Last weekend, a squad of 12 young players set off to Paris to represent the Optimists U13s in a triangular tournament of Twenty20 cricket at two beautiful venues just west of Paris. The first game was against our old friends at Thoiry Cricket Club where the match was played in hot conditions next to the Chateau’s safari park. Thoiry won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat to avoid fielding in the heat. However, these days the Optimists bowling attack is strong in quality and in depth and a good rotation policy restricted the scoring with no wides conceded in the first 9 overs. Whilst many bowlers contributed it was the accuracy of Oscar Ramsden’s line that stole the show with 4 wickets in his 3 overs all of which were clean bowled. Despite this, the Thoiry batsmen battled on and good running between the wickets led to a total of 97 for 7 wickets at the end of their 20 overs. During an excellent tea break, the Luxembourg batsmen felt confident that the chase was possible but upon the restart they were soon in trouble. Thoiry’s fielders were wide awake and three excellent catches left the total at only 18 for 4 wickets. But then a fine partnership between Alexander Rowe (21) and Zach Foley (26 not out) rescued the innings and set up and exciting finale. With just 12 runs needed of the last two overs and with wickets in hand, the Optimists were favourites but the game turned again due to tight bowling and alert fielding and the Optimists chase ended 4 runs short of the target. But it was a fine game played in an excellent spirit amongst two very equal teams.
After some superb hospitality on Saturday evening, the morning arrived with rain in the air. Nevertheless, the second game at the fantastic facility at the Standard Athletic sports club ground near Versailles got under way after a 45 minute delay. The Optimists were determined to make amends for the loss the day before and after winning the toss, captain Marcus Cope chose to bat. A confident start led by Thomas Martin (10 not out) was extended by contributions from all batsmen notably Riddy Asselman (11) and Zach Foley (10 not out) which kept the runs flowing to an impressive total of 116 for the loss of just one wicket. But the youthful Standard team showed lots of spirit in the field and in their reply despite the damp conditions. However, the Optimists bowlers were taking regular wickets and were assisted by 2 smart run outs which meant that the Standard Athletic innings closed at 61 runs for 7 wickets. All in all, it was a good win from a solid performance for the Luxembourg tourists.
As the Optimists drove home, the third game in the tournament was unfortunately lost to the weather after just 30 minutes of play and declared a draw. This meant that the Optimists finished second with one good win and one narrow defeat but they had gained great experience at two different cricket grounds and made a host of new friends in the process. Unfortunately, the coaching team neglected to take a camera on the trip (sorry) so there are no photos to record the success of the weekend, but the batting performances of Zach Foley and the total of 6 wickets to the bowling of Oscar Ramsden will live long in the memory.
These games were the last of the outdoor fixtures for the U13s group for this season but training continues on Sunday mornings until the end of September.
Optimists U13s squad: Marcus Cope, Alex Barzin, Scott Fedderson, Riddy Asselman, Thomas Martin, Owen William, Robert Walker, Alexander Rowe, Zach Foley, Max Vickers, Max McVeigh and Oscar Ramsden.
G.Cope.