Stalbridge Cricket Club

Go away rain!

At Under-11 this week, only the Outlaws had a game, and duly despatched Shaftesbury Panthers by 96 runs to maintain their unbeaten record. The boys batted first and made 293-3, with Will Coleman (16), Will Collins (12) and the ever-impressive Luke McLaughlin (31) in the runs. One of Luke's sixes nearly took out Colin's car window - a poor piece of parking it has to be said!! In reply, Shaftesbury struggled with the Outlaws fine bowling to end up on 197-9. Same Pipe (1 for 4), Luke McLaughlin (1 for 7), Will Collins (3-7) all got in on the action, but Man-of-the-Match was Will Coleman who added to his efforts with the bat by returning 4 wickets for 3 runs - the four wickets being in four consecutive balls!!

On Tuesday, both the U13 Blues and Reds were victorious. The Blues beat Marnhull comfortably to remain undefeated while the Reds took revenge on Buckhorn Weston for their Cup defeat last week.

Against the Blues, Marnhull made 53-6, Joe Daniels (2-2) being the pick of the bowlers. Our lads knocked the runs off in the 8th over, Man-of-the-Match Henry Chant (30no) and Tom Perkins (24) taking control of the situation. 

Versus Buckhorn, the Reds batted first, and despite a strong start from Ben Woodhouse (15), Todd Whichello (10) and Ollie Legg (11), wickets began to tumble. A useful 13 from Ollie Chant helped the team reach 92 all out in the 14th over. However, the Reds responded well to defend their low total in an excellent all-round bowling and fielding display. All bowlers bowled tidily and there were some fine catches held as Buckhorn could only reach 83-5 in their 16 overs. Ollie Legg secured Man-of-the-Match for his all round performance, including 4 wickets for 17 runs. One observer suggested that the fielding was so good that it must have been up to the standard of our 1st XI. Well, he's obviously not seen our 1st XI field, it must have been much better than that - only joking fellas!!

The Under-15s had no league game this week, but played two games - a County Cup Semi-Final against Parley Sports at Canford School and a friendly against Buckhorn Weston. With Parley fielding 9 full County players, the Cup tie was always going to be a tough ask, especially with three regular players unavailable. Facing a daunting Parley total of 190-2, the lads nonetheless performed with pride and commitment. The bowlers were tidy, conceding very few extras, and the batters fought hard and refused to buckle under the pressure of County bowlers, ending up on 68 for only 4 wickets in their 20 overs. For his impressive all-round performance playing up an age-group Max Nettley was Man-of-the-Match.   

The friendly game was an ideal opportunity for lots of guys to get involved and an enjoyable match saw Buckhorn win by 3 wickets with 3 balls to spare. Josh York (29) and George Coleman (15) made useful runs, while all ten outfield players had a bowl.

Finally amongst our junior sides, the Under-9s beat Stur & Hinton in a league match on Sunday morning. They battled on through the drizzle, with George Perkins Man-of-the-Match.

Across the age-groups, Star of the Week awards were presented to:

Under-7 - none awarded, training rained-off.
Under-9 - George Perkins
Under-11 - William Coleman
Under-13 - Henry Chant & Ollie Legg
Under-15 - Max Nettley

Again, the senior only managed one win this weekend - it's getting a little frustrating!

The 1st XI were straight away in a tough position, by losing to toss and being made to bat first on a rain-affected pitch at Poole. With nobody really able to impose themselves on the bowler-friendly conditions, the team struggled to a lowly 121 all out. Matt Salisbury (27) and Rob Burfitt (21) were the only batters to really get started. With sunny intervals and wind gradually improving the pitch for batting as the game went on, Poole were always favourites to win, and so they did, despite some decent bowling, with 5 wickets down. Steve Forshaw returned refreshed from Grand Canaria to bowl  an excellent 2 wickets for only 9 runs in 8 overs.

In the Park, the 2nd XI fielded a strong, 'experienced' side. Some wag noted that the dressing room looked like the sort of team a Club puts together for a charity match, but a fine all-round team effort produced a comfortable 6 wickets victory over Ferndown Wayfarers 2nd XI. On a pitch where tight bowling was difficult to attack, FW batted first and were restricted to 147-9 in their 45 overs. James Lewis and Rhys Horsman took 4 and 3 wickets respectively while Fred Chant took 2 wickets for a miserly 19 runs in 12 overs to give great control through the middle of the innings. Despite two early wickets, victory was sealed in the 35th over with a masterful innings of 70 not out from Jimmer Lewis and 40 from Ian Moore.

The 3rd XI faced a strong Bere Regis side, and despite the efforts of Eddie Stevens (41) and Jordan Nettley (15) the innings fell away to 94 all out. In reply, Bere Regis cruised to victory without losing a wicket.

The Sunday XI's game against Symene was rained off, and in a further disappointment Richie Brown failed to break any personal batting records this week.

This coming week, the highlight is the Under-13 Blues County Cup Semi-Final against Bournemouth. The game starts at 6.15pm in The Park on Tuesday evening and will see our boys take on the biggest cricket club in the County. The Blues are unbeaten in all competitions for over 2 years and feature some excellent young cricketers. Any support for the team would be most welcome!

Have a good week!