U14 Cricket District Finals

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Cirencester Deer Park U14 v Rednock U14: Having dashed back from Enrichment Week all over Europe to play in the U14 Cotswold Final at an overcast Frocester ground on Tuesday evening, Deer Park walked into battle knowing this was their toughest game of the season so far. The battle between Deer Park and Rednock was to be a closely fought one, where pride and passion were at stake.

Batting first Deer Park openers Bob Lamble and Alex Binnie got the team off to an energetic start scoring at 7 an over for the first 10 overs. With a century partnership between the two openers, they were set for the full 20 overs until Binnie came down the pitch to a wide one and was stumped on 36. He did his job and it was now the turn of Lamble to take the helm and push forward the total to their target of 150. George ‘Danish’ Thrussell walked to the crease to build on his match winning 54 in the semi final. He looked steady until he was superbly caught at covers on 7. Lamble, by this time had reached his half century and was clearly tired from hitting boundary and after boundary and turning singles into twos, applying the pressure on the fielding side. Stepping back once too often Lamble was out ‘hit wicket’ for 61. Power horse Robbie James had to take over the mantle with Max Sandilands for the final few overs, edging closer to their initial target. After 20 overs Deer Park had scored 142 for the loss of three wickets.

Rednock had it all to do, needing to score at just over 7 an over if they were going to lift the silverware this year. They started well, taking 12 off James’ first over. Was this to be a sign of things to come? It was all in Binnie’s master plan to lull the opposition into a false sense of security, to get them thinking they were on top. Binnie made the switch to bring spin on in the third over, resembling the tactics used in the T20 games that have developed in recent years. With the first ball of his first over Thrussell bowled a solid looking opener through the gate with a ball that turned sharply. Bowling tight lines through his devastating spell Thrussell picked up the first 3 wickets of the Rednock innings to finish with 3 for 21 from 4. On a wicket where batsmen could feast, like a pride of lions ravaging their prey, this really was superb bowling. Rednock were up with the run rate and something special was needed if the brakes were going to be applied. Bring on the young guns; Charlie Partridge and Ben Lafford Taylor (BLT (Year 8 and 7)) stepped up to the mark to put the squeeze on, with Partridge taking a crucial wicket off their opening batsman who scored 79. Surely by now the boys could smell victory, but a job still had to be done. BLT showed that the selectors had got it right by being economical, giving away only 20 runs from his 4 over spell. Needing to score at 7 an over, Binnie turned to a rejuvenated James to take the team home and bowl the final 2 overs from the top end. With his first ball he bowled one of the opposition, only to find the umpire with an outstretched arm signaling no ball. Not to be deterred, he persevered to pick up a crucial wicket in the same over, with Callum Higginson taking a brilliant catch at mid off. Surely this was it, with Rednock needing 16 from the last 2 overs with only 4 wickets remaining. Partridge picked up wicket number 7 in the 19th over conceding only 4 runs. Needing 12 from the last over, James caused havoc, with Rednock looking for every run possible only to see 3 run outs in the final over.

Deer Park won the game by 9 runs in a very closely contested game, producing some of the best school boy cricket watched in recent times. The boys played with spirit and passion and represented the school magnificently well.

Come on you whites!

by Mr Germaine and Mr Bellamy

Score cards (pdf): CDPS Batting, CDPS Bowling