2005 Season - South Northants U15 League and Shires U14 League Round Up

Message from 2005 U15/U14 Coaches Chris Wilkes and Anil Jethra

Time to sum up an enjoyable and high scoring season, rounded off with a good win in the Shires cup final.

The squad

The core squad for the two competitions was the U14 age group, but we are a club, not an age group. Players of other ages also contributed to the club's success. Seven U15s played in the SNL, ten U13s and two U12s played in the Shires and two U13s played in both.

Results

Playing a year up, we came third out of thirteen teams in the SNL, winning eight and losing four of our league games, and reached the second round of the SNL cup.

We said goodbye to the U14 Shires league in style. After five wins and one loss in the league phase, we won entertaining matches against Poddington in the semi final and North Crawley in the final. Our only other U14 game was a narrow win in a friendly against Beaconsfield, the 2004 U13 Bucks champions at both league and cup.

Player statistics

Two tables are attached below . The first lists the match results and man of the match awards. The second lists statistics in rank order for those who scored 50 or more runs, took five or more wickets or made three or more fielding dismissals. The leaders in each category were: However, all players made useful contributions, often much more than can be shown by statistics, which don't reflect the standard of the opposition or game situations. For example, Jack Robbins's gritty 2 not out in a ninth wicket partnership of 23 helped win the match against Beaconsfield! (And Goodey's 1 not out in a stand of 20 for the ninth wicket nearly did the same against Brackley A).

Highlights

There were two four wicket hauls - Callum Cater 5-26 against Brackley B and Jonny Neeves 4-7 against Bugbrooke. There were three-fors by Goodey, Callum, Anthony Carver, Dil, Krishan, Harsh Jethra, Danny Hobden and Stuart Powell.

There were two centuries - Goffy scored 102 against Westbury and 107 against Bugbrooke - and half centuries by Goffy (5), Dil (3), Nick Wilkes (3), Jamie Hirst (2), Toby O'Neill and Harsh.

There were 16 sixes - Goffy (8), Nick (4), Adam, Dil, Toby and Rob How.

The U14 age group is now getting representation more consistent with their ability. Jamie had an excellent debut season for Northants, scoring three half centuries. Nick and Dil were also in the squad. Jonesey, Harsh and Goodey played for Aylesbury district. And Goffy is unquestionably of county standard.

Awards

The presentation evening was well attended and awards were made for:

Player development

Playing in two competitions meant we often had both a Sunday and a Monday game, which enabled us to give most players a game most weeks and to give additional opportunities to U13s and U15s.

Roles sometimes varied between matches but players were generally picked as either batters or bowlers, both to encourage specialisation and to try to give everyone a bat or a bowl. (In many school and club teams, the top order batsmen do most of the bowling as well, which limits opportunities for the rest of the team.)

Batting

The batting benefited from keeping a fairly consistent batting order, which worked well; five top order batsmen scored nearly 2,000 of our 2,700 runs from the bat. The momentum was kept going by the middle order, who hit out unselfishly when the situation required it. Enterprising running between the wickets was a big plus all season.

On several occasions - for example against Beaconsfield, Wolverton, Westbury and Brackley B - we made winning totals by patiently digging in against good bowling then accelerating once we had played ourselves in. The main disappointment was that our batsmen didn't stay so cool against the strongest opposition - second placed Towcester (in league and cup) and unbeaten county champions Brackley A (after we had restricted them to 79 with a superb bowling performance).

Bowling and fielding

The bowlers didn't get such consistent opportunities, as shown by the wide spread of wicket-takers. Nonetheless we became a good bowling unit, particularly in the last few games of the season.

The fielding, already good, continued to improve. Even when the ball was hit hard, we generally got a body behind the ground strokes and hands to the catches. And the benefit of playing senior cricket showed in some exceptional catches, stops and throws.

A measure of how much fielding contributes to winning is that 60% (90 out of 152) of our wickets came from fielders - caught, stumped or run out - compared to just under half last year. The scorebook shows that most teams still rely on bowled and LBW for the majority of wickets at this age.

Teamwork

Our captains generally used their bowlers well and brought the best out of all of the team. Batting first and defending big totals allowed more attacking field settings than is normal in 20 and 25 over games, which contributed to the number of catches. Next season we may need to focus more on slowing the opponents' scoring rate.

