U11 Indoor Results 2011/12

U11 Indoor Analysis 2011/12

I am very pleased to tell you that the A Team beat Stoke Newington B and Hornsey A on Saturday to end the season with only one defeat, to Stoke Newington A, who had lost two matches.

There is slight conjecture here as the final league table is not yet available – but I am reliably informed this is ALL CORRECT and we are into the County Finals to be played on SATURDAY 21st APRIL. (At time of writing, we join  the U15s in the Finals, but U13s still to finish their league.)

FEEDBACK, PLEASE

PARENTS & PLAYERS….I would like your feedback on the PLAY-ON Centre. It ain’t Lord’s and it is a joutrney & occasionally very raucous, but a. they want us there, b. it’s very much cheaper. I have also rather warmed to the place over the winter (although sometimes it hasn’t warned me!) WHAT DO YOU THINK?

MATCH REPORTS

All the Squad players came on Saturday for a pre-game practice. I wanted to put out (what I believed to be) our strongest side for both games, after toying with the idea of giving as many people a game as possible. But once the message came through that Stoke Newington B had beaten their A side (winners when they played North Midd A) I reverted to Plan A. This did mean that Junaid, Anthony and Alex Croft were without a game – my thanks to them and their parents for coming along, taking part in the practice and supporting the team, and their contributions during the season.

Luke Hollman elected to bat first against SN B, captaining the strongest North Midd side of the season bolstered by the return of Big-Hit Billy. Max had suggested a lower batting position, but we decided to stick to what I believe is our best opening partnership of Max and Emile – and they both proved the point by retiring with 30+ scores. Billy showed a little ring-rustiness after his layoff through injury by being suckered into a stumping, but Luke (30*)  and Will (11*) pushed the North Midd score up to 146 for 1. Stoke Newington had had their heroics for the day – Luke had the best bowling figures by far for the indoor season (2-1-5-5) as he combined four times with Emile for stumpings and once with Max for a catch, Billy taking 2 wickets and Guy 1 as SN slumped to 39 all out in 6.2 overs.

The last game of the day, and of the league season, was against Hornsey A. Like last year, this was a decider. In 2011 it was a nail-biter to the end as North Midd defended a lowish total. This year, captain Big Ben Wain, put North Midd into bat. Again Emile (20)and Max (19) started the innings off well but both were out, making way for Billy who got into his stride this time with 28* and Luke 30* - 6 retirements in 6 innings, and now looking for the runs between wickets - but today he was a lucky lad being dropped 3 (or possibly 4 times)! Total: a competitive 134 for 2, including 29 from the last over bowled by Ben.

In reply, Max bowled Hornsey’s Nos. 2 & 3 for 0 & 3 respectively, while Emile and Luke combined again for a stumping. Big Ben came in at 4 – could he score the runs AND up the tempo? The former YES, the latter NO – Ben retired on 32* and Robin hit some heavy blows towards the end before being bowled by Billy (who took the other wicket, caught William).

Both teams were close after 11 overs – North Midd 105, Hornsey 107 - but Hornsey could only score another 8 where North Midd had hit that crucial 29. North Midd won by 19 runs.

FINALS DAY 21st APRIL

This was an excellent all round performance from a strong team that played to its full abilities – and fully deserve the Middlesex Central Area Cup. Next stage is ALL MIDDLESEX FINALS DAY on Saturday 21st April at Hampton School when we seek to retain the County Cup. As the league is now over, we can also involve some B Squad players. Peter Hollman is investigating the possibility of a pre-Finals tournament as well as a practice day and I will let you all know when those will take place.

SEASON’S REVIEW & MEN OF THE SEASON

A SQUAD: At this stage of the season the statistics rarely lie. Luke Hollman leads the batting for the As with 167 runs, not out in 6 innings at an average of 27.83 per innings. He is followed by Max Harris with 132 runs from 6 innings and Emile Hohmann with 122 from 5; Billy made a total of 58 from his 3 innings. Anthony Stevens came next with 39 from 4, Will Chapman 34 from 3 – but other players did not seize their opportunities with the bat. After the matches on Saturday Luke leapt to the top of wicket-takers – 8 for 82 at an economy rate of 6.31. Guy Lane topped the economy table (5.54 given away per over) with Billy (5 wickets), Max Harris (6) and Jamie close behind. Junaid took 3 wickets, Alex Croft and Will Chapman one each. Fielding was strong throughout, with nearly all players willing to throw themselves about to stop runs or take catches. Emile – our excellent wicket keeper -  took the plaudits with SEVEN stumpings and Max took 4 catches.

Man of the Season: Billy was unlucky to miss so many games, but when he played made a big  difference with hard hitting and accurate bowling. Max was Mr Reliable with bat and ball. Emile kept and batted superbly. But I am pleased to award the trophy this year to Luke Hollman who hit the most runs, took the most wickets & increased in maturity as he stepped into Billy’s shoes as captain during his absence.

B SQUAD: As I have said already, I was particularly pleased with the improvement of the Bs during the indoor season. They ran much better between the wickets than the A squad. By the end, I think they would give any of the sides, A or B, a jolly good game! Disney Harker had the top average runs per innings (23.4) – 117 from 5 – but Josh Hurst hit the most runs 143 from 8, averaging 17.88. Toby Ackermann came next – 88 from 8, and Tom Harrison, Alex Hunt, Alex Major and Leo Arney chipped in 20+ runs each. Toby Ackermann took 7 wickets, Josh Hurst 3 at the best economy rate of 6.05 – Leo Arney, Remi Baptiste, Christian Cartwright and Disney Harker took one wicket each. Alex Hunt did a brave aand efficient job behind the stumps as well as contributing 48 runs.

Man of the Season: Toby Ackermann was the Most Improved Player: he took the most wickets (7) and was third highest run scorer – and took two catches. Disney had the highest average runs per innings; Tom Harrison looked an excellent prospect but could only play 4 games. However, the trophy goes to Josh Hurst, for 143 runs, 3 wickets, best bowling economy and a gung-ho approach to running that frightened every fielding side!

THANK YOU

Thanks to everyone for your involvement this winter: especially SCORERS Hollman and Hurst and others who filled in when asked and all PARENTS for your support - and for getting the players to games in good time.

Best wishes, I will be in touch soon.

Brian Lake