Elstead U11s gathered on a surprisingly cold but thankfully dry Bank Holiday Monday morning to play a County Cup match vs Tilford. The U11s are in inxperienced team (only one of whom had previously played at this level, and about half the team were playing their first ever hard-ball match) but they have talent and enthusiasm in abundance. Nonethless this was going to be a tough task against a much more experienced and largely older Tilford side.

Tilford could only muster 10 for the day, and a request from their coach to field first so certain players could leave early for a football fun day was agreed to, so Tilford enjoyed the bowling-friendly conditions first up. Tyler and Joe opened the batting for Elstead against a strong, if occasionally wayward Tilford bowling attack. Tyler (5) hit a lovely boundary 4 but soon fell to a quick straight one from Tilford's best bowler. That brought Harry to the crease, and he responded with a couple of excellent shots for 4. The return of Tilford's strike bowler caused more problems for Elstead though, with Joe and then Danny falling to lovely deliveries.

Tom came in next, and played a much needed obdurate innings, providing a good foil for Harry who continued to score sensibly and at a good pace, with a couple of lovely cover drives yielding further boundaries. When Tom was finally bowled, Stan came to the crease, and the scoreboard started to tick over nicely, but a miscommunication led to an unfortunate run out - Stan selflessly sacrificing himself so Harry as the set batsman could continue. It proved a good call. Gabe came in and unfortunately fell quickly, but Jake hit a lovely 4 as a signal of intent and his assured batting settled things down and Harry then brought up his 25 with another cracking shot for 4. At 25 not out Harry was retired to a standing ovation.

Elstead then started to wobble. George was out to a great ball first up, and then the Tilford strike bowler was brought back in to remove Jake (6), giving him strong figures of 4-9 off 4 overs. As it looked as though Elstead would fail to bat the overs, we negotiated to have Harry return if needed, but an excellent rearguard by Felix and Cillian meant it wasn't necessary. Elstead finished on 90 for 8, which was not a bad score on a bowling-friendly wicket, especially as Tilford stuck to their best bowlers, using only 6 in total and ensuring the best ones all bowled a full 4-over compliment.

Bouyed by squash and biscuits, Elstead took to the field some time before the Tilford batsmen were ready. When play began, it was clear that the Tilford openers were accomplished batsmen, but Tyler opened with speed and accuracy to keep the scoring down. Stan continued with a similar over of accuracy and pace, and the first sign of fluster came when a Tilford opener chose to avoid a quick delivery rather than try to play it. The door was open, and Stan struck - slight away swing took a nick and Danny swallowed a great catch behind the wicket.

Gabe came in next, and after a couple of looseners, his left-arm over line proved too much for the other Tilford opener, who was bowled through the gate. Gabe struck again very next ball with an identical delivery, and we were to learn later what a key wicket this was - Tilford's strike bowler had to trudge back to the pavilion for a golden duck. Gabe couldn't quite finish off the hat-trick, but Tilford were now wobbling badly. Tom bowled next and and a 4th wicket went down with only 10 runs on the board - the batsman again trying to heave away a straight delivery that deserved much more respect.

Tilford's 5th and 6th batters were more circumspect, and played more sensibly, frustrating some lovely bowling from Jake and Joe, but sharp work from Tyler and Danny effected a run-out, and when Harry came on to bowl he quickly sent the other batter back to the pavillion. Elstead continued to rotate the attack and Felix came on next. It was a tricky start for Felix with his first 3 deliveries being front-foot no-balls, but with the run up re-measured, he turned things round wonderfully, taking two wickets in two balls, both clean bowled. Once again, the hat-trick sadly proved elusive. George and Cillian were given the ball next, and both bowled tidly.

At this early stage in the season Elstead were determined to give everyone a bowl, and so we had a short break while Harry took over the keeping responsibilities from Danny, which allowed Danny to bowl next. It was a typically accurate bowling performance from Danny, rewarded with the 9th Tilford wicket to fall. At this stage the Tilford score was 48-9, and per the Cup laws the game would have been won, but we allowed Tilford to re-insert a batter for the final wicket.

They chose the strike bowler who had been dismissed first ball by Gabe, and this time he was in the mood to play. A flurry of 4s and 6s followed, with Tyler and then Danny bearing the brunt of this excellent cricketer's late contribution to the game. Elstead missed a number of chances to win the game - possible catches weren't attacked, and some wonderful run-out chances were missed. The game moved apace and with the Tilford strike-bowler having moved to 27 the scores were getting close. As we had previoulsy agreed a retired batsman could return (even though we didn't have to recall Harry earlier), the batsman was not retired out and Tilford moved to 85 for 9. Finally another chance came - Tilford's now star batsman pushed for a dicey run and Stan elected to back himself on foot rather than risk a throw. It was a very close race between fielder and batsman, but critically the batsman ran without his bat down, and Stan broke the stumps before he could dot it down. Elstead had won by 5 runs.

This was an excellent - and extremely well-deserved - win for the U11s, many of whom were playing their first game of hard-ball cricket. They played together as a team, supported each other and played with great enthusiasm for the game. As always we have some take-aways to learn from. We'll certainly see more of the accurate bowling and explosive batting demonstrated by Tilford's star player as the season progresses, and we must be sure that we are focussed in the field at all times to take the chances when they come. In-game communciation can improve, as can field-craft - knowing when to drop deep for catches and when to come in to cut off the singles and pressure the scoreboard. We'll work on that in training, but for now the kids can be super proud of how the played today in securing a richly deserved cup win against a decent Tilford side.