Heaton Mersey Magic U10s High Peak Legaue Match 4
Cricket can be an agonising game with the result built up from lots of small things over 2 or 3 hours......
On Tuesday we welcomed Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge to Green Lane for our 4th match in the HPL, looking for our third win. They won the toss and chose to bat.
Captain Charlie marshalled the bowlers and fielders well:
- Leading from the front, Charlie returned 2 for 2 from his 2 overs. He has had a great season with the ball
- Our accurate and intelligent throwing continued, with overthrows almost eliminated
- Thomas had another great game behind the stumps, with another classic run out
- Isaac, Hussein, Tom, Ben, and Thomas backed Charlie up, going for 8 or less in their 2 overs each
- The outfielding improved as the game went on and there was great commitment in chasing down the ball
This all kept Ladybridge to 272 for 5, a net of 252.
253 to win for Mersey this time.... That's the kind of score we keep seeing being required in the HPL.
Thomas and Ben continued their opening partnership. A "scooter" bowling the former and run out meant we were a little behind. Hussein and Franklin got things moving, and then Charlie and Tom got us up to 230, with the captain finding those much needed boundaries twice, once with an amazing reverse pull. Isaac and Eisa were clearly pumped to try and get the job done. Communicating and running like pros. It was nip and tuck to the final ball, but having got to 278 for 7 our net score was 250 and their great effort had left us 2 runs short. After the 4 run defeat to Romiley, another case of what might have been as our boys continue to learn and develop.
Well done to all the boys. Again, they hung in there and kept going at it to bring us so close. We perhaps could and should be on a 4 game winning run....
There's a few reasons we haven't got over the line lately:
- Playing balls on stumps with a straight (not cross) bat, by getting in line behind it with good footwork (no LBWs allowed), and staying low initially as the ball can skid. We're seeing a lot of our batsmen bowled
- Some chaotic run outs. We need loud and sensible calls, with that first run "run hard", running the bat in, and looking for 2 (or 3!)
- Across the above, we've been losing more wickets than the opposition which has cost us
- Cutting out the football on the boundary. We gave away around 10 runs by trying, and failing, to stop a (small) ball (on bumpy ground) with feet
- We gave away more "extras" than normal. Not rushing the next delivery after a wide or no ball would have helped
There's a lot the coaches and parents can help with in the above. Hopefully we can turn these narrow defeats into victories in next week's 2 games. Come on Mersey!
Thank you to Huxx, Simon, and AD for coaching and scoring, and the other parents for their great support.
