Dorset Schools Cricket Association AGM 2016

Dorset Schools Cricket Association AGM 2016

INDOOR CRICKET Report

For lovers of statistics, the growth of indoor cricket has been remarkable, doubtless pleasing the ECB and their drive to increase participation in the sport. This has caught on in Dorset and five competitions were on offer.

The boys’ competitions were organised for U13s (14 schools and 18 teams) and, for the first time, Under 15s (10 schools and 11 teams). QE, Wimborne mastered the techniques which ensure success and won the U15 final before Christmas. St Michael’s Middle picked up the U13 crown in the Spring Term.

The Spring Term also had an exciting and flourishing programme of 6 a-side indoor cricket, involving girls at Under 11 (12 schools and 18 teams), 13 (19 schools and 26 teams) and 15 (15 schools and 17 teams). The two older age groups were sponsored by the Lady Taverners, with progress through regional rounds to national finals.

Once again we have to thank the DCB Office for their splendid work. Gill Jones and collated all the competitions from district level to the finals and Rob Newton oversaw the finals and coached both leaders and many players to a very high standard. Bournemouth University students were vital cogs in the wheel at finals, complementing Josh x 2 and Danny who were spending their year in the DCB Office. Chance to Shine funded the Under 11 competition, which was won by a dynamic Christchurch Junior whose batting was too much for St Michael’s Middle. Bournemouth School for Girls and Parkstone Grammar ended up in the final of the Under 13 competition, with the former maintaining their impressive form to win. The Under 15 competition was the best ever. We even had deliberate switch hitting and some interesting leggies during the day. QE, Wimborne beat BSG in the terrific final. QE went from strength to strength and made it to the National finals where they were runners up – a truly magnificent effort. Girls’ indoor cricket has come of age.

TJH

10/11/16

Dorset Schools Cricket Association AGM 2016

PRIMARY CRICKET Report

History tells us that one of these Kwik finals will suffer because of rain. On June 17th, the calculated risk was taken to go ahead, with the threat of rain and then a quick 20 minutes of the stuff around 10am. The Year 6 Mixed Final games were played at a good pace and the strictures about 20+5+20 were adhered to. Consequently the lunch break was 20 minutes ahead of schedule! Group A brought wins for St Michael's and St Katharine's. All were by scoring 246 (twice) and 242. The standard overall was really good. The playing areas are now much further from each other because the hitting is so much more powerful. The was even a switch hit and a ramp seen during the day. However, Broadstone Middle stopped St Mike's in their tracks with a single run victory over them. St Katharine's won all of their matches. Wyke put up a good show throughout, failing by just 6 runs to beat Broadstone. Group B brought wins for all the sides, which is always good to see. Thorner's and Baden Powell won two and Stoborough and Sherborne Py, one. Baden Powell won on run count, as did Sherborne Py. Group C also provided some close matches. Only St Osmunds found the going a bit tough after losing by just 8 runs in their opening match. Christchurch Junior played their games really well, winning all 3. Moordown hammered St Osmunds and Ferndown. So it had all depended on the first match, which saw CJS defeat Moordown by just 5 runs in a low scoring affair - 232/2 to 227/4.

The afternoon session, always under threat from passing clouds, but with many players now wearing their new dry ECB tees, provided a fantastic series of matches throughout. No school dominated and all of the top six won one match in the process. The total scores of their 2 matches left St Katharine's in first place but just 1 run ahead of Christchurch Junior, with Baden Powell a little way behind, although they had beaten St Katharine's. The next three places went the same way - total runs counted and Broadstone emerged in 4th place, followed by Thorner's, who had brought a large contingent of supporters. I was told they had lost interest when it became apparent they could not win. Sadly they upped and left before the presentation, leaving their excellent member of staff and the organisers rather exasperated, particularly as proceedings continued to run 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Moordown finished 6th. St Michael's secured 7th due to an important win over Ferndown, whilst Sherborne py did their best against the two 'big boys' whom they would never have expected to find in their group in a play off! Stoborough scored 288/0 against a St Osmund's side which kept trying - in fact scoring 236/3 in that match. Wyke had also beaten them by 16 runs and thus ended up 11th in the county.

