Match type: Friendly
Venue: Provender CC

Scorecards, match reports and photographs will appear here

Squad:

• Marina Barwick (Captain)
• Phoebe Franklin (V Captain)
• Megan Belt
• Maisy Blackbourn
• Annys Fearon
• Sophie Hannam
• Lucy Hirst
• Nadia Kleinig
• Zoe Moyler
• Eve Sales
• Sakshi Sharda
• Georgia Summers
• Emily Thompson

Match Details:

Kent Under 11s 126-4 (25 overs) (Marina Barwick 25 retired not out, Maisy Blackbourn 20 retired not out, Megan Belt 16)

Essex Under 11s 60 all out (24.5 Overs) ( Sophie Hannam 3-6; Sakshi Sharda 2-1)

Catches: Lucy Hirst, Zoe Moyler, Phoebe Franklin
Run Outs: Lucy Hirst, Annys Fearon, Maisy Blackbourn, Georgia Summers.

Kent Under 11s Won by 66 Runs

Kent Under 11 Girls made the best possible start to their 2009 cricket season with a convincing win over Essex at the magnificent Provender Cricket Club near Faversham.

Put in on a flat pitch, opening pair Megan Belt and Maisy Blackbourn (both St Lawrence and Highland Court) gave Kent a splendid start with 31 for the first wicket. Belt was scoring freely until she was well caught at square leg. Phoebe Franklin (Colfeians Girls) was out immediately when she poked a catch to cover, however, captain Marina Barwick (St Lawrence and Highland Court) hit powerfully to reach a rapid 25. Blackbourn held the innings steady before retiring not out 20.

Eve Sales (Colfeians Girls) looked in good form but was unfortunately run out by her partner. Zoe Moyler (Leeds & Broomfield), Sophie Hannam (Castle Hill) and Annys Fearon (Leeds & Broomfield) scored a few runs at the end.

Kent set a challenging total of 126 but with better running between the wickets and more contact with the ball, it could have been significantly higher.

Essex made a good start but with the score on 12 their dangerous looking batsman was brilliantly run out by Lucy Hirst (Castle Hill) with a direct hit aiming at one stump from cover.

This set the tone for our fielding which was very sharp and well positioned. This resulted in four run outs (in 2008 it took Kent five games before recording a run out), and three good catches – including a good one in the gully from Lucy Hirst and a stunning overhead one by Zoe Moyler at square leg. Bexley’s Emily Thompson did a very tidy job as stand in keeper for Nadia Kleinig (Castle Hill), who was out due to a knee injury. Megan Belt took over for the last ten overs.

In spite of a gusty, cool wind blowing off the Swale, Kent’s bowlers maintained a remarkably good line and length. Maisy Blackburn and Sakshi Sharda (Sidcup) were the most accurate, but the best figures were returned by Sophie Hannam (Castle Hill), who destroyed Essex lower order with three wickets in four balls in one over. Lucy Hirst and Eve Sales also took a wicket.

Kent Under 11 Girls displayed a thoroughly professional performance with valuable contributions from all thirteen players in the squad. The team were well led by Marina Barwick and the result was the best possible birthday present for coach David Sear. He added that although the win gives much confidence, there are still things to work on, especially batting in the last five overs, and we must not be complacent for the visit of Sussex at Town Malling CC, West Malling on Saturday 13th June, 2.00pm start.

A full scorecard is available for download from here.

Here’s a presentation of some of the photos taken during the match.  Click the forward arrow to start it.

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Town Malling CC

All 21 of the squad are available for this match and the following 13 have been selected to play:

• Marina Barwick (Captain)
• Phoebe Franklin (Vice Capt)
• Kate Abbett
• Megan Belt
• Maisy Blackbourn
• Sophie Hannam
• Charlotte Henderson
• Lucy Hirst
• Nadia Kleinig
• Zoe Moyler
• Lizzie Neal
• Eve Sales
• Sakshi Sharda

Short form scorecard:
Kent Under 11s 134 All out (24.3 overs) (Megan Belt 33, Phoebe Franklin 29 Not out, Kate Abbett 13)

Sussex Under 11s 45 all out (15 Overs) (Lucy Hirst 3-2, Lizzie Neal 3-2)

Catches: Marina Barwick, Zoe Moyler, Phoebe Franklin 3.
Run Out: Lizzie Neal.

