2009 Season Colts U13 Match Reports

3rd May

Brentwood V Billericay - Under 13 District Cup

Report by Ian Coleman

Brentwood won the toss and batted on a good, dry batting pitch.

Despite losing Dougi Maxwell early on the Brentwood batsmen, Haynes and Ali, set about the Billericay batsmen with relish. Ali batted with a calm authority and despatched any bad delivery to the boundary. Haynes was a little more circumspect, however, his batting showed exemplary technique and clearly benefiting from the hard work put in over the winter nets.

Nevertheless, it was the running between the wickets which became the feature of the partnership. Haynes displayed his usual, dynamic athleticism and the aggressive running ensured that the Billericay fielders and bowlers could never settle into a rhythm.

After a 68 run Ali was retired on a splendid 51 whilst Haynes was retired on 30. Whetstone and Coleman then batted out the last four overs and with a combination of good running and fine shot making pushed the score over 140 with Whetstone not out 14 and Coleman not out 19 from twelve deliveries.

Brentwood continued their positive cricket in the field and every player made a telling contribution in restricting Billericay to 77. The wickets were shared out between Maxwell 2 and Coleman 2, with Swallow, Lambert, Whetstone and Patel with one apiece. It was pleasing to see a good early season fielding performance with Wingrove taking a good catch.

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10th May

Brentwood V Shenfield - Under 13 District League

Report by Ian Coleman

Batting first on a slow pitch the Brentwood openers Maxwell and Nation struggled against some accurate Shenfield bowling.

In an attempt to force the pace Nation was out to a good catch at cover and this brought the in form Ali to the crease.Both Ali and Maxwell began to accumulate runs and boundaries soon began to flow. It was Maxwell who took the lead role and he played a wide range of shots, often clearing the in-field. Maxwell was out for a fine 44 and he was quickly followed by Ali on 35. Brentwood wickets began to fall in the last remaining overs with only Whetstone reaching double figures with 16. After twenty overs Brentwood reached 135.

Up against the pace of Coombes and Horswill the Shenfield batsmen were soon in trouble and behind the required run rate. Coombes bowled extremely well and took two wickets in his four overs. Only Pratt managed to bat with any distinction and Brentwood ran out comfortable winners with Whetstone, Coleman, Patel and Horswill picking up the other wickets.

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12th June

Brentwood V Hatfield Peverel - Under 13 District Cup (20 overs)

Brentwood 106-6
Hatfield Peverel 78-8
Brentwood won by 28 runs

Report by Ian Coleman

Brentwood were inserted on a low slow pitch and against some accurate bowling and some brilliant fielding managed to score 106-6. Levy top scoring with 30 with Horswill contributing 27 and Wingrove 12.

Brentwood's bowling was excellent throughout with all bowlers making significant contributions and they restricted the home side to 78-8 leaving Brentwood worthy winners.

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14th June

Brentwood V Goresbrook - Under 13 Peter Coe Cup

Brentwood 179-2
Goresbrook 107 all out
Brentwood won by 72 runs

Report by Ian Coleman

A superb all round performance ensured Brentwood ran out comfortable winners in this Peter Coe group match.

Brentwood openers Maxwell and Haynes batted with great resolve against some aggressive bowling on a 'green top' and having weathered the early storm they managed to push the scoring rate up to four an over. Maxwell continued his good early season form and punished anything short or wayward. Having put on 64 Maxwell was unlucky to be LBW for 29. Haynes then took control and his innovative stroke play coupled with his ‘whippet like' running began to take the game away from Goresbrook. Haynes was ably supported by Wells and Whetstone. Haynes was finally out in the 25th over for fine 73. Horswill and Ali then set about the home side attack with shots all round the wicket. Horswill finished the innings with a four and a six to push the final total to 179 off 30 overs.

Goresbrook started slowly but their hopes ended when the excellent Read was dismissed by a beauty from Coleman which drifted and spun prodigiously to knock back his off stump. Wickets fell at regular intervals and despite some late order hitting from Gaymer Brentwood cruised to a comfortable victory with Coleman the pick of the bowlers with 4-13.

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5th July

Stock 99-8
Brentwood 81 all out
Stock won by 18 runs

Report by Julie Welham

The ever improving U13B's again came within touching distance of their first win, this time against Stock A last Sunday at the OCG.

