WHAT A GAME!!

This match had everything, and I mean absolutely everything! Firstly, the team's actual performance....

Roebucks won the toss and elected to bat. Bowling was generally accurate, although 14 wides and 2 no balls meant that more runs were scored in extras than off the bat. The wicket made batting very difficult, with consistent help for all bowlers, including huge turn for the spinners. This made scoring tough for both sides. Unbelievably tight bowling from Ellie (2 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets for 1 run, no wides or no balls) and Struan (2 overs, 1 maiden, no wickets for 1 run, no wides or no balls) meant that only 2 runs were scored off the bat in the opening 4 overs. With the reigns successfully held at the end of the innings by Jack (2 overs, no maidens, no wickets for 6 runs, no wides or no balls) and Jamie (2 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket for 2 runs, no wides or no balls - I don't think I've ever seen the final over of a 20 over game bowled by a spinner achieving a wicket maiden!), this meant The Roebucks finished on 230/7, a target that I did not expect Beckenham to ever find challenging to make. How wrong I was.

Throughout the Beckenham chase of 231, wickets fell regularly, with congratulations to the only not out batters Sebi (4 from 13 balls) and Laura (11 from 13). The only batters to reach double figures were Laura (11 scored minus zero for no wickets), Jack (13 scored minus 6 for one wicket), and Bertie, who played some beautiful shots in reaching 12, but was also out twice. 220/1 after four overs became 238/3 after eight and 229/7 after twelve, when the panic began to set in. Jamie and Josh tried to stabilise the innings with some sharp running between the wickets before Jamie hit an absolute bomb of a square cut that was caught amazingly by the Roebucks fielder who seemed more surprised than anyone else on the pitch to have grabbed it!

The final pair of Struan and Jake came in with the score on 244/9, with darkness already setting in, and a very vociferous Roebucks team and supporters creating a very tricky environment for batting. At this stage, all we had to do was defend our wickets, but on came two terrific bowlers, whose line and length were immaculate. Both batters stuck to their task admirably, with very solid defensive shots until Struan's defences were finally beaten in the third ball of the penultimate over. Roebucks needed two wickets to win from the final 9 balls. Another wicket followed on the first ball of the final over. Roebucks now needed one wicket to tie from the last five, but Jake played 5 solid forward defensive shots in a row to seal the win for Beckenham. The roars coming from Struan and Jake at the completion of the final over demonstrated just how difficult a task they'd had, and how well both played in very tough circumstances. We finished on 236/11 to win by 6 runs.

Now on to the other issues of the day...

This match was plagued by poor sportsmanship from the Roebucks side and parents. From the early stages of the match, there were some very challenging moments. Firstly, when the ball hit Jamie in the face he went down to the floor with blood coming from his mouth. Not a concern for the Roebucks scorer who, just five metres away from Jamie, stood up and started yelling at the batters to "keep running, keep running". A fine example to set the team.

The second incident happened when Ellie was hit on the toe by a ball early in her innings, and crumpled to the floor in pain on consecutive deliveries. On both occasions, the wicketkeeper ran round her and the wicket, and some seconds later took the bails off and claimed a stumping. I over-ruled both these and spoke to them about why they had showed no concern whatsoever for the injured player. Ellie retired, unable to continue shortly afterwards, and was still limping when it came to go home.

The icing on the cake came with the final ball of the 16th over, where Josh, who admittedly had been regularly leaving his crease early, was run out by the bowler before bowling (sometimes called a "Mankad"). Whilst there is no need to warn a batter in the laws of the game, given Beckenham had been very flexible with selection, bowling orders, and just about every other way possible, it seemed utterly ridiculous that the standing Roebucks umpire didn't chalk this off. However, with the previous examples of Roebucks excellent sportsmanship, it did not come as a surprise that nothing was done, despite my protestations. To cap it all, the scorer then challenged why it was just minus three runs for the run out rather than the six for any other wicket.

I haven't even mentioned all the times decisions were questioned, having to explain why LBWs weren't given when balls were a country mile from hitting the stumps, or the constant noise I warned Roebucks about several times when their bowler was running in.

I have spent all season trying to make our team play the game in a sportsmanlike manner, both in their behaviour to the opposition and to each other, even when mistakes are made. We have helped players from both sides who have struggled, and immediately run to support others when hurt. To say it is disappointing to meet teams who are prepared to win at any cost, particularly at U11 pairs level, is an understatement, and left a very sour taste in my mouth after the game.

Returning back to the cricket - at least we won the game, and whilst I absolutely commend our team's attitude throughout in very trying circumstances, there are many things to work on - all the wides and no balls came in the middle 12 overs - it is essential at this level that we keep these down to an absolute minimum. Similarly, we were out caught too many times - 4 - more than we have done in any other game this season. We have to learn to hit the ball on the ground. In the pre-game chat I said that the boundaries were long, and 4s and in particular 6s would be very hard to get, so stroke the ball around, look for the angles and run well. Still, batters came in and tried to hit the ball so hard it flew straight in to the car park. More discipline is required.

With all that being said, there was some fantastic rear guard action towards the end of the match, and although there were some real highlight reel moments in the game - Ellie's 2 wickets, the excellent line and length bowled in the outer overs, and a wonderful two handed diving catch from Jamie - I am going to give the Player of the Match award jointly to Struan and Jake, who were simply magnificent in defence in such a hostile situation. They may never have to defend in such a challenging arena again as long as they play cricket. It just shows that cricket isn't always about slogging and high scoring games.

Well done everyone in a very close win. The return fixture against Roebucks is still only in pencil for this coming Monday 29th July as we are groundless currently, and I've not yet received any confirmation from the club. We may therefore have just the one game left, the return match at Foxgrove against Bromley Common. This will be another tough game, as I cannot supplement the team with any A players to cover off the two Bulldogs players that Bromley will start with, so we need to be sharp and ready!

Tom