1-Jul-2018: Lee CC U9 X vs Ballinger home

Result

• 250-6 The Lee
• 245-9 Ballinger
• The Lee won our last U9 game of the season by 5 runs.A very satisfying victory over our local rivals, who have been unbeaten all season – well done the Lee U9s!

  Analysis

• We scored 41 runs vs their 63 runs (-22 runs) [just below our season average of 46]
• We gave away 23 runs on wides/no balls, they did 40 runs (+17 runs) [a massive improvement over our season average of 52 run8
• We gave away 13 runs on byes/leg byes, they did 5 runs (-19 runs) [most of these came of the faster bowlers]
• We lost 6 wkts vs their 9 wkts (+18 runs) [We lost 4 bowled, 2 caught and 0 run out (much better calling, fewer balls hit in the air).Beaconsfield lost 3 bowled, 2 caught, 3 run outs and 1 hit wicket]
• This contributed overall to a 5 run victory!

Great work

1. Freddy Beckford – excellent batting, 3^rd highest run scorer and protected his wicket well.Got a fab run out in the 1^st over to put Ballinger on the back foot right away.Tight bowling – only went for 5 runs in his 2 overs and didn’t bowl a wide ort no ball! Most impressive of all was his Leadership skills, supporting his team mates, tweaking the fielder’s positions, always alert.A captain in the making.
2. Reece batted cautiously, protecting his wicket, ending the match not out.Good bowling and an excellent catch off Freddy’s bowling in the 2nd over.
3. William exemplified great calling and running by William and Oscar working as a pair.Good with ball in hand, clean bowling his opponent, and attacked the ball well in the field.
4. Oscar ran and called really well with William.Chased everything in the field, always alert to the game situation.2 run outs off his bowling (by Freddy & Freddie) showed the great team work the boys have developed.
5. Gera - fabulous debut – in his first ever cricket match he took 2 wickets (clean bowled and in same over Freddie took a catch).Only conceded 1 run in his 2 overs and now ides or no balls.Jimmy Anderson-esque?Predatory in the field.
6. Colville delivered a great fielding performance to prevent boundaries , solid batting performance at a crucial stage of the match, and bowled well and always believed in himself, especially facing their best batting pair in the last 4 overs
7. Eddie batted brilliantly against some erratic bowling, some great communication with his batting partner Freddie.Great fielding to stop several boundaries from Eddie.Like Colville, he believed in his bowling ability and stuck to his core technical skills under great pressure when bowling to their last batting pair.
8. Freddie Hastings – powerful batting display – finishing our 2^nd highest run scorer.A brilliant catch and an excellent run out.Superb all round performance.
9. Daniel delivered an excellent batting display – facing the last three balls when we were ahead by 5 runs (i.e. losing a wicket would mean losing the match) he batted with Boycott-esque doggedness to make sure that no ball passed his wicket.His forward defensive off the last ball would have mad the great Yorkshireman proud.Great fielding effort and solid bowling performance, especially in their penultimate over when bowling to their best batters.
10. Zach – a brilliant batting display, scoring 9 runs off his 2 overs, making him the Lee’s top run scorer in the game.Took a brilliant wicket, clean bowling his prey in the 10^th over.If TMS were commentating on the game, Blowers’ “champagne moment” would have gone to Zach for his astonishing run out – he received the ball at mid-off, took his stable stance, paused a fraction of a second to sight the stumps and unleashed a powerful overarm throw that destroyed the stumps, and with it the batsman’s hope of making it over the popping crease.A brilliant piece of cricket!Ben Stokes would have been proud of that piece of fielding.

Team Successes

Ed and I are very proud of our Lee U9s – they are developing as a team. 

• Our bowling improved.We will continue to run bowling drills to get the kids more confident in a match situation, and further improve consistency and accuracy.
• 3 of the 9 wickets we got came from run outs – a brilliant return and again shows the kids are communicating and understanding this part of the game much better.
• Bowling then stopping – this continues to improve week by week – some bowlers do not continue to run down wicket after releasing ball – keep practicing bunny ears bowling at home.
• Not hitting wides – much better this time
• Backstop behind the wicket keeper saved a few of byes – remembering to stand back for the faster bowlers.(Wicketkeepers are learning to adjust how far back they stand depending on speed of bowler).
• Fielding – getting body behind the ball (e.g. long barrier), and a good accurate throw to a fielder/wicket keeper stood right next to the stumps.
• Calling – it’s great to see the team getting more vocal.Calling has improved – we continue to remind them that if the ball goes in front of the batter, he/she calls; if it goes behind the batter the non-striking batter calls.

Areas to work on

• Batting – focus on improving core technique, so we can hit a higher percentage of balls.Get used to some faster bowling to ensure kids feel more comfortable doing so.Also assess where the fielders are so they can place their shots – Ballinger had a wicket keeper right behind the stumps and no ‘back stop’ fielder; with fast hard pitch a slight touch on the ball would probably have scored 4 runs, and in turn put pressure on the fielders to add a backstop, weakening them elsewhere in the field.
• Batting – turning singles into 2s.Repeat my assessment drill with the wider group.
• Wicket keeping – keep practicing the stance to ensure they get in the right position, so they most effectively stop the ball.
• Explain basics – remind them that tehy can run even if don’t hit it to get byes, or if hits legs (leg byes), or on overthrows

Thanks to everyone for your great efforts this season – I passed my ECB Level 2 coaching assessment on Friday – attached is a great photo taken by Jon McDonald of the little group I coached during my assessment – thanks to Ty, Freddy, Iris, Jess, Jenny, Emmy, Oscar, and Oliver for being especially amazing and well behaved during my assessment.  They left my assessor, Clifton Simms, with a great impression of the quality of the characters we have at the Lee Cricket Club. 

Coaches Rob and Ed