Kent Under 11s Won by 89 Runs

The full scorecard is available by clicking here

Match report:
Kent Under 11 Girls continued their good start to the season by comprehensively beating visitors Sussex at Town Malling CC to make it two wins out of two.

Once again, we were put in but opening pair Megan Belt and Maisy Blackbourn (both St Lawrence and Highland Court) carried on where they left off last week to give Kent another splendid start with 35 for the first wicket. Belt blitzed her way to the 25 retirement score with only six overs gone.

Although runs continued to be made, the middle order wobbled and wickets tumbled. Only Phoebe Franklin (Colfeians Girls) proved a mainstay, but with some lusty blows from Kate Abbett (Hayes Hurricanes/HSBC) they took the score to over 100.

There was another clatter of wickets but as the balls remaining diminished, Lucy Hirst’s (Castle Hill) ‘prod and go’ tactic caused panic in the Sussex fielding and some ridiculous runs were made out of nothing.

Although not planned, the procession of wickets enabled retired batters Belt and Franklin to return to the crease to plunder more runs from the now ragged Sussex fielders to post a daunting total of 134..

In reply, Sussex never got out of the blocks, though they were 28-1 at one stage. However, consistent bowling from the eight Kent bowlers used, ably supported by some fine fielding, thwarted Sussex attempts to get anywhere near Kent’s score.

Lizzie Neal, (St Lawrence and Highland Court) in her first game, bowled beautifully. The flight of Lucy Hirst caused havoc among the Sussex lower order. Their last seven wickets went down for only 15 runs, and the whole innings was wrapped up by the half time drinks interval.

The main feature of Kent’s bowling was their accuracy – only four wides in fifteen overs – quite unheard of in the annuls of Under 11 girls cricket. Let’s hope we can keep this good line and length up.

The other pleasing element to Kent’s performance was the ‘tip and running’ in the final five overs. Although there were inevitable casualties, we proffered lots of runs. After all, runs are more important. It is better to be 134 all out than 120-7!

Once again, the team was well led by Marina Barwick. This well bonded squad of Under 11 girls is proving to be useful outfit with much fortitude. You would not have known that there were six changes to the team that defeated Essex.

The next match could be very interesting as next weekend we travel to Buckinghamshire to take on their Under 13 side.

Some photos from the match:

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Little Missenden Cricket Club

Scorecards, match reports and photographs will appear here

The squad:

• Phoebe Franklin - Captain
• Megan Belt - Vice Captain
• Kate Abbett
• Maisy Blackbourn
• Annys Fearon
• Morgan Freeman
• Stella Gowans
• Elodie Harbourne
• Zoe Moyler
• Eve Sales
• Sakshi Sharda
• Emily Thompson

Note: Stella, Morgan and Elodie are playing their first matches for Kent.

Short Form scorecard:
Buckinghamshire Under 13s 105-6 wickets (28 overs innings closed) (Elodie Harbourne 2-12; Kate Abbett 1-5)
Catch: Zoe Moyler.
Run Outs: Annys Fearon, Emily Thompson, Morgan Freeman.

Kent Under 11s 67-8 (28 Overs) (Megan Belt 20, Phoebe Franklin 9)
Kent Under 11s Lost by 38 Runs

The full scorecard is available from here

Kent Under 11 Girls suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Buckinghamshire, most of whom were two years older than their Kent counterparts. However, the young visitors put on a brave performance in spite of facing physically bigger and stronger opponents.

The match was played in the beautifully picturesque village of Little Missenden, deep in the Chiltern countryside, and famed for its location in the TV series Midsomer Murders. Acting captain Phoebe Franklin won the toss and put Buckinghamshire in. The home started positively and Kent quickly realised they were facing harder shots than previously encountered.

9 year old debutant Elodie Harbourne (Holmesdale) broke the opening partnership in the 9th over with the score on 42. This strike buoyed Kent and they reduced Bucks to 53-3 after 12 overs.

Although Kent failed to take another wicket until the 24th over, they continued to restrict Bucks scoring rate with some good stops and accurate bowling. Indeed, Kent only bowled 7 wides in 28 overs, a remarkable effort from the ten bowler attack used. Buckinghamshire#s total of 105 was gettable.

Megan Belt and Morgan Freeman (Hayes and HSBC), also making her debut, gave Kent a steady start. Belt plundered three fours in her positive 20 run innings before running herself out going for an easy second.

