Wooburn Narkovians 6-a-side Tournament

On Sunday morning, bright and early, we took two excited teams: the Daredevils and the Supergiants, to Wooburn Narkovians CC for a 6-a-side tournament. After success in Marlow, the boys had high expectations, and were definitely playing to win as many of their four matches as they could.

The Daredevils set off with a match against an inexperienced Chenies side. Through good fielding and accurate bowling they took a wicket every over, keeping the Chenies score down. The Daredevils then batted and ran confidently, without losing a wicket, and won comfortably by 40 runs.

The Supergiants started on the back foot, having lost two of their team to illness and injury (hope you’re playing with us again soon boys). The twelfth man stepped in to bring the numbers back up to 5, and when it turned out the two teams were playing at the same time and players couldn’t be borrowed from the Daredevils, a younger brother gamely stepped up from the U6s to play his first tournament. Thanks very much Willo. First game out against Wooburn, the Supergiants batted well, had a few nervous run-outs, but sadly lost by 15 runs due to a string of boundaries and a rather undulating outfield.

Next up the Daredevils faced local rivals Gerrards Cross, and were understandably keen to win. The Daredevils opted to bowl first, and again took a lot of wickets (including 3 in 1 over), keeping the Gerrards Cross score within reach, in spite of some big hitting. When batting, the boys defended well, but were denied the boundaries by tight fielding, and lost by 5 runs.

In their second game, against Cookham Kestrels, the Supergiants came out pushing hard for the win. They organised themselves well in the field and batted strongly. However, some loose bowling by the Supergiants and some excellent batting by the opposition unfortunately led to Cookham winning by a few runs. Rather than being disheartened, the Supergiants focused on what they needed to improve for the next match, and strode on, confident of victory.

Game three for the Daredevils was against The Lee. The Daredevils knew they needed to win to be in with a chance of making the finals. They opted to bowl first, and in spite of accurate bowling, the big hitters of the Lee, armed with plastic bats, hit a lot of boundaries, leaving the Daredevils chasing 163 (no mean feat off 6 overs!) The boys put all their energies into chasing down the total, but even with the 6s and 4s flying off the bat, and excellent reverse sweeps, their total was 162, so the Daredevils lost by 1 run!

Meanwhile, combining fighting spirit, and lessons learned from their first two games, the game against Farnham Common was a runaway success for the Supergiants. Disciplined bowling and fielding, and some powerful hits meant the Supergiants were unstoppable. This rewarded their hard work, and lifted their spirits considerably going into the final game.

Although the Daredevils earned bonus points for their extremely narrow defeats, their points total was not enough for them to make the finals, so the fourth game, against Cookham Kites, was played for group placings. The Daredevils were clearly tired, taking to the field with much less bounce than earlier in the day, but they played well, fielded tightly and won by 29 runs, earning them third place in the group. While it was tough to have missed the finals by so few runs, it was great for the boys to have the opportunity to play such close, competitive matches.

For the Supergiants, confidence was high after their well-earned victory, but due to an early departure, they were once again down to 5 members, increasing the already substantial challenges of defending a short boundary with a small team. In their last game, against Cookham Kestrels, the Supergiants batted first and the boundaries came fast and strong. Some good bowling and fielding by the opposition, however, led to a couple of wickets and nervous run-outs. These weighed against the Supergiants as they went in to field against a team capable of pulling boundaries out of the bag despite excellent bowling and fielding. A tired team accepted defeat gracefully and vowed to come back stronger next time.

So, no silverware on this occasion, but I would like to applaud all the boys for excellent cricket, for their hard work, and resourcefulness, and particularly for the way they managed themselves in the field. I think this is a great foundation for future tournaments. A big thanks to Robert and Steve for managing the Supergiants (and sourcing extra players and helping with the match report), and to all the parents and siblings who came along to cheer the teams on, and help manage the emotional highs and lows of an U8s cricket tournament! Hope you all made it home in time for a more relaxing afternoon watching the Wimbledon men’s final!