2009

Results update 27/07/09

Basingstoke Cricket Festival U9, 24th July '09

Just when you thought the U9s cricket season was all over, a marathon of a cricket festival rears its head to really finish it off. Initially the Basingstoke Cricket Festival looked like it was never going to happen. Dogged by the most horrendous weather forecast throughout the week, the 24th July arrived with all parents and children of the U9 Ropley Cricket team holding their breath, waiting to see whether the competition would actually go ahead. Unbelievably the morning augured well with a relatively clear sky. By the time the team assembled at Basingstoke at 9.30, the omens were looking less auspicious however. The festival was scheduled to start at 10.00 am. At 9.50 the rain came down. Ropley parents began a fevered discussion as to how they would compensate their disappointed darlings when the tournament was cancelled. Suggestions of activities came thick and fast and by the time the organisers decided to go ahead with the tournament, persuaded by a break in the rain, the children were almost signed up to a marathon of indoor entertainment. Playing six hours of cricket over a period of ten hours was always going to be the easier option.

So began a day of fun-filled, nail-biting, at times extremely wet and at other times extremely sunny cricket competition. Ropley lost their first match against Hook by 11 runs and won their next match against Odiham B team by a comfortable 48 runs. The third match against Petersfield started off tensely. Both teams had won one match and lost one. Both were fighting for coveted second position in their group so that they could go forward into the Cup Quarter-finals. The match was extremely close and fraught...until the Ropley supporters discovered that if they won, Ropley would be playing Easton & Martyr Worthy, who had hitherto had an unbeaten season. Suddenly, a loss and consequent entry into the Plate quarter-finals looked extremely attractive. By the time Ropley had lost by 11 runs (or thereabouts! Sadly I handed all my score sheets to the organisers and now show my inexperience by not having made a note of all the scores. Oops), Ropley's supporters had to restrain themselves from cheering madly: we were in the Plate. Hooray!

To their credit, the team quickly embraced the grown-ups' enthusiasm for the Plate and became fired-up with a real belief that they could win it. They fought tooth and nail in their subsequent matches - in the quarter-finals against Basingstoke B; in the semi-finals against Overton and in the finals, YES IN THE FINALS against Odiham A. The team became better and better throughout the day and were phenomenal in their doggedness of play. Every single player contributed fantastically. A few incidents stand out in my memory: Jack bowling two wickets in succession when we most needed them; tiny Toby almost being knocked over by the force of the ball as he determinedly caught a batsman out and Hugo in his inimitable fashion hitting a desperately-needed 4 and a six in the final, then just as the supporters began to relax, throwing in a belter of a ball right into the hands of a waiting fielder; then before the frustrated Ropley supporters could turn on him, adding another couple of 4s to his batting total. The final was incredibly close between the two teams. Ropley batted second. Odiham's bowling was very strong and their fielding excellent. Nothing was given away and Ropley's batting total crept forward neck and neck to that of the opposing team. The result was almost impossible to call until the match finally finished at 7.15 pm by which time Ropley had done the deed: they had won the Basingstoke & North Hants U9 Plate 2009. A fantastic way to finish the season and a great credit to the children who took part. A special mention must also go to Steve Oxenham who was the most indefatigable, calm umpire throughout although towards the end could be heard chanting to himself, "...beer when it's over...must have a beer when it's over..." Hopefully he's had one by now.

U9s vs Andover 19/07/09

Ropley U9s played a tightly contested match against Andover to edge ahead finally with a win of 301 runs to 284. Ropley took along their ten-a-side team to discover that Andover had forgotten theirs: they only had eight players. They kindly offered to play two of their players twice. Our hearts sunk: we realised that any self-respecting, competitive team would put in their best cricketers again to play as the ninth and tenth players...and Andover were a very self-respecting, competitive team.