Kent were well placed at 40-2 after 12 overs, and with Phoebe Franklin at the crease. However, her promising innings came to an end when she failed to connect properly with a full toss and was caught.

Unfortunately, the Kent innings fell away badly. Runs dried up and wickets fell regularly. Maisy Blackbourn hung around for four off 47 balls but it was not enough to challenge the Buckinghamshire total. She was retired to allow other girls to bat when it was clear that the game was beyond the reach of Kent.

Apart from a few exceptions, the batting was rather disappointing. Only 46 came off the bat. Surprisingly, given our low total, there was only one duck. In contrast, there were many more ducks on the pond at the back of the Red Lion after the game!!

The game might have turned out different had Kent taken two early catching chances, and made the most of run outs following good ground fielding, but in the end it was no disgrace to lose to older and more experienced opposition.

The next match is away to Surrey, traditionally a strong outfit at Under 11 level.

Here are some photos from the match day:

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Epsom College

The 13 selected :

• Phoebe Franklin (Captain)
• Megan Belt (V. Capt)
• Maisy Blackbourn
• Sophie Hannam
• Lucy Hirst
• Maddie Hughes
• Nadia Kleinig
• Zoe Moyler
• Lucy Poulton
• Eve Sales
• Sakshi Sharda
• Georgia Summers
• Emily Thompson

Short form scorecard:
Surrey U11s 67 all out (9 players, 8 wickets) 24.3 overs (Maisy Blackbourn 2-10; Georgia Summers 1-3; Megan Belt 1-4)
Catch: Eve Sales.
Run Outs: Eve Sales, Maddie Hughes.

Kent Under 11s 70-2 (18.1 Overs) (Megan Belt 13, Phoebe Franklin 20 not out)

Kent Under 11s Won by 8 wickets

The full scorecard is also available for download

Kent Under 11 Girls returned to winning ways by comfortably defeating an under strength Surrey side.

On hot afternoon, Kent won the toss and put the home side in on a non-turf pitch. It proved a good decision as both openers were out after four overs with only seven on the board with opening bowlers Maisy Blackbourn (St Lawrence) and Georgia Summers (Sandwich Town/Holmesdale) sharing the spoils by pitching the ball up and hitting the stumps.

Things seemed to be going well for Kent when Eve Sales, Kent’s outstanding fielder of the day, caught their No 3 off Phoebe Franklin (both Colfeian Girls) with the score on 14.

However, Surrey recovered well with a partnership of 39 to take the score to 53, which was finally broken in the first after drinks in the 21st over. A rejuvenated Kent then took the remaining four wickets conceding only 14 runs in the process. (Note: Surrey only had 9 players).

Sophie Hannam (Castle Hill), and Megan Belt (St Lawrence and Highland Court), chipped in with a wicket apiece, and debutant Maddie Hughes (Castle Hill) produced a good run out throw to keeper Emily Thompson (Bexley).

Kent’s bowling and fielding performance was not quite up to its usual high standard. Relatively simple catching chances were put down, and Surrey were gifted with 23 extras and a few over throws. Exceptions were Nadia Kleinig (Castle Hill) who was tidy behind the stumps for the first fifteen overs, and Eve Sales (Colfeians Girls) and Lucy Poulton (Bexley), who both looked sharp in the field.

It was also unfortunate that accurate bowling went unrewarded. The non turf pitch on which were playing produced a higher bounce than usual and many straight balls went over the stumps. Sakshi Sharda (Bexley), who bowled well, was particularly unlucky.

After a sumptuous picnic tea spread out on blankets on the lawn, Kent began their reply with the regular St Lawrence and Highland Court openers of Megan Belt and Maisy Blackbourn. With the latter giving support, Belt was off to a racing start, but succumbed to a soft dismissal and was caught at silly mid off.

With 21 on the board, acting captain Phoebe Franklin (Colfeians Girls) joined Blackbourn and with some sensible batting they took the score to 51 before Blackbourn guided a gentle leg side catch which looped to the keeper.

Sakshi Sharda (Sidcup) came in, played straight and looked solid as she gave good support to her captain Franklin, who was well set. Together they steered Kent towards the total required with Phoebe producing an excellent captain’s innings and smashing a four past square leg to bring up victory.

It was a nice win for Kent Under 11 girls, who have now beaten all the other south eastern counties at this level, except Middlesex, who we play on 11th July.

