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DERBYSHIRE CRICKET BOARD Derbyshire Age Groups – Boys Under 12s |
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DERBYSHIRE CRICKET BOARD Derbyshire Age Groups – Boys Under 12s |
            
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Derbyshire U12 Boys Squad 2011
DCB U1
Manager – John Sookias 07889 040580 Coach – Jon Dyson 07971 613182
Tuesday 6th September 2011 U12s sign off in style at Yorkshire The unique weather climate that surrounds Selby CC is apparently the result of having so many power stations in the area. Such local knowledge helped to ensure that our fixture against Yorkshire thankfully went ahead in spite of inclement weather in the surrounding area and provided a fitting backdrop for the finale of an excellent season for the Derbyshire U12s. Losing the toss – probably the area of his cricket that needs most work – Cameron Ball explained apologetically to his team-mates that we would bat, all this under leaden skies on a wicket that looked well prepared but with enough to interest the bowlers. And batting was difficult though not impossible as Nathan Snookes (43) and Matthew Arnold (12) showed putting on 44 for the first wicket. Matthew looked confident opening the innings as he has done all season but managed o lose his wicket again once spin was introduced. Richard Brown (15) then put on 41 with Nathan who continued to demonstrate why he had been elevated from the U11s for this fixture. Unable to score at his usual rate Snookesy grafted for his total also showing some purposeful running between wickets. When both he and Browny fell in relatively quick succession, we had a base but needed some quick runs. By then it had become clear that the low bounce and large boundaries would not be conducive to a high total. After positive cameos for ‘team runs’ from Edward Barlow (19) and Dominic Phillips (10) at a run a ball, the busy James Sookias (17*) and the blasting Matthew Sonczak (17*) saw us to a respectable total of 162 for 5 off our 40 overs. Sage onlookers suggested that this was slightly above par under the conditions. Sam Conners set out to prove this point. His opening spell of 5-2-4-2 was simply outstanding as he ripped into the Yorkshire top order. The two wickets included a good catch low to his right by James Sookias and a magic ball that hit the top of a non-plussed batter’s off stump. George Dyson then continued the good work with a fine spell nicking a third wicket and we were on top. The Yorkies then showed some fight with Scott (31) looking well set and guiding them to 72-3 at the half way stage, leaving them probably ahead on points. However stepping into Archie Gleadall’s shoes today as Brownie’s spin twin, Matthew Sonczak made the critical breakthrough with a diving caught and bowled, just reward for a solid eight overs and then Matthew Arnold held on brilliantly at square leg to a full blooded sweep off Richard Brown. Up in Yorkshire they apparently do still say that catches win matches. Another catch off Brown this time in the dependable hands of Billy Fieldhouse and we were back on top with the score now at 86-6. However another worrying partnership started to emerge with Hampson and Swift putting on 30 in even time. Up stepped Browny again to take his third wicket defeating the dangerous Swift in the flight to give Sooks his 12th stumping of the county season. Match winning bowling figures of 8-3-18-3 for our ever smiling leggie. When Matthew Arnold took another stunning diving catch at point off Cameron Ball, it was really time to ‘start the car’ (quote Arnold senior). There was still time for Edward Barlow to nick a wicket but it was now all over and time for this Derbyshire team to celebrate coach Dyson’s first win over Yorkshire. Another tremendous season boys and a great way to sign off, well done boys. Thanks to all the parents and grandparents for your support, in particular to Stuart and Frank for their professional scoring through. And last but not least to JD for his ever-present coaching and support. John Sookias - U12s Manager Tuesday 6th September 2011 Under 12s power to final but run out of steam at Shrewsbury Festival We thought that 200 on a 5th day wicket would be enough to win the Shrewsbury Festival against Northamptonshire in the Final. There were probably two reasons that it wasn’t; firstly an outstanding innings by Talsania reaching his maiden century and secondly fatigue. The latter however was not a unique problem for us but we just seemed more tired ... more on this later. Day one saw a tricky opening fixture for us against Cheshire, however Sam Conners struck the first blow in his opening spell (something he did in 3 out of the 4 fixtures this week) removing the dangerous Young. Cheshire reached the first break at 46-1 looking reasonably comfortable. Then Archie Gleadall bowled the other opener and continued