U.12CountyReport – Season 2012
Results
Date / Home Team / Away Team / ResultTuesday 29th May / Cumbria 129 in 45 overs / Yorkshire “B” 166 in 45 overs / Loss
Tuesday 12th June / Durham / Cumbria / Rain
Wed 20th June / Cumbria 182-5 in 40 overs / Cleveland 77 in 41.3 overs / Win
Monday 25th June / Lancashire / Cumbria / Rain
Wednesday 11th July / Yorkshire “B” / Cumbria / Rain
Wednesday 25th July / Cumbria / Durham / Rain
Sunday 24th June / Cumbria 116 in 36 overs / Northumberland 64 in 37 overs / Win
Monday 1st August / Lancashire 160-9 in 40 overs / Cumbria 82 in29.4 overs / Loss
Saturday 4th August / Suffolk 66-8 in 15 overs / Cumbria 108-9 in 15 overs / Win
Sunday 5th August / Hertfordshire 112-9 in 45 overs / Cumbria 67 in 27 overs / Loss
Monday 6th August / Buckinghamshire 75-2 in 25.4 overs / Cumbria 74-7 in 35 overs / Loss
Tuesday 7th August / Norfolk 112-7 in 25 overs / Cumbria 87-9 in 25 overs / Loss
Wednesday 8th August / Cambridgeshire 159-5 in 38 overs / Cumbria 157-9 in 38 overs / Draw
Thursday 23rd August / Cumbria 114-6 in 27.2 overs / Durham 113 in 45 overs / Win
Tuesday 28th August / Yorkshire “B” / Cumbria / Rain
In the first game of the season Cumbria won the toss and inserted Yorkshire "B" at the picturesque Silverdale C.C. Dylan Hoyle and Toby Tyson opened the bowling and after 8 overs Yorkshire were 33 without loss with Adarsh Vani looking particularly solid. Mark Winspear and Rua Barker continued the good work with the ball but the Cumbrian fielding was sub-standard. Jacob McAlindon put a complete stranglehold on the Yorkshire run rate with a superb spell of off spin bowling conceeding only 11 runs in his 8 over allocation. Yorkshire closed on 166 for 6. In reply Cumbria had a useful opening stand of 32 between Sam Barrett (29) and Ollie Tyson. After 23 overs at the drink break Cumbria were only 2 behind in the run chase. However in the next 5 overs Cumbria lost 4 wickets and only added 4 runs. Rua Barker (15) and Will Smith (18) repaired the damage with an entertaining 30 run partnership but the Cumbrian innings closed on 129. This was an excellent advert for junior cricket and Silverdale C.C. must take great credit for the excellent manner in which thay staged the game.
Durham called the next game off at 12-00 noon on Monday 11th due to heavy rain which did not allow the Barnard Castle Groundstaff time to get on and prepare a suitable wicket. All the Cumbrian team were notified not to travel.
Threlkeld hosted the Clevelandgame and their skipper won the toss and surprised everybody including the Cleveland Manager by electing to bat. The Clevelandteam were soon in trouble as Toby tyson picked up 3 quick wickets. George Attwood, and spinners Will Smith and Jacob McAlindon continued the good work and the innings closed on 77. A feature of the Cumbria play was a good catch by Mark Winspear and some excellent wicket keeping by Kieran Hull. In reply Cumbria had an equally bad start losing openers Sam Barratt and Ollie Tyson for only 7. Rua Barker (23) and Scott Maxwell (10) steadied the boat and after Scott was out James Wilkinson gave Rua good support in inching to the Cleveland total. It was eventually left to Will Smith and Dylan Hoyle to knock off the required runs with Dylan hitting a massive six to finish the game. D Viswanath, Lou Burden and Helen Fenby were best for Cleveland. My thanks are extended to Threlkeld C.C. for hosting the game, scorer Chris Barker and to umpires Glyn Griffith and John Knowles.
The next two games against the mighty Lancashire at Penwortham C.C. and Durham at Wigton C.C. were cancelled as the pitches were unplayable due to extreme rain. All the Cumbriateam were informed as were the Durham team and neither team travelled. Fortunately both these fixtures were rearranged for later in the season and two enjoyable games ensued.
