Hello Parents & Players,
A wet start to the season meant we did not get going as early as we wanted, however rescheduling all of these marches meant we did not loose any. We also had two teams drop out of the DIV3 league which also added to the slow start. Fortunately we agreed to play a 3rd match between the remaining teams meaning ultimately we get two extra fixtures in that division and we play through later into August.
DIV2/3 matches: 12 Played, 14 Remaining
I'm pleased to say that out of the 40 players, all but one has now had at least one match with an average of 3 matches per player. We have 12 boys below the average and 16 above. I should say however that in most cases, those with fewer matches is down to them not having been available.
We have given every player 2 overs to bowl in each match as a rule although there has been a handful of exceptions typically caused through error rather than policy.
Average Balls Faced: 31
We typically draw up batting orders based on number of balls faced so that boys with fewer balls faced get to bat up the order and thus get more of a chance. This is very much an imperfect tool and has to be moderated by the ability to face better bowlers and also average batting positions for the boys in previous matches. 20 boys have faced less than 31 deliveries but only 6 have faced less than 10. What is good to see is more boys now feel ready to open the batting!
We have encouraged the boys to value runs above wickets so that they are more positive about run scoring and there is a greater chance of everyone getting to bat. There is certainly more work to be done here (stats excluding Cup matches):
Average Batting Score: 101 in total (incl. 37 extras so only 64 off the bat)
Average Wickets Lost: 6
Clearly we need to score more runs per match and we have wickets spare. While you don't want to teach the boys to not value their wicket, we also don't want the boys to think "not going out" is the objective of the game - it's amazing how many boys associate with test cricket above T20 and that is a wonderful thing, but there is a balance to be struck.
If a player has been in for between 8-15 deliveries and scored at a very low run-rate, we retire them with the option of coming back in. This I think strikes the balance of giving all the boys a chance to bat whilst still allowing us to compete as well as rewarding positive batting. The last two Friday training sessions have focused on the skill of running between the wickets which I believe has helped noticeably but more work to do.
In August, I hope to schedule in a couple of friendly matches which are a longer format, perhaps 32 overs which will allow the better players to either not be forced to retire or set retirement to 50 as well as give some bowlers a chance of bowling 5 overs and walking away with a fiver.
Total Retirements on twenty five: 9 (by 7 different players)
Automatic retirement on 25 runs is a league rule and achieving this is a massive confidence boost for players, so where possible we give players a chance to retire on 25 by being a little more flexible on run rate and we cycle around opening opportunities.
We were knocked out of the U13 Vitality cup early on although I commend the boys for a good effort in that match. We have also progressed now to the semi finals in the U12 cup thanks to a forfeit by Dartford and a slightly edgy win against Bickley Park. Next match is potentially against Beckenham and then a final likely against Bromley if we get there. I'm keeping the U12 cup matches for the most able U12 boys, especially those strong on batting and fielding as we are generally blessed with bowling.
We have tried to bring in less experienced players into some of the DIV2 matches to ensure they get experience and game time, however what we have seen is that a number of DIV2 teams are very strong (they should be in DIV1) and it's difficult to tell ahead of time which is which. For the remaining DIV2 matches I will be more selective to ensure the more able U13 players are selected and are given the chance to compete.
There are certain matches we use to boost players confidence or teach a skill or strategy and sometimes this means moving a number of more experienced players into DIV3 matches, normally both for their benefit and the teams benefit. Our next match against HSBC will be focused on further developing our running game and I hope the boys chosen specifically for this match will be able to help the rest of the squad improve this aspect of their game.
It is really great to see other parents coming forward to help and big thanks to James Howard, Aditya Gupta, Jonathan England, Jonathan Whymark and Dave Simpson. Please speak to me about getting more involved if you can, it will mean we can arrange more fixtures and the load does not just sit on a couple of individuals, something more challenging in the DIV3 side of things. Also a big thanks for the parents for setting availability and getting their boys down to the ground, you have been super! It will be nice to see more parents staying to support their sons but I know this is not always possible when there are other brothers and sisters to taxi to other events.
That is all for now but if anyone has questions or concerns or can help with scoring and umpiring, please do get in touch.
All the best
Mike & Martin