U13s v Wycombe House (Friendly)

The U13s welcomed Wycombe House to the Green for a friendly match that was arranged earlier in the season in response to the loss of half of our U13s league matches due to weather or other sides conceding. The only rule concession for the friendly match was that batters would retire not out at 50.

The recent warm weather had dried out the Green returning the outfield to its fastest and when Frankie won the toss he had no hesitation in batting first in the hope of piling on the runs. He and Hamish did just that smiting the bowling to all parts of the ground with Frankie regularly hitting over the infield to find the boundary.
The pair put on an opening partnership of 73 in no time but in the 9th over Frankie (43) departed to a fine catch taken at deep square leg. Hamish and Sean continued the high scoring, putting on a further 39, before Hamish (50) retired not out in the 12th over after a fine innings which saw him hit 9 fours. With the score on 112 at the end of the 12th over things slowed a little as some accurate bowling kept Max quiet for the beginning of his innings but he began to find his flow batting well with Sean. Max (17) was stumped in the 17th over after some good work by the wicket keeper which brought Sammy to the crease. Sammy put away his first ball for four - a loose delivery down the leg side and continued to look positive. Two more 4s in the 17th over by Sean followed by two more 4s from Sammy in the 18th kept the runs flowing. Sean (32) departed at the start of the 19th over, bowled trying a big shot through mid-wicket. Sammy and Oliver saw out the remaining 11 balls putting on a further 19 runs thanks in part to some wayward bowling but also to some good running between the wickets. A final score of 188 being one of the highest if not the highest total this age group has put on.

The Ts started their stint in the field with confidence but the batting of the Wycombe House's opening pair soon showed that they would and could make a go at chasing down the required runs. The pair raced to 97 before one of the opening batters retired not out after reaching his 50. The other opener departing soon after when Frankie had him caught at backward Square leg where Jack took a great catch. Oliver made a breakthrough in the 14th over clean bowling the number 3 batter with a clever faster ball. At the end of the 16th over Wycombe House were only 4 runs behind the total Twickenham had at the same stage. This was despite a couple of economical overs from Sammy, great leg spin bowling from Hamish (again) and some great fielding, especially from Woody who put his body online when fielding at point and bravely carried on after a blow to the side of his knee. In the final overs Wycombe House kept searching for runs but the Ts kept their nerve and with a wicket from Max, a run out from Frankie and a another wicket from Luca, Wycombe’s valiant run chase ended up short, but only by 11 runs.

With 365 runs in the match The Green upheld its reputation as a bowler’s graveyard but credit to both sides in putting in such good performances.

Thanks again to everyone's help in getting the pitch ready, tidying away and to Craig for scoring - full scorecard can be seen here - http://twickenham.play-cricket.com/website/results/4066184