Northumberland who are no longer running an U.12 side requested a fixture as they were going to the Ipswich Festival and wanted to warm their boys up prior to the trip South. Cumbria batted first and posted 116 in 36 overs. Runs were not easy even though Northumberland were playing their first game of the season. Sam Barrett (31), Toby Tyson (19), Ruairidh Barker (17) and Dylan Hoyle (12) were best for Cumbria as they finished on 116. Stevenson and Thorpe were best for Northumberland. Northumberland stuck in and lasted as long as Cumbria but did not score as many runs. Scott (21) and Percival (15) shared a productive second wicket partnership of 34. With the introduction of spinner Smith (5-15) the Northumberland innings folded quickly on 64. Well played lads, let us now get ready for Ipswich.
Our final game in the North prior to our trip to Ipswich was played on a showerey day at Fylde C.C. where the groundstaff worked wonders to stage the game as the covers were on and off throughout the game. Lancashire batted first and compiled a very useful 160 with several people scoring teens and batting round the very powerful R Udwandia who made an excellent 73.The pick of the Cumbrian bowlers were George Attwood and Skipper Sam Barrett. In reply Cumbria had a disastrous start with Sam Barrett getting run out for 4 in the 8th over. Scott Maxwell (25) and Ruairidh Barker (24) repaired the damage with some adventurous and at times suicidal running. After their departure Cumbria capitulated losing the next 8 wickets for just 29 due to some excellent spin bowling from Noon and Ahmed and a brilliant catch from Tom Heaton. Well played Lancashire you were better in every department except the 6 hitting (2-0 to us). My thanks are extended to John Williams and David Leighton for endeavoring to complete this fixture, Joe Martin for his help in the scorebox and the umpires Colin Dauber and Ted Holden.
The Cumbria team travelled to Ipswich on Friday 3rd of August and were allocated Howe Boarding House at the RoyalHospitalSchool, Holbrook where they unpacked and occupied several 4 bed and 2 bed dormitories. Ten teams attend this very well organised Festival fronted by Don Topley the ex-Essex cricketer who is Cricket master at the RoyalHospitalSchool. The games are played on 5 pitches namely Lords, Canterbury, The Oval, Newlands and the Riverside pitch. All the pitches are based on the first class grounds such as Canterbury has a tree within the playing area, Lords has a slope across the ground and the special shape of the Oval are characteristics that have been fitted into the design of the pitches. We were due to play Suffolk in our first game on Canterbury. Unfortunately the English summer prevailed even at Ipswich where it hardly ever rains and due to inclement weather the game was cancelled. However as the day brightened Don Topley arranged 5 games of a 15-15 on Astro Pitch 1. It was enjoyable and Cumbria put in a pleasing all round performance with an excellent display of good out cricket. They ran well between the wickets, backed up well in the field and took their catches, but the most pleasing aspect of the innings was that all the batsmen were unselfish. We batted first and put 108-9 on the board with Sam Barrett, Rob Farrar, Ruairidh Barker and Scott Maxwell all scoring useful runs. In reply Suffolk struggled against the spin of Jacob McAlindon (2-14) and Will Smith (2-8) who put a real stranglehold on the Suffolk batsmen and their innings closed on 66-8.
On day two we played a combatative Hertfordshire team on the Riverside pitch. Herts batted first and struggled to score runs on the damp Riverside pitch. Only Angus Laws Mather (35) and William Darraugh (17) scored runs of any consequence in the whole innings and they managed to reach 112-9 in their allocated 45 overs. Robbie Evans (3-15), Mark Lucas Winspear (2-16) and the ever improving off spinner Jacob McAlindon (2-20) were best with the ball and Will Smith helped themwith a brilliant fielding display producing two run outs. Sam Barrett the skipper also had the outstanding figures of 6-5-1-0. The Cumbrian innings was even more lacklustre than that of Herts and onLY Rob Farrar (25*) scored any runs of consequence, showing great resilience to remain undefeated as wickets tumbled all around him. We closed on 67 but only scored 50 runs off the bat and what is more upsetting was the fact that we still had 18 overs to bat. Herts batted, bowled and fielded better than Cumbria and deserved their win.
In the next game Cumbria won the toss and mysteriosly elected to bat on a soaking Oval pitch against a strong Buckinghamshire team that turned out to be the eventual winners. Our innings started bizarely with Sam Barrett stumped of his 3rd ball received. Things got worse as we slumped to 24-6 in 24 overs. Kieran Hull (23) and Dylan Hoyle (28*) did well in the last 10 overs putting on 42 for the 7th wicket but it proved too little too late and our innings closed on 74-7 in our 35 overs. Rance, Smart and Thompson all bowled well getting a brace of wickets apiece for Bucks. In reply Bucks never faltered and after 24 overs were 72-0 with A King and T Petrie untroubled. Fortunately for us Ollie Tyson did a smart piece of fielding to get rid of King for 34 and Will Smith took a good catch off Mark Lucas Winspear to remove Petrie which also helped to remove our blushes. None of the bowlers looked like taking wickets but maybe a lesson was learned that on a wet pitch bowl first. That is what Junior cricket is all about - learning from experience and playing the game.
