Written by Stuart Cardy – AVCC U13 Manager

On a very hot day, AVCC U13’s arrived at Bicester & North Oxford CC to find they had been drawn against Thame in the semi final of the Ron Maudsley Trophy. Thame started favourites having already beaten Vale in a league match earlier in the season.

Vale lost the toss and were put in to bat; Thomas Harris and Dan Torrance went into the game in a rich view of form. The bowling was very good from Thame with there openers bowling a good line and length. Progress was steady for Vale, Harris scoring well, with 11 coming off of the 5^th over. Vale had reached 38 when they lost their first wicket, Torrance being harshly adjudged to have failed to make the 22yards in time. The 2^nd wicket fell in the 18^th over just a few balls after Harris had retired on 33. A great innings showing more skill and maturity as the season progresses. The score on 80 for 2 was a little short of where Vale would have liked to have been, so tried to push on to 100. James Peirce out for a duck followed by Adam Scholey. Scholey though had managed to plunder 20 valuable runs for the cause. Jason Cardy was out caught off the last ball for 2 with Matt Butcher finishing on 8 not out. Vale finished with 93 for 4 off the 20 overs. Many believed this was around 20 short of the required score needed for victory.

Thame were confident before and now had a real belief that this was a very achievable target. A smart start with 13 off the first 3 overs. Harry Wilkinson conceded 5 off the first 4 balls of the 4^th over then took his 1^st wicket, bowling out Alexander. This was followed next ball, bowling out his mate from rugby, for a golden duck! Vale on top, 18-2 off 4.

Thame then took their time trying to rebuild their innings. Tom Gardner was the first change bowler; he bowled a maiden with his 1^st over then took the wicket of opener Adams for 18 in his 2^nd over. After 15 overs Thame had progressed to 65-3. So 29 needed off 5 overs. Torrance was given a 2^nd over and conceded 6 and took the valuable wicket of Patey for 21 (another good player dismissed). Cardy as Captain had some tough decisions to make. He bought on Luke Casey, he had 4 good deliveries then 2 balls, leg side were both dispatched for 4. 80 – 4 from 17 overs……..14 from 3 overs required. Cardy then bought himself on and bowled a wicket maiden, big cheers from the Vale supporters. Harris came on to bowl over 19, a skied shot from Thame batsman Parker was sensationally dropped by Tom Guntrip. Good plan though as Parker had now reached 30 and had to retire.

New batsman and added pressure, final over Wilkinson returns, 9 required. 5 off the 1^st 4 balls left Thame only needing 4 for victory. Wilkinson then takes his 3^rd wicket with a clean bowled. Vale then only conceded 2 off the final ball with all fielders on the boundary. Huge cheers all round and great relief as Vale win by 1 run and progressed to the final to face North Cotswolds.

North Cotswolds are a district side from East Gloucestershire and are full of excellent players; they had earlier defeated Aston Rowant by 10 wickets in the Semi Final. Tough times ahead for the Vale.

Some lunch taken and some wise words and clichés from coaches Stu and Chris. It was time to face the challenge. Another toss lost and Vale batting first again, this time it was a lot harder to score as the bowling was quicker and straighter. Vale lost wickets quickly and found themselves 33-6 from 9 overs. It was now the target to try and bat out the 20 overs. Tom Guntrip and Tom Gardner put on the 9 in the next 4 as Vale limped towards the finish. Garnder top scored with 14 including a six (overthrows). Vale ended their innings 1 ball short of 20 overs all out for 63.

This total was never going to be enough, and so it proved. North Cotswolds raced to victory scoring 64 for 2 from only 6.4 overs. Some success though for Harris and Cardy as they took a wicket each. North Cotswolds proved they are the best in the competition but Vale showed how far they have come this season and deserve all the credit they have been given. Losing the final did not take away the great achievement this was.

The Team:

Jason Cardy – Captain

Harry Wilkinson – Vice Captain

Adam Scholey – Wicket Keeper

Thomas Harris

Matthew Butcher

Dan Torrance

Tom Guntrip

Tom Gardner

Andrew Stoney

James Peirce

Luke Casey

Toby Mazonowicz – 12^th Man

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 7:26 pm and is filed under juniors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.