Despite some awful weather last week there was still plenty of cricket across the age groups.
The U12As and Bs had tough games at Reigate on Saturday morning.The As bowled well and took early wickets but the strength in depth of the Reigate batting line up meant that they were able to score heavily at the end of their innings to post 138-8. Eltham could not get going in reply and despite 30 from captain Aditya Kumar we fell short on 89-6 at the end of 25 overs. It was a similar story in the B team with Eltham only managing 90 in reply to Reigate’s 109.
Monday saw the U13As host Haberdashers’ Aske’s School in the National Cup 2nd round and unfortunately it saw the end of a great cup run for the team which started with their Kent Cup triumph as U12s last year. Haberdashers’ won an important toss and an impressive bowling display made life very difficult for the Eltham top order. Only Eddie Botes was able to spend any time in the middle and his 37 helped Eltham get to 86. Despite an early wicket Haberdashers’ were able to chase down our total for the loss of 2 wickets. On Saturday the U13As lost a close game to Reigate by 13 runs. Bowling first, wickets were shared around for Eltham with Eddie Botes taking two from two overs as they scored 128-7 in 25 overs. The batting effort was disappointing in reply and it was thanks to U12 player Aditya Kumar, who had stayed on from his morning game, that we got so close as he finished 38 not out. The Bs had a far more positive afternoon with Blue Collard (another U12 who had stayed from his morning game) and James Baillie scoring quick 20s as we set a target of 128 in 20 overs. Charles Nortey took a wicket with the first ball in reply and a good team effort led the side to a 25 run win.
The U14s had an excellent week with wins against John Fisher on Tuesday afternoon and on Saturday a win for the Bs against Reigate with an over to spare and what would have been a win for the As before rain intervened with Reigate 68 – 6 in reply to 176. The highlight of the week was a fantastic 100 for Ben Mirchandani against Fisher and there were also 50s for Joe Bilsby and James Bush in the As on Saturday and Max Taylor followed up 47 against John Fisher with 50 against Reigate in the Bs. In the field both teams are making real progress and wickets were shared around although a special mention to James Roberts who bowled two wicket maidens for the As against John Fisher.
The U15s came out on the wrong side of two close games last week against St Olave’s in the cup and Reigate. In both games the side made poor starts with the bat before fighting back to set a reasonable total. Ted McDonald impressed against St Olave’s with 41 and James Biss provided good impetus against Reigate. Although the bowling was tight in both games, especially from Alex and Roan Khanna the side weren’t able to defend their totals.
It was a quiet week for the Seniors as the 1st XI game against Reigate was rained off on Saturday and has been rearranged for after half term. The U12s, 13s and 14s are all in Kent Cup action this week and they will be hoping to progress to the 4th round.