We were commended on more than one occasion for the positive spirit in which we played. It is important to keep that up, showing respect to all opponents, team members, coaches, etc. and receiving it in return.

Senior cricket

Already for many this has been a year of transition towards senior cricket. Seven or eight of the U14s played senior cricket this year, with reasonable success (Jonesey especially); you will find senior cricket easier next season, having that experience under your belt and being a year older.

More of you will get opportunities to play senior cricket next season, probably starting with friendly development games on Sunday afternoons, or Saturday league games for Twyford or Preston Bissett, while others will be ready the following season.

In adapting to senior cricket the main thing to work on is patience. Early in a spell, bowlers need to stick mainly to their stock ball and build up rhythm, instead of trying variation balls, while early in an innings batters need to minimise risk (if there are plenty of overs left), instead of hitting in the air or across the line.

Thanks

Warm thanks are due to Tom Murray, who coached the squad throughout the season. His well organised drills have helped the players to improve individually and in particular have helped many of you to improve your fielding. As he doesn't go to University until next autumn we are hopeful he will continue with us, depending on his summer plans.

We are also indebted to various people who made the season work out so well. Bob Hutt as fixtures secretary had the task of arranging more games than the club had space for. He was only able to do so because Arthur Bryant was kind enough to prepare the ground at Preston Bissett for some of our home games. For those games that we did manage to play at home we owe thanks to Norman Wilby, the groundsman, for preparing the wicket.

A number of parents have helped in various ways, and this year we have had the advantage of a regular scorer, Kim Goodey, who started the season as a novice but is now pretty good. Kim and Sepali Direkze have also put themselves out several times to help with transport complications.

Next season

Next year the U15s will play in just one junior competition (the SNL on Mondays) so will be a more settled team. But we will want to (and indeed need to) draw on this year's U13s as well this year's U14s.

Buckingham will be among the favourites in the SNL, but to win we must continue to improve. Kineton, Byfield and Brackley B in particular are young sides who will be a year older and will provide keen competition. It would be good to crown your junior careers with some more silverware.

Well done to all who took part in these matches. We look forward to enjoying next year's cricket with you.

Prepared by Chris Wilkes and Anil Jethra - 27 September 2005

Buckingham Town Under 14 Shires and South Northants U15 - 2005 Season

Date Opponents Match type Venue Runs scored Wkts lost Runs conceded Wkts taken Result Runs margin Wickets margin Man of Match Fielder
02-May-05 Byfield S Northants U15 league A 163 6 75 4 W 88   Hirst Goodey
09-May-05 Middleton Cheney S Northants U15 league H 142 5 101 7 W 41   Goff Rowly
16-May-05 Kineton S Northants U15 league A 134 5 106 6 W 28   Rowly Jethra
23-May-05 Kings Sutton S Northants U15 league H 142 5 84 8 W 58   Jethra Neeves
30-May-05 Horley S Northants U15 league A 141 4 116 7 W 25   Wilkes Hobden
05-Jun-05 Beaconsfield Friendly PB 130 8 129 7 W   2 Direkze Jones
13-Jun-05 Badby S Northants U15 league A 104 6 105 5 L   (5) Goodey Goff
19-Jun-05 MK Park Shires U14 league A 134 10 43 7 W 91   Bone Jarman
20-Jun-05 Radway S Northants U15 league H 201 1 99 9 W 102   Direkze Robbins
26-Jun-05 Wolverton Shires U14 league PB 165 4 99 4 W 66   O'Neill Stanford/How
27-Jun-05 Brackley B S Northants U15 league H 132 4 97 9 W 35   Goff/Cater Direkze
04-Jul-05 Badby S Northants U15 cup A 151 4 83 10 W 68   Goff Wilkes
11-Jul-05 Towcester S Northants U15 league A 72 10 73 1 L   (9) Not merited!  
12-Jul-05 Westbury Shires U14 league PB 206 5 127 10 W 79   Goff Brunning
17-Jul-05 Bugbrooke Shires U14 league A 191 4 103 10 W 88   Goff Stafford
18-Jul-05 Towcester S Northants U15 cup A 83 10 112 6 L (29)   Wilkes Pritchard/Coxhill C
25-Jul-05 Marston St L S Northants U15 league A 113 4 114 2 L   (8) Goff Hobden
31-Jul-05 North Crawley Shires U14 league H 133 7 104 9 W 29   Wilkes How
07-Aug-05 Poddington Shires U14 league A 44 8 46 1 L   (1) Direkze Game too short
08-Aug-05 Banbury XX S Northants U15 league A 84 1 83 4 W   9 Direkze Hobden
15-Aug-05 Brackley A S Northants U15 league H 70 10 79 8 L (9)   Talsania Pritchard
04-Sep-05 Poddington Shires U14 semi H 183 5 137 10 W 46   Hirst Hobden
11-Sep-05 North Crawley Shires U14 final A 149 5 134 8 W 15   Direkze/Powell Wilkes
Comparison to summary of individuals Match totals   3067 131 2249 152 17W/6L        
  Total extras   347                
  Runs from the bat   2720                
  Fielding extras       108            
  Runs conceded by bowlers       2141            
  Run outs         15          
  Bowlers' wickets         137          

