Match report, Millard Cup quarter-final, Southampton Community U15s vs. Ropley.

Southampton Leisure Centre, Thursday 2 July 2009.

Ropley lost narrowly to a mature-looking Southampton Community side on Thursday, in a tense 22-over match.
Southampton Community captain Ikram Peruzi won the toss and chose to bat. Ropley opening bowlers Tom Stennett and Robert Smith bowled accurately and kept the score down, with only 17 on the board when Peruzi was caught by Ed Stennett off Tom Stennett at the end of the fifth over. Anjan Syed in the meantime was batting well, until bowled by first-change Ed Stennett for 22. Ikram had been replaced by brother Hakim, but the danger man was removed by Ed for 9, caught by John Purchese. Darwish and Hydyat quickly followed, both dismissed for ducks by Ed Stennett, caught by James Forrest and Gabriel Reece. Having taken four of the first five wickets, Ed finished his four overs on 4 for 16, and Southampton Community were in trouble at 51 for 5. Taj Mohamed and Mahmoud Syed now turned things around with a stand of 42, Mohamed finally falling LBW to Tom Stennett for 22. Tailenders were mopped up by James Forrest, young Will Stennett and by a sharp run-out at the bowlers end, but Mahmoud Syed was still in, and had scored 35 not out when the innings closed at 131 from 22 overs. Ropley had done well to keep the score down on a pitch with short boundaries, and wicket-keeper Myles Greenwood kept the byes to a low figure in difficult conditions.

Ropley thought that the target should be achievable, but they had reckoned without the Southampton Community pace attack, including Hampshire quickie Hakim Peruzi. Only Robert Smith played them with ease as he scored 32 off 26 balls, but he was caught on the boundary off Ikbal Peruzi trying to move the score along. Tom Stennett and John Purchese had both fallen LBW in the meantime, to Hakim and Anjan Syed. James Forrest was run out for 12 and Myles Greenwood was bowled by Mahmoud Syed for 11, with the score now 108 for 5 in the 19th over. A close finish was on the cards, with Ed Stennett still at the crease but the Ropley tailenders facing the pace of Anjan and Hakim in the gathering gloom. In the end the task proved too much, and with 11 needed off the last over Ropley scored 6, with Ed Stennett run out 15 and the final score 129 for 9. For Southampton Community Hakim Peruzi had the best figures, with 3 for 12. Anjan Syed took 2 for 17, and the Southampton fielding was very good throughout.

 

Game		Southampton Community U15s
Day		Friday
Date		02 July 2009
Venue		Away
Type		Millard Cup
Format		22 overs
Meet Time		00:00
Start Time		18:00
Result		Lost	No.	How out	R	GD	O	M	R	W
Team	1	R Smith	1	CT	32		5	0	23	0
	2	T Stennett	2	LBW	0		5	0	18	2
	3	J Purchese	3	LBW	7		4	0	30	0
	4	J Forrest	4	RO	12		1	0	8	1
	5	E Stennett	5	RO	15		4	0	16	4
	6	M Greenwood	6	BLD	11
	7	W Stennett	7	BLD	2		3	0	22	1
	8	G Reece	8	BLD	1
	9	G Meager	9	NO	0
	10	T May	10	BLD	0
	11	A Flindt	11	DNB
Scorer
Umpire
		Toss won by		Soton Comm
		Team Batted First		Soton Comm
		Our score		125
		Wkts		9
		Opposition Score		131
		Wkts		9
		Win/lose		Lost

Friday 26th June, Ropley vs Andover B. Match Lost, report by Richard Smith.

An under-strength Ropley side lost a close match with Andover on Friday. Andover won the toss and batted first, with Ropley’s nine men looking rather thin on the ground. Ropley’s openers kept the score down at first, and Tom Stennett had an early breakthrough when he bowled Lee Newman-Judd. Stennett took S. Price’s wicket in his next over, caught by twelve-year-old James Forrest, and finished with two for 4. Andover’s other opener, Dan Pawley, cut loose with 5 successive fours off Robert Smith and soon had to retire on 33. Meanwhile Dan Cartridge had replaced Price and he too scored freely off first-change bowler Will Stennett, who was borrowed from Ropley’s Under 11 team. At the other end, young Forrest bowled his leg-spin with good flight, line and length, and was rewarded with the wicket of Robbie Skeats (11), a spectacular catch diving forward by Under-13 James Airey. Cartridge retired on 30, and Ed Stennett’s arrival brought Ropley up to ten men. Stennett began to bowl, with Under 13 Myles Greenwood (who kept wicket for the first ten overs) at the other end. Substitute keeper Smith kept up Greenwood’s good work, and only two byes were conceded altogether. Greenwood’s left-arm bowling was knocked about by J. Mustafa (11) and S. Edwards, but Mustafa was bowled by Ed Stennett, who then bowled T.Parkinson first ball, leaving himself on a hat-trick at the end of the over. Brother Will Stennett came on at the other end, and bowled Bright and Jansen with the third and fourth balls of his over. We were now in the unusual situation of two brothers on hat-tricks at the same time, with eight balls left. Neither hat-trick was completed, and Andover had 113 for 7 after twenty overs.

