Team coaches
This year, the team
will be coached by:
Pete Whyley
If you have any questions about the team, please
direct them to the coach first.
2007
Season Report
The 2007 season began extremely well for the U13
side, with 4 back to back wins in the first stages of the Cheshire
County League competition and comfortable progression to the quarter
finals of the Cheshire Cup.
For a coach who was new to this particular group of juniors and who
hadn’t been involved in junior cricket for several years, it was
refreshing to be handed a team which seemed already well grounded in
all the important basics of cricket, which worked well as a unit and
which obviously included a number of very talented players. It was
very noticeable, even from pre-season nets at Sale Grammar School,
that we were going to have a lot of players in the age-group and
that all were keen to practice and willing to listen to advice.
Unfortunately, by the time nets moved outside the number of players
attending weekly practice grew to such an extent that one-on-one
coaching became extremely difficult. (Hopefully, this situation will
be resolved next year by the creation of an U12s side). Even so, the
atmosphere at nets was always good and it was nice to see that the
vast majority turned up every week with a real desire to improve and
to get as much practice as possible. In fact, by the time the school
holidays came around, some of our players could be found in the nets
almost every day!
Unfortunately, just as we appeared to be cruising and heading for a
place in the top division of the league when the second half of the
season came around, we threw away 4 points in a poor display at
Stockport Georgians. Although we were missing the Edwards twins, we
should certainly not have lost to a team who were generally weak.
Sadly, our batting let us down and without exception we failed to
apply ourselves and keep our concentration on a wicket where the
ball came on slowly and kept low. The next day, we travelled to
Runcorn for the cup quarter-final and once again let ourselves down.
After a good bowling display kept the eventual cup-winners to 82,
our top order collapsed leaving us 5 runs short at the end.
Pleasingly, lessons were learned from these two setbacks – both
collectively and individually. We went on to win the final two games
of the league first stage and were in with a chance to push for the
top championship section for the second half of the season until
rain forced us to accept a draw against Cheadle, leaving us in the
Shield competition.
The second half of the season began badly with defeat to a good
Congleton side but our reply was excellent – bouncing straight back
the next week to thrash the top side in the division (Neston) in a
tricky away fixture. Our bowling and fielding display was virtually
faultless and we chased the opposition total of 51 comfortably. The
following week we showed our strength once again by beating Alderley
Edge away in a fixture where both teams suffered due to holiday
unavailability but where we nevertheless came out on top. With these
wins and a game conceded by Toft, we knew that if we won our final
game away to Chester Boughton Hall we would take the Shield. Sadly,
after a good start to our innings gave us 85 off 17 overs, our lower
order were pinned down leaving us with only 91 to defend after 24
overs. Despite a spirited display, our bowling was loose and we were
beaten in the final over, leaving us third in the Shield table.
Overall then we had a mixed season in terms of results and final
outcomes, but a positive one in terms of performances, effort and
commitment. Our lack of rewards must be put down to a lack of
consistency in our performances and occasional lapses in
concentration. When we performed at our best (as against Neston) we
could have beaten any team in Cheshire. However when we were at our
worst (as against Stockport Georgians), we were capable of losing to
a team which finished near the very bottom of the county.
I will finish by paying tribute to an excellent group of players
whose manners, temperament, commitment, cohesion, humour and energy
made coaching and managing the U13s side this season a pleasure.
Having passed through the junior section of the club myself, its
great to see a group of lads who all get on well with each other,
encourage each other, enjoy their cricket together and socialise
outside of the game. This bodes well both for the future of the team
itself and for the prospects of these players progressing up the
club and becoming the 1st, 2nd and 3rd teamers of the future.
Thanks should also go to the parents of all the players for their
help and support on match days and with travel arrangements and
particularly to Glyn Bagshaw and Dave Madden who have covered as
coaches when myself, Tom and Paul were unavailable.
Andy Batty (and Tom Holloway & Paul Vesey)
Please check the
Archive
for averages, results, fixture records, etc.
Previous Seasons
All match reports, season reports, averages, fixtures, team
photos, league tables, etc from previous seasons which have been submitted to
the website are now stored in the club
Archive. Click
here to access them,
or follow the links from the menu (under Members Area).
