U11 Tigers continue their winning start to the league campaign!

View from the Boundary

Sunday 9 May 2021- U11 Tigers beat U11 Ashton-on-Mersey CC by 5 Wickets

Second game of the season and controversy was almost the winner of the day!

Following an 8:30AM pitch inspection by Duncan and Rab the game was on. Ashton-on-Mersey the opposition on a lovely, but damp underfoot, morning. Adam won the toss and chose to bowl first. Didsbury got off to a reasonable start with the ball; Adam, Charlie, Calum, Kush, Isaac and James restricting Ashton to 23/0 off the first 7 overs. 2 overs later and with a flurry of 4’s R Pattisapu retired on 25 off 26. Over 12 saw Alfie introduced and the first wicket to fall (51/1). Over 13 saw Elliot take 2 in 2 balls (56/3); the first a nice catch by James the second clean bowled. The rest of the innings finished in uneventful fashion with Ashton setting a seemingly easy chase of 79/3.

Then the fun began. Rab took it upon himself to ask the opposition coach if Didsbury could bat the full 20 overs once we had completed the chase. To say this was not taken very well would be an understatement!

Charlie and James opened the batting and were going nicely; reaching 17 off the first 5 overs before James was caught on 9 (17/1). In a change to the usually batting lineup Elliot came in at 3 and he and Charlie batted on well for a further 6 overs. Excellent, sensible batting from the pair rotating the strike often was the way forward on this damp, sticky pitch. At the start of the 12th over Charlie had reached 24 and was on the brink of retirement; A nicely timed shot ran away for 4 and off he went carrying his bat, 28 off 35 (56/1). At this point needing only 24 off 47 the task seemed quite simple but when Elliot (2nd hardball game) was joined by Thomas Harou (1st hardball game) the controversy began. In the 14th over Elliot (9 off 22) was run out at the non-strikers’ end, not attempting a run (58/2). At the sight of this run-out the opposition coach, who was scoring the match with Mike (the Didsbury scorer) got up cheering and celebrating, shame on you I say! Solomon (3 off 7) was then “Mankaded” in the 17th over apparently following a warning (66/3). Adam (2 off 2) then strode out to the middle but returned only 8 balls later, run out, after a mix-up with Thomas. Thomas had called for 1, Adam denied him and should have stood his ground but ran anyway (73/4). Kush and Thomas then had a running mix-up in the 18th over which saw Thomas (7 off 31) dismissed (77/5). Just prior to this there was also another “Mankad” attempt this time on Kush – Why have Ashton-on-Mersey taught their boys this is acceptable sportsmanship? Calum joined Kush in the middle for the final over and the game which was won after the first 2 balls were both wides. Game over with 6 balls to spare.

In honesty it is highly likely the game would have been comfortably won if the usual batting lineup had been used, however valuable batting experience should have been gained particularly by Elliot, Thomas and Solomon. Having said that the behavior of the opposition in running out a non-striker when not attempting a run and the Mankading is not the example they should be learning from! Despite this poor sportsmanship by the opposition, it was the poor running between the wickets that was nearly Didsbury’s downfall. The boys need to learn to stay calm during a run chase and communicate clearly.

Special mention to Elliot for his 2 wickets in 2 balls and to Charlie for his retirement, sensible batting on a tough pitch building 2 good partnerships first with James and secondly with Elliot. Thanks also to those parents who helped clear and prepare the pitch.

By Matt Tucker.