Pyrford bat themseves out of sight...

After a very wet Saturday afternoon the sun was doing its best to make an appearance on Sunday morning when we all turned up at Pyrford for our second round Cup match.

On a damp and unpredictable wicket, Pyrford won the toss and elected to bat first. Three overs into the innings and both of their openers were back in the pavilion. Things changed quite dramatically from then on. After a really tight maiden over from James Munt (the only maiden of the innings), the batsmen showed no mercy as they both smashed, carved and reverse-swept their way to 50 runs each. In a spectacular display of uninhibited batting they racked up the runs at an alarming rate. The Merrow bowlers stuck to their task - but it was all to no avail. The batsmen swung, the batsmen connected and the ball went sailing over the boundary with monotonous regularity. We had no luck - at all. Admittedly we did drop three catches - one particularly difficult one - but to be honest it would be deluded to think that it would have made much of a difference. George Negus was particularly unlucky not to get a wicket with balls dropping short of fielders and the aforementioned (difficult) dropped catch. A third wicket fell towards the end of the innings but by then it was all too late and Pyrford finished with the frankly daunting score of 184 for three wickets.

Sometimes you have to doff your cap and say, 'Well played.'

At the changeover we went in to bat with a required run rate of 9.5 runs per over which was never going to be easy. Pyrford bowled tidily and it was difficult for the Merrow batsmen to get going. All four top order batsmen fell to balls that either kept low (Ben and Rohan), deviated alarmingly (Jim got a good one I think), or held up off the pitch (James). At the halfway mark we were 33 for four - miles behind the run rate. We limped along to fifty for nine by the twentieth over, shook hands with the opposition and went home.

Special mention must go to James Munt and Tom Sandison who both bowled well in the circumstances - James getting 1 for 22 and Tom 2 for 30, both off four overs each. There were glimpses of what the batsmen are capable of - Ben Barnes smashing three fours and Rohan Bali (who did a great job as wicket-keeper), rotating the strike very well. A very big vote of thanks must also go to Oliver Cook, Heath Dawar and James Freed who all stepped up from the U14 squad - without them we wouldn't have been able to raise a side.I was pleased with the attitude of the boys out in the field today. They knew they were up against it but I'm proud of the way in which they kept their composure as a team.

Ultimately though a tough day at the office for anyone connected with Merrow U15s.

Never mind, the cup has gone for another year - now we can concentrate on the league!