Ropley got off to a poor start when Robert Smith ran himself out in the first over, but Tom Stennett joined brother Ed and they stayed together for eleven overs, Tom retiring on 30 in the twelfth. James Forrest was caught off Skeats for 0, and Myles Greenwood came in to keep the scoreboard clicking. Gabriel Reece was run out for 0, and Ed Stennett was finally caught for 10 off Edwards. Greenwood was joined by Will Stennett, and the Under 13 and the Under 11 played out a tense finish, needing 11 to win from the last over. They managed 6, and Andover won by four runs, with Greenwood not out 17, Stennett not out 11.

Game		Andover B
Day		Friday
Date		26 June 2009
Venue		Home
Type		U15 League
Format		20 overs
Meet Time		18:00
Start Time		18:30
Result		Lost	No.	How out	R	GD	O	M	R	W
Team	1	Robert Smith	1	RO	3		4	0	33	0
	2	Ed Stennett	2	CT	10		3	1	9	2
	3	Tom Stennett	3	NO	30		4	1	4	2
	4	James Forrest	4	CT	0		3	0	15	1
	5	Myles Greenwood	5	NO	17		2	0	21	0
	6	Gabriel Reece	6	RO	0
	7	Will Stennett	7	NO	13		4	0	30	2
	8	Guy Meager	8	DNB
	9	Daniel Lentz	9	DNB
	10	James Airey	10	DNB
	11		11
Scorer
Umpire
		Toss won by		Andover
		Team Batted First		Andover
		Our score		109
		Wkts		4
		Opposition Score		113
		Wkts		7
		Win/lose		Lost

Match report, Ropley Under 15s vs Longparish, Millard Cup 1st round, 19 June 2009.

(20 overs, maximum 4 overs per bowler, batters retire at 50 and cannot return).

This was a convincing win, avenging our loss to Longparish earlier in the season, and taking us into the second round of the Millard Cup.

Tom Stennett won the toss and chose to bat. Opener Robert Smith hit three fours off successive balls but was caught in the second over. The Stennett brothers, Tom and Ed, accrued runs steadily until the partnership was broken in the ninth over, with Tom LBW for 8. John Purchese joined Ed, gradually increasing the run rate and taking advantage of some loose bowling from Longparish. This stand lasted until the nineteenth over, putting on 60 runs until Ed Stennett was LBW to Will De Cani for 18, with the score on 106. The final over descended into slapstick, as four wickets fell, three of them runouts. James Forrest was run out without facing a ball, Myles Greenwood was caught for 2, Will Dickson was run out for 0 and finally Purchese ran himself out on the last ball after top-scoring with 27. The innings closed at 112 for 7.

Longparish did not look comfortable against the Ropley opening bowlers, with John Purchese bowling S. Woodward with his first ball, and Robert Smith getting B. Gardner LBW in his third over. Danger men Will De Cani and Brad Aldridge were now together at the wicket, but first-change bowler Myles Greenwood (released from wicket-keeping by Charlie Whitworth) dismissed Aldridge in the seventh over, the first of three good catches by Tom Stennett. Guy Meager held a neat catch off Greenwood to dismiss M. Taplin, and when A. Coetzee fell (caught T. Stennett, bowled E. Stennett), Longparish were struggling at 38 for 5. De Cani soldiered on and made top score for Longparish of 22, but was bowled by Greenwood in the thirteenth over, leaving Ed Stennett and Tom May to mop up the tail. Longparish were all out for 68, with C. Sherwood (10) and De Cani the only batters in double figures. For Ropley, Greenwood took 3 for 14, and Ed Stennett 4 for 17. Our ground-fielding was sharp this week – the team looked really purposeful, and five good catches were held with nothing going to ground. Debutant keeper Whitworth did well, conceding only 6 byes. We still need to work on our running and calling.

We now play Southampton Community in the second round. There has been a delay arranging this match, so we are first playing Andover B, who have offered us a game on Friday – we should have played them in the first fixture of the season.

