U13 Boys Indoor Cricket

On Thursday 5 January the U13 boys contested their first indoor competition of the new school year. Out of the 8 boys selected there was just 1 who had experience of the school indoor format from the previous year so this experience was entirely new for the vast majority. It didn’t take them long to get into the spirit of these brilliant, short and hugely dramatic cricket competitions.

The format of the competition is simple; 4 teams are drawn into two semi-finals and the two winners then compete for the only qualification spot. St Kath’s faced Ashton Park in their semi-final match and after the toss it was decided that St Kath’s would face the task of setting the total.

Batting indoors is perhaps the biggest change from the outdoor game and quite quickly the boys found that out. They really struggle to get the ball away for scoring opportunities. The openers Ollie and Jazper played some lovely shots but were guilt of striking the ball either too straight or too firmly into the walls; neither of which allow you to score big runs indoors. Although run outs are normally one of the worst ways to get out, in the indoor game with 8 wickets for just 8 overs you can afford to really test the opposition fielding. All of the top 3 boys were run out but they were all close enough to bring out some sharp work in the field from Ashton Park. Having had the advantage of being able to watch his team mates Max came to the crease along with Louie for the last few deliveries. Louie used his experience brilliantly backing right up at the non-strikers end and taking every single run that was on offer. Max followed Louie’s instructions and just flicked and glanced everything wide of the stumps into the corners behind him. These boys put on a much needed partnership of 18 in the last couple of overs and along with a little help from the Ashton extras the boys had a defendable total of 58.

Ashton really attacked the St Kath’s bowlers in the first half of their innings and when they found themselves needing just 19 runs from the last 3 overs without having lost a single wicket they were firm favourites to take the spot in the final. St Kath’s had other ideas and some brilliant work with the ball made for real drama at the end of the match. Harry Slape and Ari Rugman got things started when they bowled the 6^th and 7^th over conceding just 3 and 4 runs respectively. There was some excellent work in the field during this time from Jody and Louie Dun who both put their bodies on the line making good stops. These two incredibly tight overs put St Kath’s in a great position and meant that Ashton still needed 11 from the final over. The scene was set perfectly for captain Toby Rice who absolutely relished the challenge that was in front of him. In 1 unbelievable over the game turned on its head and Toby finished the job his team mates had started and took his team into the final. Two wickets from his first two deliveries saw him waiting at his mark about to deliver his hatrick ball and he was pumped up! The first two dismissals had been full and straight and had cleaned out each batsman. The third delivery was almost identical but was dug out to Louie Dun at short mid-on. The pressure of needing 11 from 4 balls meant that the incoming Ashton batter called for a run giving Louie a run out opportunity which he took brilliantly for the team hatrick. There was 1 final wicket in the over for Toby Rice who finished an incredible six-ball spell that transformed the match.

The boys had a bit of wait before their final and used the time to look at what they could improve on in their second game. They were all in agreement that they hadn’t made the most of the runs that were on offer and needed to be looking to score at 3 a ball. The finals were cut to 6 overs which meant that they were targeting just over 100 runs!

The improvement in the batting in their second game was humongous! Once again they had the task of setting the total but there was a real difference in their approach. The first over was a little sluggish and the boys only managed 8 from it. Openers Louie and Ollie spoke for an eternity at the change of ends and it was clear that Louie was giving Ollie really clear instructions about how they could take on the scoreboard looking for 3 a ball. Both boys batted brilliantly and really pushed hard in the field. Gordano could do nothing about the scoring rate and amazingly after scoring 14 off of the 2^nd over and 9 off of the 3^rd over the boys found themselves 31 for 0 with 18 deliveries left. If they could sustain the scoring rate they had moved to they were looking at between 60 and 80 off of just 6 overs! After Ollie retired the boys lost a couple of quick wickets as they pushed hard in search of a winning score. The retirement and the fall of wickets made it hard to sustain the scoring rate but after a good final partnership from Harry and Ari the boys had 57; just 1 shy of the total they had made in 8 overs in their first match!

Gordano went out hard from the off and it was clear they were not going to hold back in their run chase. They wanted the game won and quickly! For the first time in the tournament the back wall came into place and the Gordano boys managed 3 maximums in their innings. Quite simply these proved the difference between the two sides as with 2 overs remaining St Kath’s found themselves having to defend 5 runs – an almost impossible task. Gordano won in big style with their third maximum but not after Louie ‘Deadeye’ Dun had helped himself to yet another run out off of Ari’s bowling! The Gordano boys were deserving of their victory and were the better side in the final match. The boys were understandably disappointed but took heart from their huge improvements and the fact that for all but one it was the first time they had played school indoor cricket!

A thoroughly enjoyable evening with a group of boys who really demonstrated their ability to listen and make adjustments to improve their performance – all very encouraging signs! In typical St Kath’s fashion this group of young men competed hard and showed real character.

Very well done gentlemen.

Mr Cook