Devon Under 13 - 2008 season
Warren Carr and I correctly deduced that this was going to be a challenging season when
we lost the first two friendly matches against Gwent and Millfield. The batting seemed rather thin, and the bowling innocuous, and the boys almost seemed to take the field expecting to perform poorly. Although this was to prove not to be a vintage season, by the end the batting had gained in momentum, the bowling had acquired bite, and the team spirit was positive, so in those ways progress had been made.
The batting, thankfully, improved as the season advanced, with captain Mikey Cousens as the mainstay, with an average fractionally under 40. His best performance (77 n.o) against Hampshire at the picturesque Sparsholt ground was full of good shots and held the innings together. He reached 50 twice more, but needs to learn to say “NO” very clearly to reduce run outs. The season’s highest score was a splendid 96 from Rhys Davies against Essex at the Festival. He smote the ball over the long-on hedge five times, but fell tantalisingly close to a maiden county hundred. Otherwise, the batting was steady rather than solid, although we did pass the 200 mark three times. Lawrence May showed promise, and Callum Cload recovered from an early run drought to look effective by the end of the season. We struggled, to be honest, to find a partner for Callum to open the innings.
The bowling was likewise a bit enigmatic. We failed ,early in the season, to put pressure on to the opposition by not bowling accurately enough. Not just wides, but full tosses, short balls and over-pitched balls as well. This was especially noticeable against Dorset, who topped 250 in 40 overs. (We very nearly got them!) The pressure created by maiden overs was therefore not exercised. We did improve as the season went on, Jack Popham and Josh Mailling formed quite an effective seam pair as the season progressed, and Ben Stein was probably the pick of the spinners, although Sam Loud and Mikey Cousens made good contributions. Paul Heard also had the knack of taking wickets at crucial moments, and Freddie Jayarajah came good towards the end of the season.
The team fielded well on the whole, and took some good catches. A tendency for concentration drift was eradicated by the end of the season. The boys were keen to perform well, and by the end of the season had three good wins –against Cornwall, Somerset and Cambridgeshire, and several matches where we got close. (eg Staffordshire and Dorset.) Only at the Festival did the weather play a part this year, and certainly cost us a promising position against Kent. Mikey Cousens captained very well, with Dylan Penberthy as an able lieutenant.
This was a very nice group of boys to work with, and my thanks go also to the parents, who were very punctual in ferrying their sons to matches, and providing splendid teas, as well as being supportive in cricket terms. My thanks also go to Blundells, Stockland, Whimple, Feniton and Exeter University for providing venues. My final thanks go to the Carr family coaching unit, who kept the boys’ spirits up, and gave much practical advice and, through the miracle of technology, much match data!
GHC
Batting Averages
Inns NO Runs HS Ave
Cousens 11 2 358 77no 39.8
Davies 10 1 274 96 30.4
May 11 0 198 46 18.0
Cload 11 2 137 33 15.2
Stein 10 3 78 23 11.1
Mailling 12 0 129 29 10.8
Popham 4 1 31 15 10.3
Dart 10 0 96 21 9.6
Loud 7 1 44 15 7.0
Penberthy 8 1 43 13 6.1
Heard 5 3 12 7 6.0
Rickard 7 0 39 15 5.6
Also batted
Hoult 3 1 16 13
Jayarajah 2 0 5 4
Bowling Averages
O M R W Ave
Heard 64.1 7 239 13 18.4
Mailling 77 11 295 16 18.4
Popham 67.2 13 270 14 19.2
Jayarajah 42.4 6 126 6 21.0
Cousens 22.5 0 156 6 26.0
Stein 79 9 277 10 27.7
Loud 53 6 224 7 32.0
Penberthy 54 0 271 6 45.0
May 10 0 56 1 56.0
Also bowled
Dart 2.2 0 22 0