O&LCC U9s win a thriller against Reigate by 2 runs.

The U9s first ever hardball match saw a strong squad rushing out of various schools and off for the day nighter over at picturesque Priory Park in Reigate. Everyone was assembled, fed and ready to go for the 6pm start, although a couple of the parental taxi services were taken aback by the likely finish time of 8:30 pm.
Captain for the day Eddie Hemingway called Tails for Wales, a call appreciated by Leo Bines who pronounced himself full Welsh, but alas on this occasion Tails did fail and we were asked to bat by the opposition.
A brief shower as play was due to start held us up as the scorers tried to find somewhere dry to score, but we were quickly underway in bright sunshine with ominous clouds building behind the ground.

We got off to an excellent start with William Blackborough and Jack Kearns batting very sensibly picking up singles and byes with generally good calling and running. A nice boundary from Jack and the avoidance of the dreaded minus 6 meant we finished the pairing on 222-0.
The second pair of Harry Ejje and Leo Bines also batted well, Leo hitting 2 fours and being unlucky to be caught and bowled as the ball stopped in the pitch and then bowled to one that kept low. Still an upward trend as we finished the pair on 237-2.
Eddie Hemingway and George Abel both hit a boundary and were out once each. Eddie bowled by a good ball and George run out by a direct hit. 251-4 after 12 overs.

With thunder now rumbling around the ground Hugo de Vere Hunt and Leo Virley were next in and also both hit the boundary. Hugo fell to another caught and bowled but was rather unlucky as he absolutely belted the cover off the ball and I don't think the bowler will attempt another hardball catch all season after the shock he got at how much it hurt. We then had an unfortunate dismissal as in running an easy single the batsman didn't manage to put anything across the line even though he would have been in by miles, the ball was thrown in from near the boundary, hit the stumps and the finger had to go up - one of those dismissals that won't happen again. 267-6 after 16.
Reigate saved their best bowlers for last but Huxley Maunder-Allan and Jovian Crozier stood up to the challenge well. With no wides or no balls to bolster the score in the last 3 overs, a couple of wickets out bowled meant we slipped back to close on 263-8 after our 20 overs.

It seemed a competitive score against some probing bowling, but we probably lost 3 more wickets than we needed to. Running and calling was generally good but we ran some risky byes and the 15 we scored in byes was countered by the 12 we lost in run outs by the backstop. The other run out was also a direct hit but perhaps the call should have been 'Wait' rather than 'Yes', as the ball went straight to a close in fielder. All in all though very happy with the boys batting as they tried to defend the straight balls. One thing that was clear from hardball cricket is that it is harder to score runs. The boundaries weren't big but we only managed 8 boundaries in our innings and lots of shots didn't beat the infield. Comment for parents - the boys would benefit from even an entry level English Willow cricket bat.

After a quick tea Jack opened the bowling for O&LCC with Leo B as keeper for 4 overs before Jack took over keeping duties. An already green pitch had been juiced up by another shower and Master Kearns has added a yard of pace in the off season. Jack bowled quickly and accurately for his two overs and was a little unlucky to be no balled for a delivery that shot off the pitch over the batsman's head. At the other end Harry bowled economically, taking a wicket with a good catch by Huxley(?) and conceding no wides or no balls as well as securing a direct hit run out of our own whilst fielding at backstop. What was noticeable though was that the extra pace our bowlers were putting on the ball meant that it was also pinging off the bat a lot quicker than when we batted. 206-2 after 4.
Eddie and Huxley bowled quickly and mostly accurately although trainers on a now slippery pitch weren't helping Huxley maintain his balance after he bowled. Eddie was the 2nd of 4 bowlers not to bowl a wide or no ball (George and Hugo the 3rd and 4th). The Reigate pair batted sensibly and not losing a wicket meant they moved the score onto 228-2 after 8. On target for a Reigate win.
Leo V and George were next up and continued an excellent all-round team bowling performance. George picked up a wicket bowled middle stump. 247-3 after 12 but Oxted needed wickets!

Wickets were to come with what turned out to be match winning bowling figures from Leo B with 3 wickets for 6 runs from his 2 overs. On a hat-trick ball next time he bowls as well. Jovian supported Leo well from the other end and despite a couple of late boundaries in the pair, Reigate had been pegged back to 245-7 after a second run out.

As the last pair came out we soon realised that their best bowler was also their best batsmen. After a quiet over from William conceded just 3 runs, Hugo's first ball, a quick delivery just outside leg stump went racing away to the boundary. Hugo responded magnificently yorking the batsmen with his very next ball. 248-8 with 2 overs to go.

A boundary off the first ball of the next over plus a wide and a couple of scampered singles meant Reigate needed 8 to win off the last over. A single quickly got their star man on strike and he hit the boundary with the 4th ball of the over. Another boundary and they would be ahead, a wide or no ball and they would be level and have the extra ball awarded for a wide or no ball in the last over of the innings. Hugo stepped up to the plate magnificently earning my man of the match award for brilliant bowling under pressure against a good batsman. The penultimate ball whistled past the stumps as the batsman played and missed. Credit too to Jack behind the stumps who wore a fast delivery on the chest but saved a bye being taken. One ball to go and all 3 results still possible, Hugo steamed in, fast and accurate and the batsman could only hit it to the close in fielder on the offside. O&LCC had triumphed by 2 runs. 263-8 played 261-8.

Very proud of all the boys, they listened to my two key messages about defending straight balls when batting and not throwing hard to the bowlers end when fielding. We lost no wickets to silly shots and only gave away one overthrow. Made all the difference in a very close match.

Thanks to parents for supporting and transporting and to my 11 year old son Freddie for a fantastic job scoring.

No game on Bank Holiday Monday, not ready for such drama again that soon anyway!