Chairman, Tim Hill thanked Bryanston for providing such marvellous facilities, Gill and Rob for all their vital and exhausting work in organising the district competitions and leaders (although none could attend this final). St Katharine's went on to enjoy their day in Bristol at the Regional Competition, superbly organised by Gloucestershire CB. This is the only Regional Final held in the country. Perhaps the ECB should think again and make them official!

The Year 6 Girls Final was on Friday June 24. The sun shone for the day at Bryanston, which was a pleasant change from the previous week for the Mixed Final. Poole High School were in attendance to provide the Leaders and did a terrific job umpiring and scoring. Sadly, Christchurch Junior called off at the last minute which left 11 teams to fight out the day. Group A was dominated by St Michael's Middle, who won all of their matches. Tight bowling and good fielding meant St George's andElm struggled to get much past 200 and although Baden Powell scored 244, St Michael's cemented their top position with a powerful 299/0. Group B was fortunate to have gained Branksome Heath as a late replacement and they showed how small margins determine finalists. They grasped their elevation to win all of their 3 group matches, with Southill, St Gregory's and St Katharines all winning one. Final positions emerged from a run count. Southill from the West ended up in the play off for the last 2 places, whilst St Gregory's took second and St Katharines, third. The last group, with just 3 teams saw Talbot beat Ferndown by 20 runs and then St Mary's by 10. Ferndown then discovered themselves and posted 271/3, which St Mary's could not catch, despite putting a gallant 256/3 on the board.

After the distribution of ECB tee shirts at the lunch break, the second part of the competition took off and there were some fantastic matches. The standard had again risen, reflecting how much girls enjoy this sport. Skills get better every year and the enjoyment is palpable. The odds on favourites were St Michael's and they showed that was justified. Playing their games in succession, they beat Branksome Heath by 12 runs and Talbot Heath by 31. Talbot then beat Branksome Heath to take second spot overall, which was the best they have ever achieved. Those competing for 4th, 5th and 6th, provided a titanic struggle, with Ferndown triumphing in their matches. Baden Powell scored 286/0 v St Gregory's. St George's were 7th, with two excellent victories over St Mary's and St Katharines and the 10th/11th places were fought out in the 2 innings 'test match' between Southill (276 and 279) and Elm Academy (224 and 264) – a great way for them to end the day.

Chairman, Tim Hill was helped in the presentation by 2 of the Southern Vipers (Fi and Izzie) who had arrived at lunch time and spent the afternoon coaching the sides when not required to play. That was a wonderful venture and provided the players with a terrific, unexpected experience. The Southern Vipers were to go on and win the inaugural Kia Trophy in August.

St Michael's went on to the Regional Final held at Clifton College Gloucestershire CB (see above?).

July 6th was another lovely day on which Wimborne CC played host to the Year 5 Kwik County Final. It is a wonderful venue and memories should linger long enough for some of the visitors to think about joining the club in the near future. QE provided the highly efficient Leaders, while Danny and Co from the Office oversaw matters because TJH was flitting between Canford as Manager of the DCB U17s and Wimborne.

The morning session produced a very rare set of results in which all 3 groups had a winner victorious in all their 3 matches, followed by second place winning 2 and third 1. That meant the bottom side had to wait until the afternoon to get that warm feeling of success! Familiar names came top in the morning - St Michael's, Christchurch Junior and Baden Powell & St Peters. The standard is improving and there were some very encouraging over arm bowlers - both spin and 'pace'. The play off rounds saw some really exciting close matches and the enjoyment of players and parents was a delight. All sides had won through to the final from their Districts and that tends to be forgotten if things go a bit wrong. These are the best 12 in the county and should be proud of their achievements. The last 3 places were well contested, with Sherborne Py having 2 convincing wins over Wyke and Milton on Stour. St Katharines were impressive in their 2 wins to secure 7th place. They played an epic match against a more than useful Moordown St Johns, where the scores were 274/0 to 262/5. Dorchester Middle had come alive to give Moordown a lesson in the first round, winning by 263/3 to 190/8. 4th, 5th and 6th were decided by run counts because all sides won one match. It was extremely close. Stoborough edged it with 483, to Broadstone's 479 and Allenbourn's 470. St Michael's became County Champions after they defeating both Christchurch and Baden Powell. Their bowling and fielding put pressure on their opponents and so both struggled to get a decent score. Christchurch then beat Baden Powell by 2 runs to secure second place.

