2010 Review Back to 2010 Review Index
Under 15s
XI Report
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I am probably
more disappointed than the players to finish the season in third position
in the league. However, all credit to the boys for finishing behind
Pentyrch Golds and St Fagans both on 25 points and us with 23 points from
playing 9 games with 6 wins 2 losses and a walk over. Had we fielded a
full compliment of Under15 players throughout the season then I’m sure we
would have been in the final.
Jack Davies was
elected Captain for the season with Sam Wood as his deputy. There was very
little preparation before the start of the new season as the first game
was on the 4th May. Let us hope that the new facilities at
Cowbridge School will get us better prepared in 2011. Holding net sessions
outdoors in April can sometimes be a thankless task.
May I at this
point thank Mike Lloyd and Nick Davies, both in their final year at
school, for their invaluable presence at nets and on match days. We wish
them both well in their studies at University.
The first match
was the Welsh Clubs Cup match with a home draw against Pentyrch Golds.
Pentyrch batted first and totalled 128 for 5 in their 20 overs. Matthew
Goodlad (1 for 10) and Harri Collier (3 for 27) were the best of our
bowlers but some poor fielding gave the opponents 20 more runs than they
should have. Poor light especially towards the end of our innings did not
help our reply even though Sam Wood (49) and Jack Davies (19) gave us a
chance at the half way stage. Wickets fell at regular intervals once they
were out and we finished on 109 for 8.
Our first
league match was away against a very young Cardiff team. Batting first
there were good knocks from Jack Davies (37 ret), Jack Faulkner (21),
Archie Yates and Harri Collier (19 runs each) in a total of 120 for 5. In
reply the Cardiff youngsters found Jack Davies and Matthew Goodlad too
pacey for their liking and fell behind the run rate. Jack was able to use
8 bowlers with Harry Hitchcock and Hatim Shami having their first ever
competitive bowl. Sam Johnson had a double wicket maiden and Collier took
3 wickets to dismiss the home team for 76 runs – victory by 44 runs.
Another home
match against Pentyrch ended in a resounding victory by 36 runs. Not to be
caught out by the fading light this time Jack opted to bat first. He
scored 12 runs and Yates 21 but the innings of the match was a retired 35
by Sam Wood in a total of 93 for 4. Pentyrch had no answer to the five
prong bowling attack of Jack Davies (1 for 11), Matthew Goodlad (3 for
10), Archie Yates (1 for 9), Harri Collier (3 for 11) and James
Lister–Sims (1 for 11) bowling them out for 58 runs.
The season got
even better with a convincing third win in the league away to Radyr. The
Cowbridge players enjoyed the extra bounce offered by the Radyr wicket.
Jack Davies (22 runs) and Sam Wood (35 ret) had a 7 over opening stand of
70 and the momentum was kept up by Archie Yates (11), Harri Collier (22)
and Sam Johnson (20) in a total of 152 for 4. This fine total allowed Jack
to give overs to none regular bowlers, Jason Sami, Hatim Shami, George
Gibson (2 for 1) and Jack Faulkner with Harri Collier and Sam Johnson
getting 3 wickets each. Radyr reached 103 for 8.
The next game
was a home match against Dinas Powys. We had the first blip of the season
with four boys not turning up and what was worse not letting us know. We
also played on an old wicket with low bounce and unpredictability. Our
better batsmen failed for the first time and could not handle the leg spin
of Hiscocks who took 5 wickets. It was left to Archie Yates (28) and James
Lister-Sims (27) to get the bulk of the 113 for 8 total. Fine bowling by
Matthew Goodlad and Sam Johnson (2 wickets each) and economical bowling by
Jack Davies, Harri Collier, Archie Yates, James Lister-Sims and George
Gibson ensured victory by 26 runs.
An exciting
game at Penarth brought the best out of the team. Batting first on a fast
bouncing wicket Sam Wood showed his class with a quick fire 37 (ret.) with
Archie Yates (10), Harri Collier (21) and Sam Johnson (14) getting the
bulk of 113 for 5. It was also good to see the return of Chris Brace after
a lengthy injury. Yates and Goodlad bowled tightly while Jack Davies and
Harri Collier were excellent. Sam Johnson the fifth bowler came under
considerable pressure when the tonk was on but he kept his composure to
bring home victory by 15 runs. A one handed catch by Harri at square leg
was of top drawer material.
Confidence was
high - unbeaten in the league, when we played the home match against
little known Lisvane. Unfortunately, H. Meatyard and N. Fowler, the County
Under 15’s opening fast bowlers, put fear into our batting and only Sam
Wood (22) and Brace (11) put up any resistance while others backed away
from the line of the ball losing their wickets. A total of 59 all out
posed no problems for the away team who passed the total for the loss of 1
wicket. This first defeat was a hard pill to swallow and showed flaws in
our game.
Llantwit opted
to bat first in the next home match and failed to push the score along
enabling Cowbridge to use 7 bowlers. Jason Sami (2 wickets) and Hatim
Shami (1 wicket) were able to gain their first wickets for the team. There
were debuts for Under 13’s players Daniel Evans and Sean Rowland who were
not out when passing the winning total of 61 for 1. Chris Brace (32 ret.)
and Jack Davies (17) had given the team a good start upon which to build.
When we needed
the strongest team for the last match against St. Fagans away, many of the
boys were unavailable in this must win game to go through to the final.
St. Fagans opted to bat first. A dropped catch off G. Lenon, who went on
to score an undefeated 36, proved costly but otherwise the spin attack of
Collier, debutants Tom Dalton and young Matthew Keating proved that good
slow bowling can slow down the run rate. The opponents scored 132 for 3.
Although Sam Wood scored a retired 37 he was kept well in check by fast
bowler Weatheral and the others failed to pick up the momentum against
tight bowling. Brace (16), Jack Davies (22) and Harri Collier (9) tried in
vain but fell short by 34 runs in totalling 97 for 5.
Looking back on
the season it was a case of “nearly but not quite”. Jack captained the
team well, Sam Wood was outstanding with the bat and Harri Collier took
wickets every game. With the latter two, Archie Yates, Sam Johnson and the
fit again Chris Brace next season looks promising. Furthermore, the added
new facilities at the School will ensure that we are well prepared for the
year ahead.
Hugh Williams
Under 15 Coach
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