U9s taste defeat for first time

Shaun and I sensed over confidence in the team during the warm up, and although we tried to get the boys to focus on the task at hand, it turned out to be costly.

Away to Chesham, we won the toss and batted. Freddie recovered from our first platinum duck of the season to add 11 runs with Adam with some good running between the wickets. Jake, Rohan, Matthew, Rowan, Ben and Alfie struggled to add to the total as we continued to loose wickets. We did hit 6 good 4s but perhaps taking singles would have been more advisable than going for the "big" shots. Ed and Monty could not quite manage the heroics of our last game, although their solid hitting probably deserved more runs. We finished on 245 for 10, which was likely to be too few to defend.

Ed and Freddie bowled pretty well in first 4 overs taking 3 wickets to reduce them to 198. Jake and Rowan took another two but some sloppy fielding meant Chesham moved onto 209 after 8. Surprisingly Chesham then introduced their best player, who took a particular likening to Alfie's bowling. His hitting was very impressive and he scored 35 including three 6s although Alfie stuck to his task and took his wicket. They were now on 245 (equalling our score after 12 overs).

Adam and Monty bowled well and took 4 wickets to reduce Chesham to 233. With some better fielding and catching we could have had a couple more wickets and really put the pressure on the opposition. Ben and Rohan bowled really well in the last 4 overs and we very unlucky to only take 1 wicket. ( Rohan finished with a wicket maiden). However our fielding let us down again and gave Chesham about 12/14 runs which we could have saved and ultimately gave Chesham victory with 252 for 10.

On reflection this might be a good game for the boys in the long term. They will have learned that

- Fielding is hard work and every ball matters. While it wasn't bad fielding with a bit more alertness and they could have had a few more crucial wickets and saved a number of runs
- Chesham only bowled 8 wides/no balls against our 11 which again was significant.
- Batting is risk and reward. A straight ball needs to be treated with respect. Not every ball has to go for a boundary !
- It is good to keep the scoreboard moving forward. Singles are helpful
- Beating the side at the top of the league does not guarantee success in all matches

On the positive side our bowling was good and I thought Chesham were lucky not to get a bat on many. The boys also kept their spirits up and should not be too down hearted. You can't play well every day !

Thanks to parents for their support

Stuart