Written by David Brown

To a backdrop of ringing church bells and blaring rock music, the under 11’s played Cobham Cricket Club away.

They lost the toss and were tasked with bowling first. The team were really relaxed and excited about the match and were in great spirits, even though a couple of the players were not 100% fit.

Joseph took the ball for the first over and got off to a slightly nervous start with a no ball, however the rest of the over was very tidy, and he only conceded a wide from which the batters took the opportunity to steal an extra single.

Next up was Jacob, with his customary smooth bowling action despite having been up most of the night being sick. Again, there was a “loosener” on the first ball, giving up a wide, but the remainder of the over was neat and tidy, until the batter hit a good 4 off the fifth ball.

Over three was bowled by Ali, unfortunately another one of the players not feeling at his best, and this affected his usually wonderful bowling with his radar being off target and missing out on his customary wicket.

Over four was bowled by Matthew, although he conceded a few runs his bowling was very straight and he took the first wicket of the day. This took his tally to three wickets for the season so far.

Rupert came in to bowl over five, playing in his first ever match, a couple of wides and a well worked 4 came from a good first ever over.

The next over was bowled by Thomas and was again, generally neat with a single wide and two well taken shots for 2 runs each.

Over seven was bowled by the captain, Harry Lawes, with his customary unique “tie me in a knot” bowling action. He went for two singles but, crucially, took the second wicket of the innings.

The bowling then cycled back round to Joseph, who had a better second over, conceding a bye and a single in a very neat over.

In over nine, bowled by Jacob, some excellent fielding off the third ball brought a run out and the third wicket of the innings. A great over was only spoiled by a well timed 4 off the final ball. The run out was sadly to be the last wicket taken in the innings.

The rest of the overs were bowled with a scattering of wides, some well run singles and another well timed 4 off the third ball in the eleventh over.

A well-deserved mention should be made to “Burchy” the wicketkeeper, who put his body on the line yet again (taking a few hard blows), saving a good few runs and showing excellent keeping skills.

Once all 16 overs had been bowled HBBH were set a daunting target of 193 to win.

Next it was HBBH’s turn to bat! Could they do it? Would they chase down the large target they had been set?

Out walked the opening pair of Ali and Burchy, a well-established batting pair. Sadly, Ali’s lack of fitness affected his batting as well, normally a wonderful timer of his shots, a strong hitter and a good runner between the wickets, his timing was not quite there, and his speed was a little down. The pair batted well for their four overs, picking up odd singles here and there, but against one of Cobham’s best bowlers, they struggled to make a massive impact and lost a couple of wickets.

The next pairing was Joseph and Jacob, both good batsmen and quick runners. Their first over was a quiet one, sadly with another wicket. The rest of their overs were mixed with a few dot balls, the occasional wide or no ball. The real highlights were a glorious 4 hit by Joseph off the fourth ball of the sixth over, a crashing 4 hit by Jacob off the last ball of the seventh over and a wonderfully timed 4 from Joseph off the first ball of the eighth over.

The pressure was now building on the batsmen as Matthew and Rupert came in for their four overs. Some very accurate bowling saw the pair really bogged down, unable to score and losing a few wickets.

The boys were really up against it now, as Harry and Thomas came in to bat. They had a huge target to reach but set about trying to chase the total down. They were, unfortunately, facing Cobbham’s fastest bowler, however this did play to the boys strengths with some excellent shots played by both, picking up five 4’s between them (3 to Thomas and 2 to Harry) along with some excellently scampered byes and additional runs to wides or no balls.

The only blip to their performance was a very well taken caught and bowled from Harry, having hit the ball powerfully back down the ground.

The final score for HBBH was 141 – 9, meaning the second loss of the season. But this was not a match that truly reflected the teams’ talents and was definitely a “bad day at the office”.

Next up is Borstal CC at home so let’s get behind the team and roar them on to victory.