The Twickenham U10s battled gamely at Wycombe House on 28 July, but ultimately the hosts held firm and came through by 45 runs (see here for the card).

Twickenham's bowlers toil
Sometimes it's hard to work out exactly why a result has gone a particular way. Lady luck inevitably plays a role, some players stand out as impressive performers, others have bad days at the office. It's generally a mix of things that helps to explain an outcome.

In the case of the Twickenham U10s and their summer league contest at Wycombe House, things were a little simpler. Both sides scored (an impressive) 144 runs. Twickenham, however, suffered 13 dismissals. Wycombe House just the four. That is indeed where the game was won and lost.

Both sides had batters who made hay; home skipper Muzammil Shahid opened up and boshed a decent 24. Daanyial Ahmed hit 14 (off 15 balls) and 'keeper Priya Mahant hit 11 off just six.

The Ts' bowlers didn't necessarily bowl badly, but there weren't quite enough balls that were hitting the wickets. Fifth stump line? Yep, plenty of that. Back of a length and going over the top? Yep, a fair amount of that, too. But - in the cold light of day - not enough clonking of ball into stumps.

That having been said, Jaden Mate gave little away (three runs from two overs), Austin Tilzey (1-16) bowled neatly and Harvir Ghere (2-8) in particular looked very much the part.

Tilzey and Foster go through the pain barrier
Twickenham subsequently found themselves chasing 324. Given that they'd very nearly hunted down Richmond A's 331 in the league play off, there was certainly hope on the sidelines that the total was reachable. Optimism prevalied.

That optimism, however, didn't last long. That was despite openers Jack Baran and Austin Tilzey admirably getting through a barrage of quick bowling. Tilzey in particular showed impressive bravery in taking one hit in the ribs and yet admirably carrying on. The same can be said of Raff Foster; many would have opted to leave the field and lick their wounds, not Tilzey and Foster, they toughed it out most impressively.

With runs very hard to come by and the likes of Ilyas Lalgie (2-10) and William Fox (4-29) bowling well, the Ts soon fell behind the rate. Fred Guest stroked an elegant four through backward point, but it was only really when Harvir Ghere and Jaden Mate came in that the Ts' total got north of 200.

The Hough Twins did their best to turbo charge the innings, Stan (18 off 12) in particular producing a battery of impressive off drives off speedster Muzammil Shahid. Vince (13 off 12) also joined the boundary-hitting party, as the did the indomitable James Marsh (26 off 15) at the end. The Ts' luck was nonetheless best summed up when poor old Sam Allen was run out by inches thanks to a superb direct hit. When it's not your day it's not your day.....

A defeat isn't wasted if you can learn something from it. In this case that means bowling a bit straighter whilst keeping the straight ones that the oppo hurl at you out. A bit more of that, and the Ts will no doubt be stronger as a result.

Good work one and all.