Bashley B Und 9s vs Totton & Eling Und 9s 

Friday 9th July. 6.30pm

Bashley/Rydall CC

 T&E; Taylor, Dibben, Sanders, Laughland, R. Carty, Clark, L Carty, Alp. 

 Totton & Eling Under 9s signed off from their 2010 league campaign with a hectic 2 run victory away at Bashley B. T&E batted first virtue of a gesture of fair play from the home team to allow time for T&E's Jude Alp to arrive following a sight seeing tour of East Dorset. Taylor & Dibben opened up for T&E and sound of leather on willow was soon echoing around the nursery ground. Taylor batted superbly once more and RD offered sound support. Debutant on the night Luke Sanders batted with fine technique and he and Alfie L kept the scoreboard ticking as did the partnership of young Ryan Carty and Matty Clark. The final pair of the innings, Liam Carty and Jude Alp played some really nice cricket shots and with that ran with confidence. T&E total closed at (2)58. Bashley/Rydall chased the 258 total with some caution amidst a mixed bag of T&E bowling. T&E's bowlers kept the host's total down thanks to wickets from Taylor (bowled), L Carty (caught & bowled), J Alp (c&b) and the deadly accurate Matty Clark (2 bowled). With four overs to play Bashley still needed what seemed an unachievable total of 28 more runs. Yet the combination of extremely dangerous kwick cricket like running and Keystone Cop like fielding saw B/R come uncomfortably close to their 259 target. Amidst real confusion that on one occasion it was thought that the Bashley final pair attempted to score a run as the bowler made his way back to his run up neither team were totally aware of the winner having seen the final ball of the evening bowled... But once the dust had settled it was a very relieved T&E team that was given the marginal 2 run winning verdict by the very busy scorers. The fielding team were crying out for a helping of calm and composure especially in the final 4 overs yet upon watching the game from the middle it was evident that the gallant & energetic fielding team are still very much in the embryonic learning phase of their cricketing careers and if they cant make naive mistakes as 9 year olds when can they? And as the stumps were drawn there concluded the first league season for the mini Eels. Hugely enjoyable for all and far more triumphant than anyone could have expected in early April. Well done to one and all on achieving a (4-3) record and many thanks to Stuart & Mandy Knight for their resolute commitment to the boys and to all the hugely supportive and impeccably behaved parents and guardians.