Although we can only beat the side that is put in front of us, we should not forget the fact that Surrey have many more talented girls to select from and they are bound to be much stronger when we play them at Arundel and in our return fixture at Chevening on 1st August.

Nevertheless, the Kent players are all making useful contributions. They are gaining in confidence and improving with every match. The next game is on Saturday 4th July against the boys of Maisy’s Bapchild CC at Selling Cavaliers’ beautifully rustic ground which is near Faversham and surrounded by orchards and hop fields. This is the first of three matches against boys clubs teams and the outcome should be interesting!

Some photos from the match courtesy of Waine Blackbourn and Craig Kleinig

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Selling Cavaliers CC

19 of the squad are available for this match and the following 13 have been selected to play:

• Kate Abbett
• Megan Belt (V Capt)
• Maisy Blackbourn
• Annys Fearon
• Phoebe Franklin (Capt)
• Stella Gowans
• Sophie Hannam
• Charlotte Henderson
• Maddie Hughes
• Nadia Kleinig
• Zoe Moyler
• Lizzie Neal
• Eve Sales

Shortform Scorecard:
Bapchild CC U11 Boys 126-5 25 overs (Zoe Moyler 1-3, Phoebe Franklin 1-9)

Kent Under 11 Girls 104-6 (25 Overs) (Megan Belt 13, Eve Sales 12, Annys Fearon 10 retired not out)

Bapchild Under 11 Boys Won by 22 Runs

A full scorecard is available for download at this link.  Thanks to Gary Belt for preparing the scorecard.

Kent Under 11 Girls took on a boys side for the first time this season and although they lost by 22 runs it proved to be a useful exercise in order to improve the standard of the girls game. Indeed, had they made a better start to their innings, I am sure that the girls would have scored more run and the result would have been a lot closer.

On another hot day deep in the rural Kent countryside and surrounded by sheep and orchards, the girls won the toss and put the boys in on a flat and beautifully manicured Selling track.

Bapchild boys started cautiously against steady accurate bowling, particularly from Zoe Moyler. The boys may have been determined not to get out to girl bowlers, especially opener Maisy, whom they knew because Bapchild is her home club.

Although Kent’s early bowlers were accurate, they lacked penetration and it was difficult to see where a wicket was going to come from. However, after their opening pair had retired, Kent did well to remove their next batsman to make the score 77-2.

In the final ten overs, the girls failed to take their chances and allowed the boys to build a reasonable. Some girls were guilty of not walking in, allowing the ball to bounce when an easy catch beckoned. Short leg side bowling was also punished in a way the girls had not seen before.

Kent Girls set about chasing 126 in confident fashion early on with some well taken quick singles, and glances behind the wicket. Unfortunately, the risky running went rather too far and both openers were run out. Then Phoebe was bowled by a good one and Eve, after a bright start, was caught not getting hold of one.

At 56-4 the girls were still in with a chance, but with our main strike force out, it would be difficult to score the required runs. And so it proved. With some helpful wides, Annys Fearon (Leeds and Broomfield) and Sophie Hannam (Castle Hill) stayed around and put on 33 useful runs, but they did not score quickly enough.

When it was obvious that we could not win, batsmen were retired to give everyone a bat at the wicket. This was a useful exercise and it gave some girls who had not batted much some experience out in the middle. The girls ended on 104, which was a reasonable effort.

Certainly the boys were sharper in the field than we were used to, and their better bowlers were slightly quicker. However, what was most pleasing was to see the lower order batters staying in, playing straight and not giving their wickets away. Finding runs, hitting the ball off the square and rotating the strike will all come in time out in the middle. None of this can be achieved if you are back in the pavilion!

In the end it was a good match played in the right spirit and the girls have definitely benefited from playing opposition of this calibre.

David Sear

Some photographs of the day, courtesy of Waine Blackbourn and Craig Kleinig

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Felsted School

Scorecards, match reports and photographs will appear here

17 of the 21 player squad are available for this match and the following 13 have been selected:

• Phoebe Franklin (Captain)
• Megan Belt (Vice Captain)
• Maisy Blackbourn
• Annys Fearon
• Lucy Hirst
• Maddie Hughes
• Zoe Moyler
• Lizzie Neal
• Lucy Poulton
• Eve Sales
• Sakshi Sharda
• Georgia Summers
• Emily Thompson

Meet at Felsted School changed into training gear no later than 12.00pm, ready for training which starts at 12.15pm sharp

Directions are available from this link

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Arundel Castle

Kent Under 11 Girls have won the 2009 Arundel Festival (22-24 Aug). This was the fourth time the Festival had been held for south east counties Under 11 sides. Kent won the inaugural 2006 tournament, Surrey won in 2007 and 2008, with Kent runners up in those two occasions.

