U11s win Primrose Hill CC Indoor Tournament 2015 - held at Lords Indoor Academy

BCC U11 were invited to enter a team, thanks to contacts of Jim and Michelle Slater at Wormsley.

The squad was made up of:

Finn Catherwood Smith
Padraig Hill
Josh Jankiewicz
Adam Buswell
James Mason
David Justus
Raoul Flora
Ted Jeffery (c) (w)
Thomas Barlett
William McLaughlin

The U11s were pitched against the hosts, Primrose Hill CC U11s; Finedon Dolben CC (Northants) & Grange CC (Edinburgh). Truly international!

The day started at 9am with our first game against the PHCC, chasing 58, BCC chased down the total with 2 balls of the 12 overs to spare with our last wicket partnership! RA really good team effort all round given we were new to this form of cricket. The final pair gave a mature performance to steer the team home for the final 20 runs...never in doubt...

The boys were then treated to a visit to the Lords Media Centre pod with magnificent views over the ground on a glorious sunny day, learning about the history of the ground overseen by Old Father Time. Then onto the Ashes Museum to see the famous Ashes urn - the boys were amazed at how small it was. Then onto the hallowed Pavillion, Long room and then into the England dressing room, to learn which players used that particular peg you were sitting by and to hear about some of their antics.

After a great lunch provided very generously by PHCC parents, we were onto the second match against Finedon Dolben from Northants, who again batted first with BCC chasing down their total in the last over with 3 wickets down. A pattern was developing. David Justus was the pick of the bowlers and who finished the tournament with 8 wickets.

The third match was against Grange who had also won their first 2 games very impressively, so we worked out this was a dress rehearsal for the final. Grange have several Scotland level players and posted a huge 100+ score - a little daunted and flat, BCC were never on the pace, and finished 70-2. A sizeable margin and on the face of it, the final was a foregone conclusion, or so it seemed to many of the participants and spectators.

A couple of hours later we were ready for the final and the bulldog spirit started to quietly emerge. For the fourth game in a row, BCC batted second - and again Grange set an imposing total of 104-3 in 12 overs, having been in trouble at 20-3 after 4 overs - a mighty impressive recovery with 2 players retiring on 26.

That left BCC with a mountain to climb, requiring 30 runs more than they had managed in any game and against the favourites. The tempo of the reply by openers Raoul Flora and William Mclaughlin was nothing short of breath-taking - with 44 coming off the first 4 overs and not a chance in sight. Over 60 runs were added in under 6 overs before Raoul retired on 28. William also batted maturely, with the backing up and running between the wickets being the defining factor for the pair. Just short of retirement, William was out for 22.

But then with Ted Jeffery and Thomas Bartlett at the crease the intensity never faltered, with their team mates and crowd fully involved with supporting the effort noisily from the viewing gallery. Ted with great placement and speed of running and then a lovely 6 by Tom on the fourth ball of the 11th over steadied the nerves (the parents were grateful) and put the teams level, with the winning runs coming off the last ball of the over - a whole over to spare!

We were then presented with the PHCC trophy by Eddie Villiers who arranged the tournament, while Raoul was named player of the tournament with 2 retirements to his name, in addition to great bowling and fielding - a true-all round effort by him and the rest of the team. We were all so proud of their efforts

The post-script is that, as cup holders, BCC U11s will be invited back next year to defend their title next March, so that honour will pass onto next year's U11s who can also be part of a great day