2005 Season - Shires U14 and S Northants U15 Statistics

Batting Statistics (Qualification 50 runs)

Matches Runs   Average   Strike rate
14 Goff, Joshua  545     Goff  60.56     Bone  147%
17 Wilkes, Nick 509     Wilkes 39.15     Goff 130%
20 Direkze, Dilshan 459     Bone 33.00     Wilkes 121%
17 Jethra, Harsh 271     Direkze 30.60     Hirst 112%
7 Hirst, Jamie 175     Hirst 29.17     Direkze 110%
14 Powell, Stuart 124     Jethra 22.58     Powell 106%
13 How, Rob 116     O'Neill 19.00     O'Neill 88%
15 Jones, Tom 106     Talsania 17.67     Talsania 77%
15 O'Neill, Toby 95     Powell 13.78     Jethra 72%
5 Bone, Adam 66     Goodey 13.25     How 72%
17 Goodey, Joshua 53     How 11.60     Jones 68%
3 Talsania, Krishan 53     Jones 9.64     Goodey 49%

Bowling Statistics (Qualification 5 wickets)

Matches Wickets   Average   Economy rate
17 Goodey, Joshua  16     Stafford 4.20     Talsania 2.67
12 Neeves, Jonny 13     Talsania 5.33     Stafford 3.00
5 Cater, Callum 11     Cater 7.55     Hill 3.27
15 O'Neill, Toby 10     Hill 9.80     Neeves 3.74
20 Direkze, Dilshan 8     Hobden 10.67     Jethra 4.06
14 Powell, Stuart 8     Goff 12.17     Powell 4.59
10 Jarman, Max 7     Neeves 13.23     O'Neill 4.70
17 Jethra, Harsh 7     Direkze 13.25     Cater 4.88
14 Goff, Joshua 6     Powell 16.63     Goff 5.21
9 Hobden, Danny 6     Goodey 18.25     Direkze 5.30
3 Talsania, Krishan 6     O'Neill 18.80     Hobden 5.33
8 Collins, Oliver 5     Jethra 19.14     Jarman 5.34
4 Hill, Tom 5     Collins 22.80     Goodey 5.51
3 Stafford, Luke 5     Jarman  24.43     Collins 5.70

Fielding Dismissals - Caught, Stumped, Run Out (Qualification 3)

Matches Total   Catches   Run Outs
15 Jones, Tom  18     Jones  13     Direkze  6
20 Direkze, Dilshan 14     Goff 8     Jones 4
14 Goff, Joshua 10     Direkze 7     Jethra 4
17 Wilkes, Nick 8     Wilkes 5     Wilkes 3
17 Jethra, Harsh 6     O'Neill 5     Goff 2
15 O'Neill, Toby 5     How 3     Shaw 2
13 How, Rob 4     Pritchard 3     How 1
3 Pritchard, Robin 4     Goodey 3     Hobden 1
17 Goodey, Joshua 3     Hirst 3     Jarman 1
7 Hirst, Jamie 3     Powell 3        
9 Hobden, Danny 3     Jethra 2        
10 Jarman, Max 3     Hobden 2        
14 Powell, Stuart 3     Jarman 2        
3 Shaw, Ali 3     Shaw 1