to take wickets reducing them to 84-5 ending with impressive figures of 9-0-15-4. Thereafter Cheshire ground out the runs keeping wickets intact and posting a reasonable total of 175 for 7 off their 45 overs on what was the worst track at the festival. However the ‘worst’ pitch at Shrewsbury School is still a pretty good surface! and at 89-1 off 20 we were cruising to victory with William Halford (22), Richard Brown (31) and Archie Gleadall (28) all getting starts. In fact wickets fell regularly through our innings as batters panicked a little in the chase and it was left to Chris ‘box office’ Sanders (20) to come in and blast his previous county colleagues away. 1 game 1 win and we were up and running...or swimming as it turned out to be later that evening! The boys went to bed reasonably on time and had to be woken up the next morning. This was early warning for the management that U12s festival experience would be a different one from the U11s! The next match against Herefordshire was special for two boys in particular. Promoted to open the innings for the first time this season James Sookias grabbed his chance with both hands with an extraordinary innings of 136 of 105 balls. He took advantage by hitting almost every bad ball bowled to him to the boundary, particularly savage on the cut and pull, to reach his maiden century. He was out to a stunning one handed catch in 40th over and we declared soon after on our highest ever score of 244. After the rest of our top order had misfired Dominic Phillips (15), Eddie Barlow (28) and Cameron Ball (11) were the boys who provided the crucial support in partnerships of 63, 45 and 71 respectively. At 80-1 in reply and with Hobbs one of the batsmen of the tournament at the crease, Herefordshire briefly looked as though they would challenge such a lofty total. However with some help from his spin twin Archie Gleadall (7-1-13-2), it became Brown-dog Day as Richard weaved his magic with an outstanding spell of 8-6-3-5 completing his first five-wicket haul for the county. First went the dangerous Hobbs stumped, then great support on a baking hot day by the fielders who kept their concentration to snaffle all the chances offered to them. A special mention to Billy Fieldhouse who added two run outs to his excellent catches from the previous day. In the end a thumping win by 122 runs. Balls of Fury was not a description of Browny’s bowling but the spoof table tennis movie that we enjoyed on the Film Night. Another good night’s rest with the boys having to be woken up...a remarkable change from twelve months ago! On to Lincolnshire U13 Bs who had shared our ping pong experience the night before and another quality player in Matt Travis (65) who ultimately scooped the award for the Batsman of the Festival. At 71-1 again things were again in the balance but George Dyson finally got his man making his first county wicket a very important one also thanks to an outstanding catch. This was by Chris Sanders who added a second later in the innings just as good and then crowned his brilliant fielding performance with a direct hit run out from third man. All of this contributed to Chris winning the Fielder of the Festival award. In the end the total of 189-8 on a ‘road’ of a wicket was unlikely to be enough and so it proved. Three partnerships of 48, 46 and 96* saw us home with 12 overs remaining! Top scorer was Dominic Phillips (52*) who played an innings of two halves, initially very circumspect with half of his total coming off 54 balls and then sensing his chance for a second county half-century he brought his innings to a crescendo by smashing 26 off 9 balls! William Halford (28), Matthew Arnold (30) and Richard Brown (32*) provided solid support as only four batsmen were needed in our innings. Another crushing victory and we were in the final. An foray onto the tennis courts was the entertainment for the evening, which according to JD also went to confirm why most of them should concentrate on their cricket! However Wednesday also saw the unfortunate withdrawal from the Festival of James Sookias who fell ill after his heroics the previous day. In fact he started a trend as over the remaining days another 20 boys from other teams were affected by a combination of heat exhaustion and a virus. That evening the boys also started to get more excited, whether it was the cricket, the heat, the tiredness or all three ... the pre-teenage cup was starting to get a little full and ready to flow over. Thursday was 20/20 day. It is fair to say that the boys were looking forward to this more than the coaches and the early morning rain did not dampen spirits. We had made two decisions for this day (1) there would be no coaching during the match and the players could manage team talks, tactics and events on the field themselves (2) we would use the T20 as an opportunity to allow people who had not batted much this