Cricket Match Reports for games against St. Mary's
Cricket Match Reports for games against St. Mary's
Wednesday, 28th May 2025
Boys' Cricket
1st Team
Belhaven hosted St Mary’s on a glorious afternoon for the penultimate Wednesday match of the half-term. Conditions were perfect for cricket, and the boys were up for the challenge from the first ball.
Bowling first, Wilbur struck early with a good ball that was edged behind — safely taken by Harry, who was tidy throughout. Rollo bowled with great energy claiming a wicket, well caught by Arthur at backward-point. Charlie’s spell was accurate and difficult to score off, rewarded with a wicket.
Hector bowled two tight overs and took a key wicket, and Hamish followed up with two wickets of his own in a clever spell. Ollie T was superb, finishing with 2 for 8 from 3 overs, showing real consistency and control. Pierre also bowled a fantastic three-over spell and got a much-deserved wicket with some clever variation. Fergus bowled two tight overs that only went for 13 runs, finally Tommy came on late and needed only one ball to finish off the St Mary’s innings.
Arthur fielded well throughout and supported from the covers, and Ollie’s constant verbal support was excellent. St Mary’s were bowled out for 78 in 19.1 overs, with strong catching, four behind the stumps from Harry and good discipline in the field from everyone.
In reply, Rollo got us off to a fast start, hitting a couple of clean boundaries before being bowled for 21. Wilbur played a controlled and confident innings, finishing on 42 not out from 39 balls, including seven boundaries; a highlight was his reverse scoop to win the game, something he has been practising in the nets. Charlie came in at three and was caught early, but Hector batted positively and finished unbeaten on 13 from 10 balls, hitting a huge 6 over mid-wicket to see us home.
Belhaven reached the target in 12 overs, finishing on 80 for 2 and sealing a well-earned 8-wicket win.
Final Score:
St. Mary’s 78 all out (19.1 overs)
Belhaven 80 - 2 (12.0 overs)
Belhaven won by 8 wickets
Player of the Match: Harry & Wilbur. Harry 4 fantastic catches and Wilbur for a mature batting performance.
Mixed Cricket
U11A
The U11As headed south into the savage wilds of border country today to face St. Mary’s beneath the ruins of Melrose Abbey, keen to test themselves against another of the better teams on the circuit this season.
Alexander, skip for the day, won the toss and asked the hosts to bat and Xander got things off to a good start, taking a wicket in the opening over. Monty was our other opener though he didn’t quite manage to find his usual accuracy in his two overs. Leo and Isobel took over from them and Leo really struggled today, going for 17 off his over before being swapped for Alexander. Isobel bowled nicely and Alexander made a breakthrough when he remembered to pitch the ball up to the batsman.
It had been agreed before the match that any batsman reaching 30 would retire and, if required, come in at the tail end of the innings and two St. Mary’s boys did this, opening the way for Patrick to make real inroads into the rest of the batsmen: he took one wicket in his first over but then did that rare feat of taking a hat-trick in his second over before making it a “five for” in his third over.
As we have done all season, our bowlers were rotated regularly, giving everyone the opportunity to bowl and Fred, Rose and Ben did well today. Sofia, particularly, had a tremendous over, not trying to do anything elaborate, concentrating on pitching the ball up and on wicket and was rewarded with two wickets, including one of the St. Mary’s returning openers. Bravo!
It was Ben who took the final wicket, in the 18th over, leaving St. Mary’s on a respectable, but not overly worrying, 99 all out. All we needed was for our batters to follow the consistent mantra of the season which was to treat any ball on stumps with respect and then to play freely at anything short or missing.
Unfortunately, that simple message wasn’t taken on board by two or three of our core batters, with frustratingly predictable results. Firstly, Ben swung mightily at a good opening ball and was caught at mid-on. Then Patrick, after facing two balls, also swung across the line at a ball on stumps and was bowled. Leo came in and departed after one good ball and we found ourselves three wickets down after one over!
Xander and Alexander then set about restoring some order with some good scoring shots before Alexander swung wildly across the line at a pitched up ball, on wicket and... that’s right, was bowled. Xander reached thirty and was retired then Fred and Fin came in and batted brilliantly, showing real patience in keeping out the good balls and scoring off the wider ones, showing how it should be done. Fred eventually fell to a good ball and Rose, Isobel and Monty all came and went rather too quickly which brought Xander back to the crease as the last wicket; with him and Fin needing to score 21 runs for the win.
It was terribly exciting and the two of them went about it in exactly the right way. Twelve runs into their partnership and with the runs accruing at a rapid rate, Xander played a near-perfect pull shot that raced towards the boundary, only to slam into the chest of a St. Mary’s fielder who, miraculously, held on for a tremendous catch, thus bringing the Belhaven innings to a close, 8 runs short of the target.
Though the team was a trifle disappointed to lose the match, the result is really of little consequence. Certainly, one or two of the more senior players in the team are guilty of failing to make a real attempt to listen to advice and really focus on what they are trying to achieve and that was a little disappointing. At the end, I spoke to them of the importance of recognising the areas that they need to improve in their own game and of taking responsibility for their decisions and actions. In the end, all that I am interested in is them striving to be a little bit better each time they take to the field.
As always, with this group, there were lots of positives from Sofia and Patrick’s excellent bowling efforts, to some fine saves in the field, excellent batting from Xander, Fred and Fin, some fabulous sixes (Fred’s straight drive for a whopping six was something quite special), some good ball-striking by Alexander, brave stops by Monty and so on – all of which contributed to making this a thrilling, engaging game.
Result: Match lost by 8 runs.
POTM: Patrick for his hat-trick and remarkable figured of: 3 overs, 9 runs, 5 wickets.