Kent Under 11 Girls at the Arundel Festival, July 2009In becoming 2009 winners, Kent beat Surrey and Middlesex Development in their preliminary group, then beat Essex (winners of the other group) in the Final (played early on Friday because rain threat), then beat Sussex in a friendly after lunch.

In winning all four games, all 12 of Kent girls played their part. The team was well captained by Marina Barwick and the parental support magnificent.

Kent v Surrey
The first 15 over a side match was straight after lunch against Surrey, our arch rivals and much fancied to take the title for the third year running. We lost the toss and were put in and we were soon in trouble. Maisy snicked one to the keeper, Megan ran out Phoebe and Marina and Sakshi were out to a young, trigger happy umpire. Megan added a few to the total with a couple of sixes over the shortest boundary of only 20 yards, but then got out mis hitting a full toss.

A breezy innings of 20 from left hander Annys, together with lower order support from Zoe and Emily, and a few wides, enabled us to reach a hopeful 79.

With a low score to defend on a tiny pitch, we needed to strike early, and Maisy did the trick with two in first over, and another in her second. Phoebe weighed in with a couple and Surrey were reeling on 33 for 6.

But their powerful No 5 was going strong, smashing anything loose to the short boundary. Her enforced retirement at 25 brought in weaker batters, and by keeping them in, she could not return to the wicket. This was fortunate for Kent and we got out of jail in a nail biting finish by five runs.

Kent v Middlesex Development
Relieved to win against Surrey, we only needed to beat a very young and inexperienced Middlesex Development team to reach the final. We were in relaxed mood knowing we were much too strong for them and so it proved.

Our non front line bowlers limited them to 35 in 15 overs with only 12 coming off the bat.

We changed the batting order and knocked the runs off in 5 overs with one wicket down.

Kent v Essex - The Final
We won the toss and put Essex in. Kent’s bowlers bowled magnificently. Megan removed their tall, strong left hander early on, and others chipped in with wickets as a the pressure mounted from so many accurate deliveries. We felt confident that we could get the 54 needed to win.

However, Essex had other ideas, and we did not help ourselves either. The situation got to us as Megan ran out Maisy (not for the first time this season!). Megan then went to a good catch at square leg, Phoebe was bowled through the gate third ball, and Marina panicked and ran herself out. Annys came in, picked up a lovely one off her toes for four and then she also ran herself out.

We were on the back foot at 31-5 and although there were plenty of overs remaining, Essex had the upper hand, and crowded our batters. It was then that Eve, who had been quietly occupying the crease since the first wicket had gone down, opened up by smashing the ball to all parts, including two sixes.

Suddenly we had reached 54 in a flash, thanks to Eve’s match winning innings of 27 not out, and the Kent were overjoyed to become festival winners.


Kent v Sussex (10 over friendly)
Although this game occurred after the final, it ended up being a very exciting match. We were in relaxed mood and were put in. New openers Sakshi and Georgia took their time and did well. Marina finally got a few, and there were lots of retirements to enable six girls to have a bat and get us to 43.

Lucy Poulton bowled well as opener and took two wickets. With Sussex 11-4 after five overs we were almost home and dry but then their lower order bats opened up to make it interesting. They needed 8 runs to win with two balls left but then Annys took two in two to give Kent their fourth victory and unbeaten in the festival, and also on a hat trick next time she bowls!

Summary
All in all, we knew we could give anyone a good game, but I did not think that we were strong enough to win the festival. Certainly our batting was not great compared to recent years. Indeed, our running between the wickets was poor. Our usual top order batters failed deliver, but that gave more of an opportunity for other batters like Annys, Zoe, Emily and notably Eve in the final, to help us post reasonable totals, which we were able to defend.

This was vitally important as our strength lay in the depth and accuracy of our bowling. It was supported by good but not outstanding fielding, and this was commented up upon by the festival coaches. We had our fair share of luck, particularly when the Surrey batter had to retire, but overall it was a most encouraging festival and it has given an enormous amount of confidence to many of our players.