season to bat and vice versa with the ball. We ended up beating Northants and losing to Shropshire. The performance highlights saw Chris Sanders hitting a typically belligerent 50 in the first game and Matthew Sonczak taking 4-0-15-4 in the second. From a cricketing perspective we did not really learn anything that we did not know, possibly with the exception of Matthew Madeley who showed us that he really has been the best no. 11 in the country scoring 49 runs for once out in his two innings with some quality stroke play. However we did learn more about the boys and how they approach the game. It is natural at this age for players to get frustrated if they do not bat high up the order and bowl their full allocation of overs (as they do at club or school level) in every game, but at county level whilst some are chosen as genuine all-rounders, many are primarily selected either for their batting or their bowling. This will become the norm as they move through the age groups and something that they must learn to cope with. This does not mean that they should not continue to work on the weaker aspect of their game nor does it mean that they will never get an opportunity to show that skill, but it does mean that when they are selected to play at county level their primary role will be based on the skill that they have been selected for. It is a harsh lesson for the boys to learn as they transition out of the U10-U12 range where many are all-rounders into U13-U15 county age groups next year where few occupy this status. The other harsh lesson is to do with preparation and performance. Sitting on a cold winter’s evening at the Gateway centre listening to coaches go on about Preparation for Cricket is not the average 12-year olds ideal evening. The boys are at an age where they are starting to make their own decisions as to what they want to listen to and not. However between the Wednesday evening and the Friday morning not all the boys prepared themselves well. Partially this was down to the independence allowed of the boys by the coaches and thus our responsibility. However one of our goals through our season has been that of developing ‘independent thinking cricketers’. To fit this bill they are expected to prepare for cricket in the right way, which we understand is tough to do at an age where so much physical change is occurring. Thursday evening was challenging and in hindsight an activity rather than rest would have been better. For the first three days we were our usual professional outfit, for the last two we faltered as tiredness and testosterone took over in a manner that did at times trigger some behaviour that challenged the ‘team’ spirit that had existed all season Fortunately these occasions were limited and at our pre-match talk on Friday morning the focus was returned to cricket and to the final ahead of us. At the halfway stage of the match we were very positive. We had reached 199-7 off our 45 overs thanks to the doggedness of Matthew Arnold (20) and Richard Brown (37) on a wicket that was starting to show signs of uneven bounce. Matthew Sonzak (30) had also delivered a typically powerful cameo, before Cameron Ball (25) and Chris Sanders (17) provided the finishing touches in their contrasting styles of scamper and smash. The wicket of their captain in Sam Conners first over then put us straight onto the front foot. This was when things started to unravel. As has been the case all tournament the seamers have leaked wides (we averaged 40 per match) albeit under guidelines that were very tight – however it was the same for all teams and we did not respond as well as others. This contributed strongly to Northants reaching first drinks at a healthy run rate of 5 an over with just the one wicket lost. Archie Gleadall and Richard Brown then struck in the next session and at 86-3 the game was finely balanced. We felt at the start of the Northants innings that it would need someone to score a hundred to chase our total down and so it came to pass. From this point onwards Talsania took over the match, showing great technique and timing he took the game away from us and supported by Warn put on a match-winning partnership of 111. Eventually it needed a run out to separate them and frankly this looked the only way we were going to break the stand. We did have three good opportunities earlier on to run them out but it would be churlish to focus on these. Talsania deservedly reached his century and the game was lost. We left the field devastated but heads held high. It was a Festival with outstanding individual and team performances from us. We played hard and fair, drawing many admiring nods and glances from cricketing on-lookers. It would be wrong to be over-critical of this group of players as we have won 9 and only lost 2 thus far this season; and it remains high-performance squad for sure. Well done boys you played some great cricket this week. We have two tough matches left this season against Leicestershire and Yorkshire. These present the last opportunities for the boys to show their positive attitude and put in some great performances of the season. Having seen this set of lads develop over the last three years – I am confident that the best is yet to come. John Sookias - U12s Manager Tuesday 26th July 2011 They think it's all over .... (24/7/11) In a game described by Mark Barlow as