Andover batted first Ropley bowled well and took nine excellent wickets through a combination of bowling, stumping and catches. Despite continuing to give away a fair number of wides, Ropley kept down Andover's total of runs relatively well. The team was in confident mood as they went in to bat. Used to significant batting success, they were sure they could notch up a far higher score until the balls started whizzing past their ears...Andover had some exceptionally fast and powerful bowlers and our team did well not to panic (more than can be said for us parents of course!).

The younger, less experienced members of our team were particularly calm and level-headed against Andover's bowling onslaught and special mention in dispatches must go to Toby. Toby was paired last with Hugo, who had been briefed to catch up on runs as Ropley had by this time slightly fallen behind comparatively. Hugo, therefore, went out as a boy possessed to score runs, and if that meant that Toby (a good foot shorter) was going to have to run as fast as Usain Bolt to keep up with Hugo, so be it. And luckily, it was. So, the team finished their season on a fantastic winning note. Their next challenge, should they wish to accept it, is to have a blast at the Basingstoke Cricket Festival on Friday, 24th July. Alex

U9s vs Sparsholt 12/07/09

Ropley U9s kept up their winning streak today by beating Sparsholt by 348 runs to 253. Ropley U9s had found themselves playing at home along with the U13s and so took their places on their smaller than normal pitch with their tin hats on in case any U13 ball came flying past. Ropley batted first. The smaller boundary was a gift to flamboyant batsmen and Ropley, batting first, notched up an impressive collection of fours...before Hugo took to the field. The smaller boundary was just too much temptation for big hitter Hugo, who managed to ratchet up 55 runs off 20 balls. He hit seven fours and four sixes. There were several suggestions from the spectators about sending him down to Cardiff...

It was noticeable, however, that where the Ropley U9s added real value to their score was in their fielding and their bowling. Sparsholt started off their batting strongly too and looked like they were going to catch up easily until the wickets started falling. Ropley lost three wickets, Sparsholt lost sixteen. The majority of Sparsholt's wickets were positively won by Ropley with some superb catches - Hugo and Jack caught two each, Jonathan, Fergus and Billy all caught one - and great bowling, including Caius' two wickets in quick succession. The boys done good.

Sunday 29th June, Ropley vs Compton, Away. Match Won, report by Andrew Walker.

I was honoured to be asked to join the Under 9s for their away game against Compton this weekend. Last season Compton outplayed Ropley and they clearly expected to do so again. The only hitch in Compton’s plans was that Ropley have improved out of sight since last season. Following a pre match briefing, captain Hugo Hughes lost the toss and was put into bat by Compton. The advice to the Ropley opening pair was to protect your wicket but be positive at all times.

Jonathan and William put this theory to the test with superb running between the wickets and some lusty blows. After four overs, we were 23 runs to the good and the tone had been set for the rest of the innings. Caius and Billy added a further 19 runs by sticking to the script and sprinting between the wickets. Boundaries came and no wickets fell. Jack B and Theo, clearly caught up in the spirit of the game piled on 28 runs between them with Theo bludgeoning three boundaries. Jack O and Hugo marched to the crease to face Compton’s best bowlers. Jack’s figures are a little harsh as he scored his five runs off only four deliveries in the the four overs. Hugo maintained the strike by hitting five fours and a six in a fabulous innings of 34. This brought our final total to 308 and a look of disbelief appeared on the Compton scorer’s face.

Team talk two ensued. We were going to focus on perfect fielding and backing up at all times. Theo and Jack B opened the bowling taking two wickets and only conceding four wides between them. It wasn’t the bowling though that had the crowd on their feet. The fielding was exceptional with no misfields and Billy Densham leading the way with excellent backing up behind the keeper. Billy and Caius joined the party taking two wickets and bowling tight lines. Jonathan and William between then bowled four overs for four wickets, conceding only four runs. The last of these wickets coming from a superb caught behind. Jack O came on to bowl in tandem with Hugo and finished off with another two wickets for hardly any runs against Compton’s star batsman.

