A hat trick helps U10 march on through the rain to victory.
Persistent rain and cold temperatures meant that we were unsure if our opposition Ajax would turn up to play. Fortunately the Ajax coach was far more experienced with unfavourable local weather conditions, telling me “Welcome to the Dutch weather. We are all here and happy to play cricket. ” Getting the boys to get their hands out of their pockets and warm up was a challenge. The solution was found when I asked the boys to give Alfie a golf clap for his new respectable haircut.
Captain Sam was not upset when we were asked to bowl first. With only 7 players, everyone got some extra bowling. Our fielding was great considering the slippery ball and ground. We took 7 wickets including 1 run out throughout the innings. Everyone bowled with good technique keeping their bowling arms straight and high at release. Thom, Sam and Alfie each took 1 wicket.
The highlight of our bowling innings was Jamieson’s first hat trick. First wicket bowled, second a sharp caught and bowled and to complete the hat trick, a beautiful outswinger hitting the top of off stump. Jam’s smile lit up the field and he received high fives from a proud dad and was duly mobbed by his soggy team.
Ajax scored 36 runs for the loss of 7 wickets, finishing with a net score of 15.
The boys and the parents were happy to get into the Clubhouse to warm up over a coffee.
The game was virtually sealed after our openers Alfie (7) and Sam (9) got us underway nicely. Both lads have tremendous cricket potential. Jamieson (13) and the hard hitting Marthyn (17) put things beyond doubt. Marthyn, who has a wonderful natural eye, hit 3 powerful pull shots to the boundary. Billy (6) provided solid support for Martyn playing some great square drives along the ground by keeping his front elbow high. Thom (14) and Jasper (14) shared a very brisk partnership, showing that you can make good scores by running lots of cheeky singles.
We finished with 87 runs for the loss of only 3 wickets to finish net 78. The win was a reward for the boys enthusiasm and perseverance.
Special thanks to Pauline for scoring in the difficult conditions and to all parents for helping to keep the lads dry and fed.