one that you would pay to watch the Derbyshire U12s showed their box office
attraction again, beating a game Staffordshire side by 2 wickets in a
thrilling and tense encounter at the picturesque surroundings of Elvaston
CC. In a see-saw game that could have gone either way, Derbyshire scraped
home with two overs remaining in the end but it was actually much closer
than that! John Sookias - U12's Manager Tuesday 26th July 2011 U12s notch up another win against Shropshire (22/7/11) Today saw another professional
performance by the Derbyshire u12s who had to beat both a game Shropshire
side and the inclement weather. Playing junior county matches on rainy
Fridays always keeps the local groundsmen on high alert as they fret about
their pitches for crucial Saturday fixtures. However we managed in the end
to dodge the showers and to play a full match. And it was a good competitive
cricket assisted by the wicket which played well in spite of recent
conditions. John Sookias - U12's Manager Where there’s a will there’s a way A
professional all-round performance saw Derbyshire U12s complete a convincing
victory over their Cheshire neighbours in the pleasant surroundings of
Alsager CC. The win was all the more rewarding thanks to an intelligent
display in the field, during which skipper Cameron Ball worked in concert
with his bowlers and fielders to put a cricketing straightjacket on the
better Cheshire batters. Manoevering the field in and out according to the
batsman on strike and the stage of the over, Derbyshire created some good
old-fashioned pressure, which ultimately meant that the opposition were
always behind the run rate and never threatened our total. John Sookias - U12's Manager Tuesday 21st June 2011 U12s show their mettle against Steelbacks A draw is a draw but few people watching today could have argued against Derbyshire being the dominant team. Having shown some determination in reaching 166 for 8 off 40 overs on a difficult wicket, we fell 2 wickets short of bowling out a raw Northamptonshire team whose 30 runs off the last 15 overs gave away at an early stage their intentions in the game.
Our ‘green and pleasant
land’ was well exemplified by the wicket today. Conditions yesterday had
obviously not helped the groundsman and an emergency cut and roll before the
game did seem to improve the wicket a little. Losing the toss and being put
in Will Halford (13) and Matthew Sonczak (30) started
To summarise the second half of the game our fielding was exceptional today and our bowling accurate. Our leaders in the field have set the bar extremely high this season. Jonty Ball with another amazing one handed catch this time off his own bowling teamed up for a brilliant run out with his partner in crime Sookie, who also produced another outstanding leg side stumping off paceman Sam Conners to cap off another strong performance behind the stumps. George Dyson produced his best opening spell of the season without just reward, whilst Chris Sanders 7-2-12-2 and Sam Conners 5-1-14-2 bowled fast and full to earn their scalps. You can also always rely on Sonny to break up a partnership providing another stumping and with the skipper also chipping in with a wicket, we always looked as though we had a sniff of victory. One partnership of 42 aside, we kept chipping way. However with the exception of the opener Cox who batted very well for 47, the other Steelbacks didn’t really show any intent to chase the game and blocked their way to a draw. The rare sight of 3 slips, 2 gullies, a short cover and mid wicket did make us smile though! All in all a good team performance today with most players chipping in either with bat, ball or in the field. Playing like this I am sure we will be at the races against Chester at the end of the month. John Sookias - DCB U12 Manager Friday 10th June 2011 Derbyshire U12s claw to victory against fighting bears
When matches go down to the last ball the
feeling in the dressing room afterwards is often one more of relief than
elation. A plucky
John Sookias - DCB U12 Manager To order match photos click here
Monday 23rd May 2011
Two amazing catches from Cameron Ball (again) and three outstanding
stumpings from James Sookias were the catalyst for Derbyshire U12s win
against Nottinghamshire today in the East Midlands sunshine. In the end the
5 wicket victory seemed comfortable enough, although the Notts boys to the
credit kept battling until the last run was scored.