WT
U11D
The coach drew up and the sun was yet again shining down in the Melrose creating clouded skies painters for centuries have been trying to capture.
Unfortunately, Belhaven lost the toss and, quite rightly, St Mary’s opted to field first.
Noémie and Noah were the first pair to face and Noah got the parent crowd’s clapping warmed up by getting a 4 on his second ball. Andrew and Jonah then took their positions and unfortunately were presented with many wide balls that were un-hittable, which was a shame given Andrew’s batting performance in previous weeks. The wides did double Belhaven’s score in 2 overs though.
The final batting and bowling pair came on; Petra and Robin. Petra took a lovely swing at her first ball, but sadly it went straight into the fielder's hands, resulting in our first wicket. Robin wanted to play a safe last two overs, but Petra was making the most of the last chances and sadly ran Robin out on the 4th ball of the first over. They then hit their stride, and their daring meant that they earned back 7 runs leaving Belhaven on a total of 47.
Overall, it was a great batting effort by Belhaven but as Mr Brown always says, if the bowler can’t bowl, the batter can’t bat and unfortunately for some of our batters today, it was simply a case of not having a chance to hit a ball.
And then it was Belhaven’s turn to field. Noémie started off the bowling for us and did a brilliant job keeping the ball straight. Unfortunately her great line enabled St Mary’s to score quite a few sneaky little runs.
Noah’s pace was also enjoyed by St Mary’s batters who merrily smacked the first of his balls for four. Andrew and Jonah came on as the second bowling pair and they managed to get a wicket on the 6th ball with some nice fielding and teamwork.
James again had the same problem as Noémie and Noah, which was that his bowling was of perfect pace and line which resulted in 2 fours in the first over. But all wasn’t lost as Belhaven managed to get another wicket on the 7th ball of the 2nd over. St Mary’s had 45 runs at the end of the 3rd pair.
Robin opened the penultimate over and bowled beautifully only letting one ball slip wide. He looked the part and it’s lovely to see him developing a proper bowling action. St Mary’s also enjoyed this lovely action and too another four on the 6th ball. Petra closed the match and I’m glad to say that tight fielding on the very last ball of the game meant that Belhaven stopped St Mary’s scoring a final four.
Overall, it was a close match throughout, and the result was by no means unrepresentative of the play. I was most impressed to see how much everybody supported each other despite knowing by the last pair that the match was probably not going to turn out in our favour. Batting first does put the team at a slight disadvantage. James was a supportive captain encouraging others when the stakes were down.
Result: Match lost by 16 runs.
POTM:
Petra was nominated player of the match by St Mary’s team.
Robin was my player of the match for the way in which he engaged in every part of the batting and fielding, remaining focussed even when the spotlight wasn’t on him.
IS
U13 2nd Team
Belhaven Under-13s 2nd XI Secure convincing victory over St Mary's
Belhaven’s Under-13 mixed team delivered a dominant performance on home turf this week, comfortably overcoming St Mary’s in a one-sided encounter. The hosts posted an impressive total of 135, before bowling out their opponents for just 34, sealing a comprehensive 101-run victory.
The foundation of Belhaven’s innings was laid by a superb knock from Tristan, who played with composure and confidence to score 43 runs — his highest total to date. He was ably supported by Clemmie (9) and Rodriguez (18), both of whom rotated the strike well and kept the scoreboard ticking over.
With runs on the board, Belhaven turned in an even more emphatic display in the field. Their bowling attack was relentless, with Beatrix, Bella, Emily, Juan, Clemmie, and Rodriguez all picking up wickets as St Mary’s struggled to build any partnerships. The fielding was sharp, energetic, and disciplined, keeping the pressure firmly on the visiting side throughout.
Special mention must go to Noah, who captained the team with great maturity, setting smart fields and rotating his bowlers to great effect.
It was a thoroughly professional team performance, with every player contributing to what was a memorable win. Belhaven will look to build on this momentum as the season progresses.
U9
Damp squib of a performance against St. Mary’s.
After three wins from three, hopes were high of going the season undefeated, but these aspirations came to a grinding halt against St. Mary’s. We set what I thought would be a reasonable total, of 84 runs from 15 overs but ended up a long way off.
Flora and Sam put on 7 runs from their three overs, Cleo and Lochie 24, Annie and Lexy 12, Alec and Coren 15 and finally Lochie and Jemima 26 runs. Wickets to fall were Sam and Cleo – clean bowled, Annie – clean bowled and also run out and Coren – caught. Lochie hit some good runs and looked aggressive and we benefitted from several wides from the St. Mary’s bowling.
First innings: Belhaven 84 for 5 wickets off 15 overs.
In response St. Mary’s got off to a blistering start, racing to 34 in just three overs and reaching their target of 85 with three overs to spare, before going on to post an impressive 133. Simply put, their batters were more aggressive that ours, as they walloped the ball out for 6 repeatedly.
Our fielding was poor, as we struggled to throw the ball back in to stumps well, and we gave away several fours through not concentrating when we were near the boundary line. We managed to take four wickets, Lochie catching off Sam (first ball of the innings), Flora clean and Alec and Annie both making run-outs, but we were a victim of our own success. We actually bowled, on the whole, better than St. Mary’s, but because we pitched near the stumps, we ran the risk of getting hit. By comparison, St. Mary’s bowled many wides and no-balls but therefore limited our own scoring opportunities.
Second innings: St. Mary’s 133 for 4 wickets off 15 overs.
Stats:
Wickets: Flora, Sam.
Catches: Lochie.
Run-outs: Annie, Alec.
Stumpings: -
Runs: Lochie (21), Annie (7), Cleo, Lexy, Coren (4), Flora (2).
Man of the Match: Lochie for being the one to push the score on.
Belhaven U9 Yorkers lose by 49 runs.
