the runs with excellent running between the wickets and punishing short balls. Ethan bowled the best length of all the Didsbury bowlers with a series of searing Yorkers. On other days he would have 2 or 3 wickets but here had to settle for an eye catching and parsimonious spell. His tight bowling put pressure on the batsman leading to a run out by Ben as Brooklands tried to keep the scoreboard moving. Liam enjoyed little luck in his spell whilst Alfie and Jacob bounced back from difficult first overs with really solid second overs to demonstrate great resilience. Jude too stuck to the task and put the onus on the batsman to take risks. There is real strength in this bowling unit and so it was surprising that we had to wait for the final ball of the innings delivered by Dillon (bowling the “death” overs brilliantly again) who toppled the Brooklands batsman looking to score heavily. The Didsbury team were left chasing a competitive but not daunting 120.

To win would require a good start from the openers to provide the foundations for a successful chase. All was going well with Jacob and Liam clipping boundaries before picking up what looked like a smart single, albeit some jeopardy induced with a direct hit at Liam’s end. The home umpire, almost acknowledging the guilty weight of the decision, brought his finger up like billy bunter caught pulling his finger out of a big fat pie. Alfie came to the wicket, look slightly careworn and not his usual collected self. He was out to a sharp stumping from a very accomplished opposition keeper who then took a tumbling catch over his head from a miscued Zak drive. Zak was threatening to cut free after a couple of thumping boundaries but his loss brought Dillon to the crease who has been in good nick. He played a number of brilliant shots to imaginary deliveries but unfortunately not to the ones coming from the Brooklands bowlers. He was finally undone by a nice delivery through the gate between bat and pad. Jacob was still there, batting a little stuck in treacle, but holding up an end as a good opener should. Ben was now in and played a beautifully fluent innings. Whilst everyone else in the game saw occasional demons in the pitch, Ben saw only a beachball that he placed around the ground with fielders running after it like toddlers at the seaside. His retirement damaged not just Didsbury’s chances but also the aesthetic enjoyment of the spectators. Christian looked in the mood but gloved one down the leg side and was out to another sharp catch from the keeper who just couldn’t stay out of the game taking a fine edge off Ethan soon after. Both Christian and Ethan are much better batsman than their scores are suggesting and will surely soon enjoy better luck before the season end. Jacob’s rearguard action was finally ended to be replaced by Harry who fought valiantly in a losing cause. He hit one great 4 and deserved his “not out” at the end which was brought about after first Jude was run out quite rightly looking for runs and then Usmaan was bowled trying to hit big.

All in all not Didsbury’s finest hour. Not bad but not great. At least they could go home and to bed…….