Cumbria played another shortened game v Norfolk on Lords.Norfolk batted first and posted 112-7 in 25 overs showing the urgency required in the shorter form of the game. O Binney who was the difference in the 2 sides scored a well compiled and rapid 51 in 53 balls. Barker was the pick of the Cumbrian bowlers taking 2-13 but all the other Cumbrian bowlers went at 5 an over. In reply Cumbria mustered 87 for 9 but it was noticeable that not one Cumbrian batsman scored at the required rate of 5 in 6 balls. Barrett (22) and Ollie Tyson (15) gave Cumbria a reasonable start of 34 in 8 overs which was just below the required rate but on their departure nobody kicked on. Well played Norfolk you deserved your win for playing better out cricket than Cumbria.
Cambridge elected to bat on Newlands in a reduced overs game on the final day of the Festival. They batted steadily scoring 159-5 in 38 overs. Everybody bowled O.K. but with no real penetration probably due to a late night at camp on the last evening. A Freeman caught the eye with a solid 69 and was aided by S Wallis, R Howell, A Brambley and H Drew. This left Cumbria chasing in 38 overs and what a great game ensued. Sam Barrett at last turned up and showed his true potential with a scintillating innings of 81 with several hard hit boundaries on the leg side. He was ably backed up by Ollie Tyson (11) and Robert Farrar (19). With one over to go we needed 3 runs to win. Unfortunately contact cricket was needed but we failed to hit the ball and ended up 2 runs short with 9 wickets down. Well played both teams as I think an honourable draw was a fair result.
On a damp day at Wigton Richard Watt and Peter Wilkinson worked their socks off to ensure Durhamand Cumbria U.12's played. Cumbria inserted Durham and George Attwood took two quick wickets to put the Durham players on the back foot. Elliott and Gibson made a solid recovery putting on 38 for the third wicket. Sam Barrett then made a double strike and with a smart run out by Rua Barker Durham slumped to 52-6. From this point on Durham stuck in and posted an excellent 113 on a difficult wet pitch when“early doors” this did not look a realistic proposition. George Attwood (3-18) and Sam Barrett (3-24) claimed 3 wickets apiece but off spinner Jacob McAlindon (8-2-12-1) caught the eye with his mechanical accuracy posing problems for all batsmen. Cumbria lost Barrett in the first over. Fortunately Ollie Tyson (42) was not phased and played magnificently, cutting and pulling anything short with great power. He was aided by Maxwell (10) and Barker (25) allowing Hull and Attwood to score a final comfortable 20 for victory.
Looking back on a damp season I cannot praise my excellent co workers, Coach Graeme Bickerstaffe and scorers Vernon Edmondson (at Ipswich) andMark McAlindon and Chris Barker (both in the Northern games) enough. Graemeis a cricket fanatic and just loves to coach.Vernon on the other hand is an excellent scorer producing a very informative scorebook, is 60 plus years young and took the boys swimming at night. He is also a proven Rugby League first aid man who is good to have around in times of need. Chris and Mark shared the scoring in the Northern matches and I am always very appreciative of their offers as it is difficult for me to score and manage the team on the pitch at the same time. As I said in my U.13 reportI am looking forward to next season with an air of excitement when I will receive a 14 man U.12 squad produced by a new innovation being introduced by Cumbria Cricket Ltd. this coming year called “Player Pathway”. This system produces a complete trawl of all available players that are nominated to play for the relevant County age group teams with the prime aim of not missing anybody and giving the selection procedure a definite visibility and consistent and fair approach to CountySelection. Finally I am full of praise for the parents not only for their full committment during the season, but especially with respect to their sense of humour when I misplaced my car at Ipswich. I was presented with a “T” shirt with a picture of my Oyster silver Ford Mondeo Ghia FP02 WVM printed on the front in the exact position where I had left/lost/misplaced it and a caption above “Where’s my Car”. Finally last but not least the players themselves who were apleasure to manage, well mannered and received compliments by opposition and umpires wherever they played. Bring it on next year.
Well played Cumbria, you have been a pleasure to manage. Hopefully I will see you all next year in the U.13’s if you get through the new selection process. Dinger