U.13 County Cup Match Report ….“ How to ‘ snatch Victory from the Jaws of Defeat ‘“
Well, for those at Abbeydale last night – Players and Supporters .. what can I say ?
An evening I suspect none of those there will forget …
A County Cup Quarter-Final against one of the most respected South Yorkshire, if not also County Clubs – Sheffield Collegiate CC ( SC CC ) … the Home of Root & Vaughan.
Losing the Toss we were invited to Bat but, as we anticipated, tight bowling kept the scoring rate ‘ in check ‘ …. unfortunately, coupled with the early wicket of Opener Alex Strain.
The arrival of Capt. Jack Robinson moved the score along and together with Henry Roberts we moved to 22, before Henry was also Bowled.
Abelard Roberts joined Jack – who proceeded to ‘ move up a Gear ‘ and began to punish the bowling attack. A difficult chance he gave was ‘ put down ‘ …. ah … as I regularly tell them “ Catches Win Matches “….. Jack then moved quickly to 29 and hit a boundary 4 to retire 33no ( off 30 balls ).
Unfortunately our ‘ Middle Order ‘ struggled to maintain the momentum and we lost Abelard for 4, Suvan for 4, Zac Oxley for 0, relying on Seb Hardy 8, Nicky Yates 10no and Oli Huffer 4 no to “ push us towards “ 90… the 16 Extras assisted and we finished on what we agreed was a ‘ below par ‘ 88 – 6.
The mood however was very determined and we agreed if we matched their intensity and application in the field then ‘ it was Defendable ‘ !
Capt. Jack and Oli Phillips opened the bowling and, as ever, kept it very tight. The introduction of Seb Hardy maintained that and with the arrival of Ryan Hodgson the first wicket fell in the 7th ov … 1 for 30.
Wickets then began to fall at regular intervals and the self-belief within the Team visibly grew … Ryan with another in his 2nd ov and Seb with one in his 3rd left SC CC 73-3 in the 15th … with increasing pressure arrived fabulous levels of fielding… the number of runs saved a real tribute to the Team’s commitment.
Jack then changed the momentum with the ‘ inspired ‘ introduction into the attack of Suvan Seluan and within a couple of overs we seemed to have ‘ secured ‘ our grip on the game
A YCC injury … Zac Oxley in making another excellent stop … on goes our 12th Man ..Alfred Massie … who suggested to me a 12th Man was just a ‘ luxury ‘ ?
The home Team now clearly felt the pressure : 76-5, 80-6, ….. a Wicket each for Henry Roberts and Capt. Jack built the intensity…until 4 overthrows seemed that it might have just ‘ cost us ‘ .. ?
2 overs remaining… 9 to Win for Collegiate and return of Ryan Hodgson for an excellent 19th was quite ‘ pivotal ‘…. 2 Wickets for 2 runs …. 83-8 and 7 off 6 for Collegiate to triumph.
Suvan was thrown the Ball and with Vice-Capt Strain ‘ marshalling ‘ the Field placings with precision we awaited the 20th … the final 6 balls ….
A ‘ dot ‘ then a single … then a dot … 6 from 3 … 2 wickets ‘ in hand ‘ … then … a 4 ball
(despite a valiant attempt on the Boundary by the Capt ) … so now 2 from 2 …. SH CC smelt Victory again ‘ … a good ball and the drop and run ‘ policy implemented by SC CC … …. a RUN OUT… 88-9 .. 2 needed for them from the last …..
Once again a good ball just swinging past the bat and then Off Stump … the Bails were ‘ whipped ‘ of ‘ like Lighting ‘ by V-C Strain …. UP went the Finger from the Square Leg Umpire. … OUT !
……SC CC All Out for 88 – organised ‘chaos‘ both in noise and with joy from the YCC Players and quite understandably the opposite …. total dejection of Hosts SC CC…. a York CC Win by 1 Run !
How to snatch Victory from the Jaws of Defeat …
The Match was really won with the Ball and in the Field – well done indeed to all 12 Players a superb effort and a very memorable Win.
Thank you so much to our On Field Umpire Derek Lancaster, Coaching Team Mick Hammerton and Matt Huffer …. as well as all our Travelling ‘ Barmy Army ‘ of Supporting Parents.
An excellent Advert ‘ for the quality of U.13 Club Cricket within the County and real tribute to both Teams for a Fabulous Match … the Semi-Final beckons .. the winners of Olicanians CC .v. Osset CC.
