Thursday 13th August 2009

Bucks hit by Derbyshire Raza-matazz

A swashbuckling innings by Raza Ahmed (24) supported by fellow musketeer Cameron Ball (29) delivered a convincing Derbyshire victory on a sunny afternoon at Elvaston. Timing the ball sweetly, Raza took the game to Bucks after our innings had started slowly but solidly. Cameron Ball then injected further life into proceedings with an electrifying display of running between the wickets, which both put our opponents on the back foot and ran his batting partners ragged.  James Thompson (15*) and Nathan Snookes (10) then took on the mantle to (sort of) calmly take us past the Bucks total. 

All this after we had arrived at the ground expecting there to be little prospect of play after a morning of now typical August rain.  However Elvaston CC had done a fabulous job in keeping the wicket dry and looked after us wonderfully well both on and off the pitch – thank you to all.  

A Jonty Rhodes like diving catch by Ball and a Sam Conners’ inswinging Yorker started the game well for us again. Jack Hurst bowled with good control and also got a deserved wicket. However it was another Callan Harvey over, taking 3 wickets off 4 balls with accurate full off a length bowling, that put us firmly in control of the game.  However the Bucks 7^th wicket pair batted very well and managed to complete the innings without further loss putting on a very good 50 partnership. If truth be told we lost a little energy and focus in the last 10 overs,  leaking too many extras and quick singles. The net result was a total of 86 off their 35 overs.

Wednesday 22nd July 2009

U10s claw to a draw against Grizzly Bears

In a scene reminiscent of the test match at Cardiff, a spinner and a swing bowler Jack Hurst (aka Monty Panesar) and Raza Ahmed (aka James Anderson) hung on grimly at the end to save the game and ensure that we lived to fight another day. Having watched them closely all season Gareth Marshall our coach claims that the boys play some very “entertaining” cricket and I’m sure spectators this season would have to agree! There’s always something going on with the Derbyshire U10s. 

Again we started well, with an excellent direct hit from William Halford followed by Raza Ahmed claiming his first wicket for Derbyshire, with the safe hands of Ben Chapman-Lilley (quote “I thought I was going to drop it John”). A steady partnership got the Warwickshire score to 60 before James Sookias took a good catch standing up to Cameron Ball. However this brought Prosser to the crease who played powerfully scoring 47 off only 33 balls, with some excellent clean hitting. Some missed catches (albeit difficult ... but this is county standard boys!) and run out chances could have made a difference but by the time that Callan Harvey had finally got his man, the Bears had posted a challenging score of 142 for 5 off their 35 overs.

We started well, with Richard Brown (19) and Ben Chapman-Lilley (12) putting on 39 runs for the first wicket. However not for the first time this season, once the first wicket fell three more followed in quick succession. Matthew Sonczak (11) and James Sookias (17) put on 30 for the fifth wicket but once these two had departed it was a case of trying to save the game – a new and different learning experience for the boys! 

The U10s summer roadshow moves on now to its final stop at Elvaston on 12 August – more excitement awaits us I’m sure.

John Sookias - U10 Manager

Monday 20th July 2009

Derbyshire u10s have a bowl at Bucks

Thunder, lightning and crown green bowls provided an exciting backdrop for the U10s visit to Milton Keynes. The game was abandoned after we had restricted Buckinghamshire to 85 for 5 off their 40 overs and we had stumbled to 18 for 2 in reply. As we sheltered in the Wolverton Bowls Club ... it’s a long story involving a committee knees up at the cricket club … we reflected on a positive all round bowling display.

The day had started well with Sam Conners and Charlie Livesey reducing Bucks to 12 for 3 after only three overs. Charlie made the first breakthrough with a catch behind for Nathan Snookes moving smartly down the leg side, followed two balls later by Matthew Arnold plucking one out of the sky at square leg. Sam then produced an outstanding in-swinging yorker and we were very much on top. But the Bucks opener King carried his bat resolutely through 40 overs, ending 26 not out and received stoic support from first Casterton and then Parry. During this time Richard Brown bowled 8 searching overs of leg spin and managed to get a wicket with his only bad ball, thanks to a good catch by Matthew Madeley – such is life! Matthew again and Callan Harvey then tied up one end (their combined 8 overs costing only 12 runs) whilst James Thompson picked up his first wicket for Derbyshire taking a catch off his own bowling. Even though we restricted the runs, the bowlers were unlucky not to come away with more wickets as the batsmen played and missed at countless deliveries. A couple of missed “half” run out opportunities at the end when the boys were feeling the effects of their first 40-over effort but generally a very good bowling and fielding display.

The batting however started less well. The openers were both back in the pavilion – or Bowling Green – in the sixth over. However Matthew Arnold and Cameron Ball settled the nerves before the lightning arrived. 

Next up the Bears again on Monday! We’ll need to be in a grizzly mood...

Monday 13th July 2009

U10s bounce back with bat and ball

Derbyshire U10s put behind them their final over disappointment from last week to record a convincing 5 wicket victory over Shropshire. Sam Conners caused sleepless nights to many of the opposition batsman on a wicket with “tennis ball like bounce” (quote from coach Gareth Marshall), this included their opening bat having to leave the pitch retired hurt, although he bravely returned towards the end of the innings... unfortunately only to have to face Sam again! 