The festival also revealed that the Kent Under 11 Girls are more than just cricketers. They presented a stunning seven act show of Kent’s Got Talent, which included singing, dancing, music, stand up comedy and magic to the other county teams staying at Lodge Hill Centre. Coaches from Essex, Middlesex and Surrey ‘grilled’ the girls and judged Nadia’s singing as the winner.

The return match against Surrey on 1st August at Chevening will be very interesting indeed!

All the statistics from the Festival are available for download by following this link

Some photographs from the successful Festival

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Chevening Amblers CC

Scorecards, match reports and photographs will appear here

Marina Barwick (Captain)
Phoebe Franklin (Vice Captain)
Kate Abbett
Maisy Blackbourn
Annys Fearon
Elodie Harbourne
Charlotte Henderson
Maddie Hughes
Zoe Moyler
Eve Sales
Sakshi Sharda
Emily Thompson

Short Scorecard

Surrey U11 Girls 95-8 25 overs
Sakshi Sharda 2-12
Kate Abbett 1-7
Charlotte Henderson 1-9
Eve Sales 1-13)
Catches: Marina Barwick, Zoe Moyler
Run Outs: Anny Fearon 2, Marina Barwick

Kent Under 11 Girls 26-0 (6.2 Overs)
Marina Barwick 12 not out
Maisy Blackbourn 7 not out)

Result: Match abandoned as a Draw (rain)

For the third and final time this season, Kent Under 11 Girls played against Surrey at Chevening. Weatherwise, it is an unlucky ground for us because for the second year running it rained, which was most frustrating because we were in a strong position to beat Surrey for a third time when it was decided to come off and settle for a draw.

Kent won the toss and put Surrey in. An accurate opening spell from bowlers Zoe Moyler and Maisy Blackbourn kept Surrey in check and then the breakthrough came with a sharp run out by Annys Fearon from her usual long stop position.

This brought in Bryony Smith, Surrey’s most accomplished batter. In spite of reasonable bowling from everyone in the Kent attack, she continued to torment as she had done at Arundel by punishing anything short.

Kent continued to take wickets at the other end. Accurate line and length from Sakshi and Kate Abbett brought them a wicket each, and Marina’s throw from the boundary created a run out as the batters went for a two. However, all the while, the Surrey number three kept the visitors total ticking along, taking advantage of our failure to put out a deep mid wicket which would have restricted the run flow.

After her enforced retirement, Surrey had only reached 60 but Kent were frustrated by a sensible lower order partnership which grafted well against the renewed pace of Eve Sales, and other young bowlers including Elodie Harbourne, Maddie Hughes and Charlotte Henderson, the latter claiming her first Kent wicket when Zoe caught a good one hander close in. Phoebe Franklin bowled better when she came back, but there was no doubt that Eve is now challenging her for pace.

In the field, things were patchy. There were some good catches and run outs, but there were also several high chances where our fielders did not move and they went begging. We could have had more run out as well, but too often two touches to gather the ball meant the batters got home in spite of good throws.

They only scored 50 off the bat which meant we gave away almost as many in extras. Emily Thompson, who kept wicket particularly well on the off side throughout the innings, struggled with leg side takes and conceded more than she would have liked. The panel umpire was tough on wides and that made the extras total appear higher than usual. Owing to the fact we had given a lot of extras away, we had made it harder for ourselves to score the runs required we had to bat well.

With rain a constant threat, after a quick turnaround, new opening pair of Marina and Maisy started steadily. Both batted with more confidence than of late. They were beginning to develop a good understanding, especially with their running between the wickets. The runs started to flow off the bat, but then the rain came and we were forced to abandon the game as a draw – but it did mean we could relax and tuck into a wonderful tea served up by Marina and Elodie’s mums!

On reflection, if we had bowled more accurately, and taken our chances, we could have bowled out Surrey before the end of 25 overs for less than 60. This meant we could have been batting earlier and our target would have been lower. If it had rained before we had reached the score, there may have been a strong likelihood of staying out there with the game nearly won. Unfortunately, we will never know.

Here are some photographs taken on the day courtesy of Waine Blackbourne:

Our next game is against Leeds and Broomfield Under 10 Boys at Platt, near Borough Green on Saturday 8th August.