John Sookias - DCB U12 Manager Wednesday 4th May 2011 Some Missing LincsOver the past couple of seasons this squad has fought back from many difficult positions, however today was one step too far. In spite of a tenacious effort in the field in the last quarter of the match, the simple truth of the matter is that we did not score enough runs on a decent pitch. Our innings was held together by Archie Gleadall (61). However for the second match running our top order paid too much respect to a game bowling attack lacking venom. This again put pressure on our middle and lower order to score at a very high rate to post a reasonable total. Against Foremarke when chasing 7.5 and over we succeeded, this time when setting the total we collapsed in spectacular fashion losing 7 wickets in 5 overs and not batting out our overs. Much shaking of heads in the East England sunshine. The bowling was also not entirely of the standard we have come to expect from this group, however notable performances with the ball came from Chris Sanders and Cameron Ball, supported by some aggressive ground fielding that almost caused our hosts to collapse in similar fashion. In the event they reached our total with a comfortable 10 balls to spare. This season presents an opportunity for the players in this talented squad to develop their game learning how to adjust to the match situations they face and to do so more independently. During the next couple of matches against Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire more of these opportunities will arise and I am sure that the boys will rise to these challenges with the positive attitude that is needed. Remember lads talent alone is not enough! Work hard over the next couple of weeks on your game. John Sookias - DCB U12 Manager Thursday 21st April 2011 U12's take on Foremark Hall 1st XI
Derbyshire U12s season got off to a positive start with a 5
wicket win against Foremarke Hall 1st XI. The win was due
primarily to a composed middle order batting display that saw us chase down
70 runs in the last 10 overs against a Foremarke side who competed bravely
throughout the match. Whilst understandably lacking the depth of a county
squad Foremarke batted sensibly, bowled accurately and fielded with great
enthusiasm, which bodes well for their forthcoming season.
For Derbyshire, the wicket in the first over of fellow county
player Elliott Hibell proved to be a false dawn as David Glanville (65) and
James Sookias (35) playing against his county squad team-mates batted the
next 24 overs putting on 101 for the second wicket. This was the foundation
of Foremarke’s total of 142 and whilst Derbyshire’s fielding showed early
season promise, the bowling was generally loose with too many full or short
balls being dispatched over the glorious verdant hedge that ran across a
short boundary. Our innings did not start much better with only 27 runs on the board after 10 overs and both openers back in the pavilion. But as we know this group of boys has some character. The fightback was led by Archie Gleadall (43) batting through 25 overs in partnerships with the assertive Matthew Sonczak (33 off 28 balls) and intelligent Dominic Phillips (25* off 33) to see us home in the last over. All in all this proved to be a good first fixture on a beautiful sunny day in a stunning location. Thank you to the school for hosting us and to Gareth Marshall for standing in as coach for the day. The boys gave themselves 6.5 out of 10. There is more to come from this team and we eagerly anticipate the next match. John Sookias - DCB U12 Manager
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positively putting on
38 for the first wicket off 10 overs. After Will was LBW, Sonny continued to
look in good form and played his part in an aggressive partnership of 35 for
the 3rd wicket before getting himself out trying to decide which
one of Burton Latimer CC’s leaning trees (think leaning tower of Pisa) he
could hit the ball over. Archie Gleadall (pictured left) shored up the innings with his
third county fifty of the season although he will be the first to admit that
the Steelbacks poor catching did help him along. Suddenly at 117 for 7 with
11 overs left we could have blamed the wicket but in truth most batsmen had
got themselves out. On this occasion skipper Ball (23*) came to the party
with the bat accompanied by Chris Sanders (25) who went through the gears
nicely, including one huge six over mid on. A 40 run eight wicket
partnership seeing us almost through to the end of our 40 overs. If you had
given us 166 at the start of the day we would have probably taken it, so we
went into tea in good humour.
Warwickshire
needing 73 to win off the last 10 overs fell 3 runs short thanks to an
equally precocious bowling effort from a Derbyshire team that worked as a
single unit in the field. Whilst the odd error crept in towards the end when
the pressure was at it's highest, our fielding was generally excellent and
this aligned to conceding on 7 extras probably made the difference in the
end but perhaps it was also character. When Chris Sanders completed the
death over, we knew that the boys had managed to hold their nerve whilst the
spectators had lost theirs.
fluent
best hitting his 74 off only 64 balls. In particular the way they batted the
spinners out of the game was wonderful to watch... no slogging but sweetly
timed 'proper cricket shots'. To be fair to the Warwickshire bowlers they
never game up and when Davison returned towards the end he bowled fast and
straight managing to take an excellent hat-trick, which ultimately stalled
our progress towards a more significant total. 182 for 5 was probably going
to be enough but Ticknall is well known for its excellent wickets and fast
outfield....
James Sookias
(pictured right) smart
leg side stumping standing up to the pace of Cameron Ball capped off a top
performance behind the stumps.