However a strong all round display was inspired by skipper Cameron Ball who led the side by example in the field with two excellent run outs and mastered the demons of the pitch with a fluent 24, including some exquisitely timed strokes. His key partnership was 43 runs for the fourth wicket with Matthew Sonczak, who batted positively for the second game running. After the opening stand of 18 between Richard Brown and William Halford, the Ball/Sonzak stand was (nearly) enough to race us past the Salop total with 18 overs of our allocation still remaining – so much for the “take your time boys” team talk!

      A Shropshire wicket for Sam

This all followed a positive all-round bowling and fielding display. James Sookias was again positive behind the stumps, getting some reward with a smart stumping and run out. Overall the ground fielding and throwing was excellent, which helped to keep the pressure on. The bowling highlights also included an excellent opening spell from Charlie Livesey and good control from our spin trio of Richard Brown, Matthew Sonczak and Jack Hurst, who kept the Shropshire batsmen in check. A solid start to his Derbyshire career also for Raza Ahmed and a first Derbyshire wicket for Ben Wright. 

Although Shropshire sensibly batted out their 35 overs, a score of 69 looked a few short and so it proved. A thoroughly professional performance – well done boys.

John Sookias - U10's Manager                                                          

                                                                                                            Sooks makes a mess of the stumps

Wednesday 8th July 2009

U10s lose to Northants in last over thriller

A nail-biting finish and a Derbyshire fight-back of character inspired by a lion-hearted Sam Conners, was in the end not quite enough to prevent Northamptonshire from a hard-fought victory. After 25 overs of their reply the Northants openers were still in, having put on a professional batting display albeit assisted by some uncharacteristic dropped catches from their Derbyshire counterparts. The spin twins Brown and Sonczak had bowled well with turn and control but crucially without luck. With Northants needing only 50 to win off 16 overs with 10 wickets remaining – things were looking a bit grim! Up stepped Eddie Barlow to take his first wicket for the county, Matthew Sonczak then finally got his reward – thanks to a super diving catch by James Thompson and then followed a brilliant run out by Matthew Arnold who had been outstanding in the field all day. With just 22 needed off the last 7 overs, Sam Conners then stormed in for a last effort and took three wickets in a magic over of hostile accuracy. On another day this would have been enough to secure victory, but with four wickets still remaining the Northants batsmen were able to chance their hand and in the end got home with one ball to spare. Both teams walked off to great applause from a large crowd.

Earlier in the day Derbyshire had batted well to post 112 for 6, using the full allocation of 35 overs. The highlights included a strong opening partnership of 45 from Ben Chapman-Lilley (10) and Richard Brown (26), with Browny looking exceptionally fluent before being “surprised” by a high full toss. A mini-collapse then saw a middle-order recovery, led by skipper James Sookias (20) who spent an hour at the crease accompanied first by Matthew Arnold (excellent running between the wickets boys) and then by Matthew Sonczak (20) who played some powerful attacking strokes. 

In the end credit must got to Northamptonshire for a solid all-round display. The Derbyshire U10s again showed great potential and character, but came up short largely because we could not replicate the bowling and fielding display from the last match. Our challenge next week is to bring together the best bits from each of the first two games ... looking forward to it already!

John Sookias - U10 Manager

Thursday 18th June 2009

Derbyshire U10s win against Warwickshire U10s at Bedworth CC

Once upon a time, three Bears all got out in one over… the story begins...

Our season began at Bedworth CC, on a sunny day but slightly damp wicket. The latter made life difficult for the batsmen on both teams. To compound matters we lost the toss and were asked to bat. However Richard Brown (21) and Ben Chapman-Lilly (10) got us off to a solid opening partnership but then followed a collapse which saw us at 35/5 with only 15 overs gone, which wasn’t the start we were looking for! Although all the Warwickshire bowlers performed well, their leg spinner Hussain Khalil bowled with excellent control always causing problems for our batsmen. Then James Sookias (14) followed by the lower order, all showing patient determination, managed to move the score onto 80, falling three short of batting out the 35 overs, a good rearguard action. We knew from previous years totals that we at least now had something to bowl at. And what a bowling and fielding performance followed! 

The opposition coaches were very gracious afterwards and mentioned that we “never let the pressure off” in the field. Captain Cameron Ball led his team superbly being both outstanding as a fielder (one fence still has a Ball shaped dent in it where he slid into it in saving a four) and making intelligent decisions with his bowlers and field placings. Sam Conners led the seamers, with great support from Charlie Livesey, Callan Harvey and Matthew Madeley who together took 6 of the wickets to fall, three of which fell in one over from Callan Harvey that included a stumping, a clean bowled, a run out plus a raucous appeal for a catch behind! 

From that over we became favourites to win the game. Richard Brown and Matthew Sonczak then took advantage of a turning track to make further inroads into the Warwickshire line up. The bowlers were aided by some outstanding catches by Nathan Snookes and Richard Brown, assertive wicket keeping and attacking fielding by the whole side. The result was that we bowled Warwickshire out for 45, winning the game by 35 runs. The fact that the last Warwickshire batsman was run out was an appropriate finish to the game where Derbyshire put on a fielding performance of passion, energy and skill. The challenge is now to repeat that during our next game! 

John Sookias (U10s County Manager)

19th April 2009

DCB U10 Squad Photo 2009