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Stonehouse Field, Platt, nr Borough Green

Squad:

• Marina Barwick (Captain)
• Phoebe Franklin (Vice Captain)
• Maisy Blackbourn
• Charlotte Henderson
• Megan Belt
• Zoe Moyler
• Annys Fearon
• Eve Sales
• Stella Gowans
• Sophie Hannam
• Lizzie Neal

Match Report:
Leeds & Broomfield Boys 54 All Out (19.5 overs) (Sophie Hannam 3-3, Eve Sales 2-4, Maisy Blackbourn 2-9)
Catches: Marina Barwick (3), Megan Belt. Run Outs: Marina Barwick.

Kent Under 11 Girls 56-6 (14.4 Overs) (Megan Belt 12 not out, Zoe Moyler 11 retired not out.

Result: Kent Under 11 Girls Won by 4 Wickets

Our annual match against Leeds & Broomfield Boys at Stonehouse Field, Platt, turned out to be quite an exciting, low scoring game which Kent Girls won in the end. Indeed the scoring could have been lower had we held on to the numerous catching chances.

Returning to the ground where the Under 11 girls beat Sussex by one run eight years ago, the infamous pyramid climbing frame in the playground magically attracted the Kent girls like butterflies to the buddleia to ascend to its summit in exactly the same way it had done all those years ago.

Coaches Dave Sear and Craig Bolton spoiled the fun by dragging the girls from their play and reminding them that they had a game of cricket to play! After a good warm up playing the new ‘four goal fandango’ game, followed by fielding drills plus bowling and batting, we were ready.

The Leeds and Broomfield captain, Monte McCague, son of former Kent and England fast bowler Martin, won the toss and elected to bat. Immediately balls were being hit in the air, most of them towards Sophie, who still seemed to be on holiday in America, and she put them down. To be fair, she was not the only guilty one. Eve and Maisy both spilled caught and bowled chances, though Eve’s was the more difficult.

Fortunately, thanks to accurate bowling from all our bowlers, catches continued and Marina took three on her own. Had Phoebe left one which was not hers, Marina could have had a possible fourth.

Nevertheless, the boys wickets tumbled with regularity. Eve bowled straight and with pace. Good line and length paid off for Maisy and Zoe with three wickets between them. Phoebe and Megan could not make up their minds whether to bowl fast or spin. Youngsters Charlotte and Lizzie were both steady. Annys suffered a bit from Monte’s bat, and Sophie redeemed herself with the ball, taking three for three and no wides or no balls in her two overs.

Stella made a very successful return to the team as keeper conceding only a two byes, but the feature of the innings was Marina’s astute captaincy with her field placings. She restricted the scoring power of Monte by putting the field out on the boundary when he was facing, and bringing the field in when we bowled at weaker batsmen. In eleven years of taking Under 11 Girl cricket, I have not seen such intelligence and maturity from a captain.

Unfortunately, in reply to Leeds and Broomfield’s 54 all out, Marina’s batting could not match her fielding. Although she started well with Maisy, and both were about to be retired as we did not have much to chase, she was bowled by only going half forward to a straight one. Annys played herself in calmly but she was unlucky to be out to a very good catch at backward square leg off her normally productive leg side hit.

After drinks at eight overs we saw a great partnership between Maisy and Zoe with some excellent running between the wickets and splendidly taken singles. They took the score to 40 and with victory in sight, both were retired to allow others to have a bat.

Although the batting order had been revised, I had hoped that most of us would bat for a few overs, retire and win the game comfortably, but we played some poor cricket and a mini collapse in the middle order ensued. Charlotte was caught swinging stupidly at her first ball, and this after lots of throw downs! Eve and Lizzie had time to ‘have a look at it’ but swung across straight balls and were bowled. Sophie was unluckily run out, sent back after a bad call from Megan, who is now fast gaining a reputation with her bad calling and running between the wickets that it may be difficult to find someone who wants to bat with her!

Phoebe came in (bravely!) to join her. She played a couple of nice shots, and Megan redeemed herself (slightly) with some forceful strokes, including a lovely winning hit to the long square leg boundary.

A win is a win and it extends our run to eight matches undefeated since 4th July. However, we must not flatter ourselves with this latest win against a fairly weak Leeds and Broomfield. There is still work to do, particularly on high catching, and being much more patient at the crease. Far too many of us gave our wickets away and that is unforgiveable. Batting is hard but it’s great when you get a few runs, so when you get the chance to bat, stay in. No one has ever scored runs in the pavilion!