In short, the batting was fantastic and the fielding was miraculous. Ropley played like a team and they deserved their win. It was a great outing for the players and the spectators and I was privileged to witness it.

The under 9s engrossed in the post match briefing.

U9s vs Easton & MW1 21/06/09

OK, the bad news first: Ropley's U9s lost 331 to 229, a fairly resounding defeat. But, there is good news, U9s take heart: seasoned oldtimers (ie all year 4) opponents, Easton & MW1 are unbeaten this season and their coach complimented our team on our fielding, describing our boys and girl as the best fielding team against whom Easton had played. Not bad, especially as - though our fielding was at times very good indeed - our team was not as consistently tight as they can be. The other good news is that generally Ropley's bowling was a lot more consistent and straight this week. Far fewer balls were given away to wides and no balls.

Our weakness was a bit of youth and inexperience at times when we came up against them to bat. Easton & MW1 had some exceptional bowlers and our first batting pair, Jonathan and Louise did extremely well to score as they did against blistering bowling. As the first bowler took his run up, Easton's scorer mentioned that the boy had recently taken a maiden over with two (or was it three) wickets in succession. Thankfully they never came close to that with us. But, as a measure of Easton's bowling and fielding strength, they took sixteen wickets to our eight and the majority of the wickets were deservedly won. Special mention should go to Hugo, who as he came in to bat as last pair with Tom, was told he needed to get 135 to win. He strode out to the crease with a clear 'Can do' swagger, and although he didn't quite make it, he got a very creditable top score of 25 against v. tough opposition.

The only other thought that occurs to me re. Ropley U9s' defeat is that the team is a good-natured bunch, keen to support others. They may have simply agreed a long-term, thoughtful plan to pave the way for Andrew Walker's return to supporting them at matches. A bad lose this week... Andrew comes back... they win next week...it'll look very good for Andrew...

U9s vs Fair Oak 14/06/09

We went with 9 players, Fairoak played 10 so we had a bit of doubling up, Ropley won the toss, elected to field.

Again v. hot and sunny, Ropley were a bit lethargic in the field, lacking anticipation, didn't walk in etc. The bowling overall was disappointing, far too many wides. Took 4 wickets, Billy caught and bowled, Hugo took a fantastic catch that made all the Fairoak dads stand and applaud! Billy caught one, and Ben bowled one out.

Fairoak reached a very high total of 341 for 4 which made Ropley gulp.

Then we had a complete turn around with the batting, Ropley came to life batting confidently and ran lots of sharp singles. They kept up the pace and put the opposition under pressure. Jonathan top scored with 24, followed by Hugo with 19.

U9s vs Hursley Park 07/06/09

Our team was very noble today: embarrassed by our unbroken string of wins, they decided they should give another team a chance. Hence our loss to Hursley Park 219 to 318. To be fair, Hursley was a very good, consistent team who showed excellent fielding and maximised every chance they had to score. On a good day, our team could have easily held its own. Our boys and girl played perfectly well but were possibly unnerved by not storming ahead from the beginning. They lost a little heart and played with less conviction than usual. But hopefully they enjoyed themselves anyway and the fact that they have now been put on stale bread and water until they win again should focus their minds.

U9 Cricket Festival - Hambledon 25/05/09

First of all, a very, very well done to the seven boys who played in the Hambledon Festival today. They did brilliantly, especially as they played all their matches one player short. Their results belie their efforts: they lost three matches (against Locks Heath, Hartley Witney and Portsmouth) and won one. BUT, they lost all three matches by a maximum of only eight runs - in each case, the game had a nailbiting finish, which was only decided in the last three balls of the last over. AND, Ropley's win was a resounding one: they beat Wield by 67 runs. The boys started off a little tentatively in the first match but improved hugely with each game and by the third game against Wield, they were smokin'. They then went on to lose to a tough (and full) Hartley Witney side by just six runs. So, they can feel very proud of themselves. And thank you to all the parents, who were excellent in the 'pit' as usual.