The under 9's took to the field on a humid and overcast Sunday morning to face the mighty Weston and Gravely. Max captained and promptly won the toss and elected to bat having studied the pitch closely and judged that it would offer the bowlers more turn later in the morning (it was nothing to do with the fact that James could only make it at 10.15 and we didn't want to field with only 7 players.) Run were hard to come by against some tight Weston bowling and excellent fielding with the top four batsmen of Ben, Callum, Harry S and Harry C guarding their wickets closely but struggling to make the scoreboard tick by. Max and Angus moved the pace on with some hard hitting and good running between the stumps, but the final pairing of David and James were left with a challenge to lift the score above 250. We need not have worried. James, throwing caution (and his bat) to the wind, hit a fine 15 runs with no respect for wides or daisy cutters. He was ably supported by David with a selection of delicate cuts which would make George Osbourne jealous. The final partnership added 18 runs to leave Wheathampstead with a respectable, but decidedly reachable, total of 261.
The halftime team talk focused on the need accurate bowling and tight fielding. The boys responded with the best bowling of the season, with wides kept to an absolute minimum, excellent 'keeping from Harry C and some acrobatic stops in the deep. Particular plaudits go to Callum for excellent figures of two overs for just two runs, and to David, James and Ben for a wicket apiece. Going into the final two overs Weston needed 14 runs for victory, but fine final overs from Max and Harry S gave them no chance with pinpoint accuracy which we can only hope will be replicated by England's penalty takers over the next month.
So, another fine win with Weston falling 11 runs short of Wheathampstead's total. Victory was undoubtedly down to a disciplined bowling display and some magnificent fielding. Congratulations to all.
The win moves us up to second in the league with four matches to go (but Fraser keeps telling me I shouldn't think about such things!). We are away to top of the table Knebworth on Sunday. Will circulate team and location details shortly.