On the plus side, we do look like a good unit in the field – our bowling and ground fielding is sound and our opponents will always have to work hard to score runs, but the abiding memory from today’s game will be Marina’s leadership and intelligence as fielding captain.

Our next game is also against boys opposition – this time Street End, near Canterbury on Saturday 15th August.

A full scorecard from the match is available here

Match type: Friendly
Venue: Street End CC

Scorecards, match reports and photographs will appear here

Meet at the ground at 12.00noon

• Marina Barwick (Captain)
• Phoebe Franklin (Vice Captain)
• Megan Belt
• Zoe Moyler
• Lucy Poulton
• Eve Sales
• Elodie Harbourne
• Stella Gowans
• Nadia Kleinig
• Georgia Summers
• Sakshi Sharda
• Lizzie Neal
• Sophie Hannam

Reserves:

• Maisy Blackbourn
• Charlotte Henderson

Street End Boys 73-11 All Out (22.4 overs)
(Megan Belt 3-0, Maisy Blackbourn 3-6, Sophie Hannam 3-8)
Catches: Marina Barwick, Megan Belt (2)

Kent Under 11 Girls 74-4 (20.2 Overs)
(Marina Barwick 15 retired hurt not out, Sophie Hannam 13 not out, Sakshi Sharda 10, Megan Belt 10).

Result: Kent Under 11 Girls Won by 6 Wickets

This was our third match against a boys club opposition, which at one stage looked as though it would not last the distance, but in the end turned out to be one of the best games of cricket the season has produced.

With everyone in confident batting mood, we were looking to bat first but Marina lost the toss (again) and the boys decided to bat first.

They were soon in trouble, with our first four seam bowlers – Maisy, Zoe, Sophie and Charlotte all bowling accurately and hitting the stumps on a regular basis. Megan took a great one handed catch off Maisy, falling backwards from short cover off, to dismiss their number three.

Then spin took over. Megan’s new found off-spin was devastating as she ripped through Street End’s middle order with 3-0 in two overs. She was well supported at the other end by Sakshi’s leg spin. Together they reduced the boys to 29-7.

Then the boys dug in and put on a good partnership for the 8th wicket. Their left hand, right hand combination also caused problems in the field for Marina and frequently fielding positions went awry. None of the later bowlers Lucy Poulton, Lizzie, one legged Eve!, and Elodie could find a way through and the boys had progressed to 72-7.

Finally, after 20 overs and ten bowlers used, Maisy came back and broke through with an LBW. Then within the space of 15 balls four wickets fell the innings ended with Sophie and Sakshi wrapping up the tail for only one further run added.

Our batting innings was eventful. Maisy went early to one that kept low, but Marina joined Megan and they looked comfortable and pushed the score along well ahead of the required rate. The Megan went in similar fashion to Maisy which brought in Sakshi, who is looking more solid each time she bats.

Things were progressing smoothly against the steady, medium pace attack, but then Marina, who was beginning to dominate pulled her calf going for a quick run and was forced to retire. Zoe came in but was immediately run out with a direct throw to the stumps, and then Sakshi played across a straight one and was given out LBW.

We were starting to look shaky, and we did not help our cause with poor running between the wickets – there is still a lot of work to do here! However, I was impressed with Sophie, who demonstrated much patience at the crease. Stella also batted sensibly until she also had to retire hurt when she took a lifter in the stomach. Nevertheless, this brought in young Elodie and she produced her best inning for Kent.
We were closing in on the total and enforced retirement was considered to give more batters ago, but it was decided to let Sophie and Elodie’s partnership remain deservedly unbroken to the end.

This was a good win chasing a reasonable total. One of the most pleasing elements was seeing more batters getting a few runs and gaining in confidence at the crease. It was also good to see an abundance of spin bowlers, and this has undoubtedly added to the strength and variety of our bowling attack this season. There was only one bye and although she only kept for 12 overs, credit must go to Stella, who is improving every game.

One disappointing element to the bowling was the failure to shine the ball. It was in a dreadful state after we had bowled and the point was made during the interval. Furthermore, running between the wickets was poor – not enough backing up from the non-strikers end and too many jogs, which meant we could not turn ones into twos.

Our next game is away to Sussex Under 11 Girls on Sunday, 23rd August. Let’s hope we can continue with the current run of victories.

The full scorecard is available for download from here.

Some photos from the match: