The idea is to give players a friendly introduction to competitive cricket. There are no wides called, and no stumpings. Teams start off on 100 runs, and then 6 runs are deducted for each wicket, so teams always end on a positive score. In any case the scores are not collated centrally, it’s more to keep things mildly competitive on the day.
The way the fixtures fell for the first week left us with a no-lose game to start the season – Calverton vs Calverton! Some great skills were on show – you can really see how all of our youngsters are coming on with their batting and bowling. There was also one of the unluckiest wickets I’ve ever seen when one batsman dragged the ball onto his own boot and then onto the stumps from way down the leg-side!
Our scheduled opponents for the second game (Kimberley) hadn’t turned up, so as we had 14 players, and Caythorpe were short and only had 7, we decided to put together an 11 vs 10 match so that everyone got as much of a game as possible. Following a well fought game, we just conceded a few too many wickets in our 8 overs, and Caythorpe took the win.
I think every player had at least one moment to look back on with pride from Sunday. With the bat there were lots of good fours scored, and a couple of sixes too. There were the bowlers who announced to the opposing umpire that they couldn’t really bowl very well, only to bowl near perfect overs. There were some good wickets taken by other bowlers, and in the field there were a couple of excellent stops on the boundary to prevent certain fours.
It was noticeable that a few of our players were much younger than those in one or two of the opposing teams, but they all acquitted themselves well and did a fine job of representing our club. Well done!
Thank you to everyone who turned up last weekend. There’s a bit of a break now with the village get-together and then half-term, so our next fixture will be on Sunday 11th June at Notts & Arnold. Fingers crossed the weather has improved by then and we have some Sunday morning sunshine.