Boys' Cricket: U11A v Ardvreck

6 wicket victory with 21 balls to spare

Wednesday, 19th May

Despite arriving slightly later than scheduled, courtesy of a Headmasterly detour through the beautiful countryside, the Under 11As were soon ready for action against our eager opposition. Jamie C won the toss and elected to field first – a sensible decision that would enable us to monitor the local conditions – and our 15 over a side match started amidst great excitement. Rotating the bowling and the wicketkeeping duties, the Belhaven team raced through their overs, bowling accurately and fielding with tigerish intent. Three direct hit run outs from Jamie, Fin and Géza, an incredible attempt at a diving catch from Alfie and some genuinely miserly bowling from all 11 meant that we were able to limit Ardvreck to a total of 59-3 from 15 overs.

After a delicious match tea, we went into bat and showed great intent from the start, running a quick single from the first ball of the innings. This set the tone and, despite losing four wickets to straight balls – work to be done on the forward defensive which needs to replace the uncultured mow through midwicket – we remained well ahead of the run rate. The key partnership was the one between Alfie B and Fin L, who took the score from a slightly dicey 13-2 to 52 before Alfie was bowled – the secret of their success was clear communication and judicious shot selection and this bodes well for the future. We roared across the line courtesy of a 5 and won by 6 wickets with 21 balls to spare.

It was wonderful to see the team in action after such a long delay to their competitive opportunities. The learning curve is a steep one and it was fantastic to see the boys respond so positively to the challenges that they faced on the day – swift decision-making and clarity of purpose meant that we played some effective cricket. The boys were great ambassadors for the school and very good company on the long bus journey – they are already looking forward to the next match, as am I.