Choosing to bat first, the Stock openers started aggressively hitting several early boundaries. Smart fielding by Short broke the opening stand and Beckett and Callan picked up wickets a piece. However this brought together the powerful duo of Pratt and Hyde who set about the Brentwood bowlers with relish, raising the visitor's score to 70 for 3 after 10 overs. At this stage Brentwood were on the back foot and with their fielding under pressure a huge score looked likely. That was until spinner Wood broke the 40 run partnership with a beautifully flighted delivery to bamboozle the ominous Hyde. As the home bowlers all took their turn, confidence flooded back; a buzz returned to the fielders and Stock suddenly found runs much harder to come by. Jonathan Moore produced an in-swinger to bowl Pratt for 18 and Wood, Brown and Beckett each got further wickets while Jensen, Chris Moore and Haywood helped restrict the Stock total to one under the hundred.

In reply, Brown and Short faced accurate bowling and aggressive field placings at the start of the Brentwood innings and only their tight defensive techniques kept the Stock attack at bay. However, unable to pierce the field regularly, the run rate crept past 6 an over and the introduction of the tall, and very pacy, Hyde, only made the Brentwood task harder, particularly as the pitch was beginning to deteriorate. Having fended a good length ball away from his throat the previous over, Captain Ed Brown was first out trying to force the score along and he was quickly followed by last weeks run makers, Beckett and Hicks to leave Brentwood struggling at 20 for 3. Short followed soon after again trying to pick up the pace while Ragbir and Chris Moore moved the score towards 30 before the former was bowled.

With the target becoming more distant, Simon Wood then produced a mature innings which was to almost turn the game. Showing a more solid technique than of late, he dominated partnerships with Ragbir and Jonathan Moore encouraging his less experienced partners to pressure the Stock fielders with hard run 2's and a smattering of well struck boundaries. When Moore was hit on the pad, he was unlucky to see the ball spin back onto his stumps but that brought in Jensen who, again showed the value of a straight bat, as he lent Wood further valuable support. However the return of Hyde to the attack was to prove decisive as the home team searched for 19 runs from the last 2 overs. His pace was too much for Jensen and then Wood, on 22, was last man out aiming for a much needed boundary.

So, another loss for the U13B's, this time by 18 runs, but another performance containing many positives and, if the all round progress is maintained, a first win of the season cannot be far away.

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19th July

Galleywood 116-5
Brentwood 81-8

Report by Julie Welham

An inconsistent performance saw Brentwood U13B's unable to follow up on last week's opening win of the season.

Winning the toss, the home side chose to bat and immediately made their attacking intentions clear on their small ground. Despite a couple of early boundaries, Brentwood's opening attack of Haywood and Ragbir maintained their composure well and were each rewarded with a scalp to reduce Galleywood to 18 for 2. When Lawless also hit the stumps Galleywood were struggling at 29 for 3 however Marlow and Pallotino were then able to take advantage of some of the less experienced Brentwood bowlers to produce an 80 run stand which would take the game away from the visitors. Despite Lawless returning to tighten things up towards the end of the innings, Beckett bowling accurately and Ragbir claiming 2 well deserved late wickets the home side's score of 116 - 5 was probably 20 runs in excess of what it should have been.

In reply, skipper Simon Wood and partner Chris Moore started brightly, stealing quick singles and calmly finding gaps in the field. With the score in the early teens, Moore was unlucky to be caught behind off the back of the bat when he mistimed a pull. However, with Beckett joining Wood, Brentwood maintained the required run rate with good running and several boundaries. Wood, in particular began to punish the increasingly ragged home attack; one straight driven boundary off the back foot being the highlight in a mature innings that was cruelly ended on 25, by a delivery that shot straight along the ground to bowl him. When Beckett followed him 5 runs later, Brentwood immediately fell too far behind the run rate to leave much doubt as to the result. Short, continued his excellent recent form to finish 17 not out but none of the other Brentwood batsmen were able to support him for long enough to mount a threat.

Although several players again produced strong individual performances, this was less of a team performance than in recent weeks and the U13B's will be looking to put things right next week at home to Herongate in their final league game of the season.

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