TJH arrived back from Canford and gave the prizes away, thanking all those from the DCB Office who had helped on the day, as well as Gill and Rob for their fantastic efforts at District level and with the Leaders. It had been a marvellous day for everyone.

Primary competitions also have the famous Under 11 8 a-side Hardball Pairs, now sponsored by the Saracens Foundation. Many thanks to Bryanston for producing 2 marvellous pitches and for ensuring the weather was the best for around 10 years as the 4 teams (from the 17 original entries) round robin final took place! The day began with a tension-laden draw and the sides went off to the First team pitch or the Junior pitch, both replete with billiard table outfields. It was good to see some girls playing more than their part during the day and the experience must have benefitted their cricket generally. Castle Court had an impressive team and overwhelmed Epiphany but the latter kept smiling, and ended up improving their game as the day wore on. Christchurch established their superiority over Baden Powell, who can be notoriously slow starters. BP gave Epiphany a tough time in the second round, piling up 294/2, the highest score of the day. However, Epiphany worked hard and reached a very creditable 247/6. Castle Court and Christchurch was obviously the most significant game of the day. There was some excellent bowling and batting from both sides, and the fielding was particularly sharp. It was very close and passions were running high. Suffice it to say that fine margins led to a CJS 4 run victory. The last matches brought an excellent, well fought encounter between Castle Court and Baden Powell which the former won by 4 runs. CJS were exuding confidence and beat the gallant Epiphany by 65 runs.
Tim Hill ended the proceedings by presenting The Saracens Trophy - a new shield bought by DSCA to mark the new national sponsor.

In many ways the highlight of a long season is the Under 11 Pairs Hardball Plate Final. It is a showcase for those just starting out on their hardball career. The Plate is important because it provides a few more matches for sides losing in the main competition. Broadstone CC hosted this little epic. St Katharine's proved to be an organised outfit, batting sensibly and attacking the poor ball. They built up a formidable score which Ferndown always had trouble trying to reach. St Kats bowled tightly and fielded well to win a thoroughly sporting and enjoyable match.

TJH

10/11/16

Dorset Schools Cricket Association AGM 2016

SECONDARY CRICKET Report

Summer Term competitions are about outdoor cricket, weather permitting. DSCA continues to offer a magnificent range of competitions, all bar one of which are backed up by a Plate or Vase, and two festivals. The girls are catered for at Under 13 with a softball festival at Dorchester CC and the U15s have a hard ball festival at Canford, which was again to be generously sponsored by Ward Goodman. However, wet weather forced the Ward Goodman Girls’ Festival to be cancelled after three efforts to re-organise it. The Girls’ Under 13 Softball Festival also had to be re-organised but proved to be a great success at Dorchester Rec, although fewer schools could attend. Ferndown Middle, over seen by the redoubtable Simon Higgins, who had eventually managed to persuade Senior Management to relent with hours to go, were well rewarded by a fabulous unbeaten day.

After abandonment due to a storm, the boys’ Under 15 Vase Final eventually was played in the Sir David English Sports Centre in October, when Highcliffe defeated Bournemouth School for Boys. BSB originally had intervened as the rain pelted down because it seemed unfair that a decision was to ruin Highcliffe’s chances of emulating their run rate in 5 overs after they had scored 173. Their sporting gesture backfired rather cruelly.