2008 Season Colts U15 Indoor League Match Reports

26th October

Report by Julie Welham

Brentwood U15s began their indoor season against Witham on Sunday 26th October with a team formed with even numbers from the U15 and U14 age groups (U14 of course being last year's highly successful U13s).

James Welham (Cpt) and Elliott Skinner opened the batting and both had to retire on reaching 25 in accordance with the indoor rules. Both Welham and Skinner played some fine shots taking the runs that were available. Welham scored the only 6 of the match - although Sam Dawes had a few thwarted by the ceiling netting!! Matt Thorpe-Apps and Dawes followed the openers and both looked comfortable, never appearing threatened by the Witham bowling. Towards the end of the Brentwood innings the Witham bowling began to go a bit wayward - punished by 2 runs for every wide. Brentwood ended on a very respectable 109 with no loss of wicket.

As we had posted a good score Brentwood had the flexibility to allow everyone to bowl 2 overs each. Prem Pithia and Owen Mathias opened and both bowled excellently - after three overs Witham, needing 11 an over, had scored only 9 in total and were 1 wicket down - an excellent run out - ball fielded by Welham straight to Skinner (wicket keeper) for a clear run out. The only spinner, Mathias, excelled taking 2 wickets - both catches, one off the wall by Welham and the other a direct catch by Pithia. Witham were now three wickets down after only 4 overs and with only 18 runs on the board. Dawes, Thorpe-Apps and Welham were left to keep the bowling tight as victory seemed assured at this stage. The remaining Witham batsman were not going to go without a fight though and they had to retire one of their remaining batsman on reaching 25. He was however replaced with the last batsman who suffered a golden duck (bowled) at the hands of Welham - a very quick return then for the retired batsman who almost saw the match out before being run out on the last ball of the match - Pithia fielding the ball to Skinner. Witham ended on 59 for 5.

Brentwood did everything that was asked of them today - they batted sensibly, taking the runs that were available, bowled well - only 3 wides in the innings and fielded superbly - Mathias in particular stood out - nothing got past him - not even a fierce shy at the stumps by Welham who though just feet from the wicket let the ball fly at a fantastic rate - no trouble for Mathias who had clearly benefitted from a good warm up prior to the match having come straight from a rugby match against Chelmsford.

Our next opponents are Ilford who will prove to be a harder team to beat but on today's performance it should be a good match!

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16th November

Brentwood Colts - 85-5
Ilford Colts - 87-4
Ilford won by 2 wickets with 5 balls remaining

Report by Julie Welham

Brentwood U15s continued their indoor season against Ilford on Sunday 16th November. Ilford had lost both of their matches so far but one was against a very strong Chelmsford side and one during half term where perhaps they were rather depleted. The boys knew that this would be no easy match but set about the task in hand in a positive and fighting spirit.

James Welham (Cpt) and Elliott Skinner opened the batting and as per the previous fixture they both had to retire after reaching 25 - Welham at the end of the 4th having contributed to the score of 44 with two sixes (replaced by Ben Sach) and Elliott in the 8th with the score on 68 (replaced by Matt Thorpe-Apps). Sach played some fine shots but was run out in the 7th over closely followed by another run out for Matt Thorpe-Apps in the 8th over. With wickets still in hand though and the two retired batsman still able to come back there was still plenty to play for. Owen Mathias and Jon Hilliard took up the fight but found it harder to get the runs going with the stronger bowlers now in place. Owen was bowled and Welham returned to the crease only to bowled on the very next ball by County team mate Neville Jacob. Skinner returned and was able to add some runs to the board and was last man standing after Hilliard was run out. Brentwood managed to see the overs out and ended on a respectable 85 for 5 which was probably around 15 shy of where we would like to have ended - and indeed where we were capable of ending.

Welham opened with Sach and the batsman were kept at bay for the first three overs but the fourth over saw Jacob show his mettle when he scored three 6's in one over. He retired which slowed things but only temporarily. Brentwood kept in the game throughout though with the scores remarkably similar at the end of overs 4-8 and pleasingly there were some terrific fielding displays. Thorpe-Apps looked sharp making two great stops avoiding both the run and the ball hitting the wall, Mathias continued his top class fielding form from the previous match and once again nothing got passed him and Skinner once again showed his sharp keeping skills. Hilliard took a great catch (the returned Neville) but Ilford were able to push on the score and entered the last over needing only 5 to win and this was reached with a 6 off the first ball of the over.

Brentwood played well and it was a good close match. To be honest they actually outplayed Ilford in most areas and the team may well feel that they should have been the winners in the end but they should all be proud of their contribution. The key lessons are to take all the runs that are available - as that extra 15 runs that we could have scored would have put this beyond the opponents reach.

Our next opponents are Maldon - who beat Ilford so we will want to be on top form to beat them!

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7th December

Brentwood Colts - 115-2
Maldon Colts - 48 all out
Brentwood won by 67 runs

Report by Ian Dawes

Brentwood cruised to an easy victory in their third indoor match of the season. Opening batsmen Sach (capt) and Skinner took control from the off with good running and classy stroke play; putting on 42 runs in quick time. The openers concentrated on taking the singles available (counting for 3) when available; which was one criticism of the Team in the previous game. Sach was run out on 22 and Skinner Retired on 26. The only other wicket to fall was Thorpe-Apps, also run out. Dawes accelerated the scoring retiring on 29 with some aggressive stroke play. Pithia and Nation finished off the innings, with Brentwood ending on 115-2.

Maldon after being gifted early runs with extras in the first over were quickly reigned in by accurate bowling from the whole team, but especially Thorpe-Apps. Sharp keeping from Skinner and fielding, notably from

Dawes and Pithia kept the pressure on. Maldon wickets fell regularly, the first being the most spectacular with Dawes' run out from 20 yards. A fine Team performance saw Brentwood to a 67 run victory with Maldon ending 48 All Out.

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18th January

Brentwood Colts - 124-3
Hornchurch Colts - 54-4
Brentwood won by 70 runs

Report by Ian Dawes

TEAM:

WELHAM (CAPT)
SKINNER (WKT)
SACH
DAWES
THORPE-APPS
NATION

Another professional performance from the Brentwood U15 Team. Openers Welham and Skinner got Brentwood off to a brisk start, taking 16 runs from the first over. The momentum was maintained throughout the innings with Welham, Sach and Thorpe-Apps having to retire on their maximums.

Hornchurch struggled from the very start of their innings with accurate bowling across the board and tidy keeping from Skinner and could only manage 54 runs. This result takes Brentwood to 2nd place in the league tables with every chance on improving their position in the coming weeks.

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