Richmond CC v Ealing CC

Score
RCC 300/7, ECC 261/8, Richmond Cricket Club won by 39 runs

Report
Report

Sunday 5th Jul 2015

Richmond Cricket Club (RCC) Vs Ealing Cricket Club (ECC)

Acceptances: 21

The weather looked grey, heavily overcast and it was raining when we arrived at Richmond’s Cricket Club, however a number of parents had already arrived with freshly made coffee and breakfast baps in hand! The weather was not going to stop the enjoyment of the boys representing ECC and by 9:35am, all of the boys scheduled to play had turned up and were warming-up in the nets, the game was played under the following rules:

10 players per side
Score starts at 200
Lose 5 runs for each wicket, 2 W, 2 NB
Each pair bats for 4 overs with the last pair playing a threesome over 6 overs
Captain: Silas Hendey
Wicket Keeper: Most of the boys took it in turns
Scorer: Sukh Sahota, thank you again!

This was RCC’s first U8’s game, however they looked a very professional outfit from the start as their coach almost allowed us to play on the 1st Teams Pitch! The weather soon brightened and the attitude and passion from both parents and boys to get the game going was unsurprising, besides it was still very much a Sunday morning for most. Silas was the Captain and soon rallied the troops and was clear with his instructions, ‘support each other’, ‘try your best’ and above all have FUN!. We started with the customary shaking of each boys hands and after ECC won the toss, we decided to bat. The ability of RCC clearly showed early on with Tayyab and Zachary starting at the crease and noticed that rather than defend the wicket, as taught on a Friday night, we were trying to smash the ball out of the park and into neighbouring counties. This was one of the biggest issues on the day and cost us heavily.

The batting unfortunately didn’t change a great deal and it felt like we were losing our way at times. In between player changes we tried to rally the boys and explain this was not about hitting fours and sixes, but about putting into practice what we had learnt on a Friday night. Though there was some notable batting including some delightful strokes from Tayyab, Arvin, Charlie and Silas, however these were matched by some equally magnificent catches by RCC and really put ECC on the back foot. By the time our 7th batsman had played, we had already lost 8 wickets and this really was not helping our cause. Time to steady the ship and with Indie, Aman and Tanush at the crease, we were able to finish on a high without losing a further wicket and Tanush finishing on a top score of 8.

The bowling started at a steady pace with only 1 off the 1st over and no extras, however as the new bowlers joined, RCC had batsmen with real conviction and were hungry for the game. Even though we afforded less extras than RCC overall, RCC gave us a real lesson on how to put loose balls away. In one pairing we gave away 36 runs which is where the real damage occurred. Nevertheless, the ECC boys continued with some dogmatic fielding and a couple of successful run-outs. 7 different bowlers managed a wicket between them and this just demonstrates the boys ability to bowl, when they stay focused. Our catching let us down on a few occasions, however we did manage to hold onto one and something else we definitely need to work on more during our Friday sessions.

After shaking hands between the boys, ECC rallied and shared a lessons learnt, well played boys proud of you all for trying but we need to get the basics right and continue honing our skills during training!

Please vote for your own ‘Man of the Match’ through ‘Teamer’ however, there was no single Man of the Match for me as collectively you all played a part!

On a final note, over 20 boys were available for this game, however it was agreed by Omar and myself to give all the boys equal game time. This is a valuable opportunity for the boys to learn and we thank you for your continued support in bringing them to these games and your understanding as we pick players equally and fairly wherever possible!

Best regards,
Dhar – Colts U8’s Coach