Excellent all-round team effort leads the U14 SJIL team to victory at the real home of cricket

U14 SJIL vs Spencer at Park Lane (the real home of cricket) - Sunday 19.5.19

A special day for all of the boys playing on the home ground & for many, it was the first time. Jack & Will B shared the captaincy for the day. Jack won the toss & chose to have a bat. Out strode Harrison & Will G. Will G was playing himself in nicely but was caught for 3. Harrison & Jack then batted superbly in putting together a brilliant partnership of 120 with a good balance of defensive, watchful play & aggressive batting. Both were patient & selective but scored plenty of boundaries. Jack was out for 55 (52 balls) which brought in Will B who hit a breezy 17 off 12 balls including a 6 down the ground. Jonny was unfortunately run out without facing a ball then Matt came in to score a quick 5no off 2 balls. Harrison finished on a fantastic 83no off 73 balls with the total on 180-4 off 25 overs. It was lovely to see Richard appear out of the trees as Harrison accumulated runs & as Urban 9 left his bloodstream (Richard’s bloodstream not Harrison’s…)

After a quick turnaround & a good warm up Spencer’s innings started. As a team they batted tidily and managed a small number of boundaries. There was some good tight bowling at times with wickets shared around including 2 each for Ned, James & Will G with the captains managing to give 8 boys at least an over or more. One bowling highlight was Jonny’s wicket off the last ball of the match in his only over cue wild celebration. However, there were far too many wides (24) during the innings which is something that needs to improve for future matches.
There was some excellent fielding throughout the innings including some good stops & throws & a one handed catch by Conor but at times the fielding was lacklustre eg not walking in, hands in pockets, arms folded & stray throwing – not what is expected from a Llamas team & is an area the boys need to improve. Matt’s keeping was impressive throughout.

All in all a comprehensive victory that was completed before the rain & an excellent start to the SJIL season but tougher matches to come.

Thanks to all the parents for being there to support their son’s & the team (including Ewan & Surendra whose son’s were not even playing!) & thanks for all the parental help including Richard S for umpiring, Dave for scoring, Mark for operating the scoreboard, Gillian & Jo for their help with organising the refreshments.

Good luck to the boys involved in this Sunday’s match away to Wimbledon.