Antwerp:
The Under 15 team started their defence of its BCF title with a tough fixture away against the Antwerp Indians. While a number of last season’s team remained several younger players were having their first taste of competitive cricket.
AICC chose to bat first and within two overs were two wickets down. A steady recovery came to an abrupt halt when Marcus Cope took two wickets with his first two balls. A quite outstanding catch by Joachim Schiodt accounted for the first of these. Another careful recovery followed but only a flurry of 31 runs from the last 4 overs brought up a respectable total of 114 for 8. Bowling honours went to Marcus, with 3 for 17, and Charlie Ramsden, with 3 for 30. Of vital importance too, was the support in the field, which contributed six catches and two run outs.
A quick start to the run chase was held up by an early wicket. Fortunately a competent second wicket stand of 45, dominated by William Cope, kept us in contention. Two big overs, contributing 19 runs, brought us almost on target at 56 for 1 at the half way stage. Following William’s departure for 22 it seemed much would depend on the skipper, Timothy Barker. However, it was next batsman, Alex Martin, who now stole the show. With a quick-fire 20, including one superb pull for six over mid-wicket, he threatened to end things quickly. Another twist: could his dismissal at 106 for 3, going for one more big shot, sway the result? A maiden over from the spinner, then two wickets in consecutive balls from the returning fast bowler, left five needed from the final over. A thumping four over mid-on by Timothy off the first ball, brought him to 43 and the scores level. A wide off the next, brought a hard-fought victory by 5 wickets.
Mechelen:
We moved on from Antwerp to Mechelen for the afternoon friendly match with a new team, the Kempen Tigers. This gave the opportunity to our younger players to bowl and bat against a predominantly young and inexperienced side. While a large number of runs came from extras the benefits of good “line and length” bowling paid off as Zach Foley, 3 for 5, Owen Williams, 2 for 14, and Isak Schiodt, 2 for 12, took most of the wickets. A steady innings of 13 from Puneet Vyas, playing as a “guest” for the home side, followed by a breezy 30 by one of their “over-age’ players, brought up a challenging total of 107 for 9 from the 20 overs.
A fine opening stand of 38 gave us a good base to mount our challenge. This was dominated by Thomas Martin, with a careful 18, before he was brilliantly caught. The middle order chipped in with a few each, including an unusual “five” by Sebastiaan van Gilst, as the score rose steadily, but again the result remained in doubt until the last over. This time it was skipper, William Cope, who took charge, bringing up victory with a boundary off the penultimate ball.
So, another busy weekend of junior cricket came to a successful conclusion.
Roger Barker