Game		Longparish
Day		Friday
Date		19 June 2009
Venue		Home
Type		U15 Millard Cup 1st round
Format		20 overs
Meet Time		17:30
Start Time		18:00
Result		Won	No.	How out	R	GD	O	M	R	W
Team	1	R Smith	1	CT	12		3	0	13	1
	2	E Stennett	2	LBW	19		3.5	0	17	4
	3	T Stennett	3	LBW	8
	4	J Purchese	4	RO	27		4	0	13	1
	5	J Forrest	5	RO	0
	6	M Greenwood	6	CT	2		4	0	14	3
	7	W Dickson	7	RO	0
	8	G Reece	8	NO	0
	9	C Whitworth	9	NO	1
	10	G Meager	10	DNB
	11	T May	11	DNB			1	0	3	1
Scorer
Umpire
		Toss won by		Ropley
		Team Batted First		Ropley
		Our score		112
		Wkts		7
		Opposition Score		68
		Wkts		10
		Win/lose		Win

Fri 12th June,  Ropley vs Trojans, report by Richard Smith

(20 overs, max 4 overs per bowler, batters retire at 30, two runs for a wide or no-ball)
Ropley 164 for 6, Trojans 76 all out. Ropley won by 88 runs.

This was a very good win for Ropley, with what we believe is a club record twenty-over score for the Under 15s, and maximum batting and bowling points for the league competition.

Ropley were put in to bat, and the opening pair of Robert Smith and Ed Stennett got off to a cracking start, with 36 on the board after 4 overs. Ed was out for 14 (off 9 balls….) and Robert sped to retirement with 32 off 19 balls – a very good knock, including 6 fours. John Purchese replaced Ed, and Tom Stennett came in for Rob, hit a four and promptly fell LBW. Young James Forrest came to the crease and hit his first ball for four, continuing aggressively with three more 4s and a well-struck six behind square to retire on 30 from 30 balls. John meanwhile had scored 12 before being caught, with the score on 100 after 11 overs. Gabriel Reece looked a bit uncertain and was bowled for a duck, but Will Dickson settled in. At the other end Nick Miles was LBW for nought, followed next ball by Tom May (bowled), leaving Anthony Flindt to survive a hat-trick attempt. Anthony was not out 1 at the end, with Will Dickson, who had cut loose and displayed strength on the leg side particularly, also not out after hitting five 4s. Will made a highly creditable 26 from 24 balls….all these statistics are courtesy of Moira Newton, who kindly scored this match for us. Some loose opposition bowling added 30 runs in wides and no-balls, and we had 164 on the board at the end of the twentieth over. There can be little to criticise after a batting performance like this, but - we still need to work on the calling and running of singles, and making singles into twos.

Trojans now faced a daunting target, but runs were stifled by the bowling of openers Tom Stennett and Robert Smith. Wickets fell from the second over onwards. Robert had two for 11 from his four overs, and Tom had a well-deserved 4 wickets for 6 runs after a very accurate spell, which included a double-wicket maiden and the chance of a hat-trick on his last ball. Trojans were struggling, with 23 for 6 after eight overs, when the openers came off. Ed Stennett took a wicket in each of his first two overs, and by this stage Trojans were 34 for 8 after eleven. Greatly to their credit, the numbers 9 and 10 batsmen Shurville and Costley decided to hit their way out of trouble, and put 39 runs on in only four overs at the expense of Ed, Tom May, Anthony Flindt and John Purchese, before John broke the partnership, a good catch being held at mid-off by Robert Smith. John stopped the tail from wagging by bowling Costley, who had top-scored with 24, with the first ball of the 17th over. John took two wickets with 7 balls, and Trojans were all out for 76. This was a good bowling performance by Ropley, not only for wickets but also for accuracy, with less wides and no-balls than we have sometimes bowled. The fielding was good overall, and wicket-keeper Charlie Whitworth did a sterling job, particularly to the quick bowling of Tom and Rob, conceding only 6 byes. I felt we may have lost concentration a little in the field towards the end – we mustn’t do this next week, when we play Longparish in the Millard Cup.

The whole team should be proud of this result. Well done!

Game		Trojans
Day		Friday
Date		12 June 2009
Venue		Home
Type		U15
Format		20 overs
Meet Time		17:00
Start Time		18:00
Result		Won	No.	How out	R	GD	O	M	R	W
Team	1	R Smith	1	NO	32		4	0	11	2
	2	E Stennett	2	BWL	14		3	1	14	2
	3	J Purchese	3	CT	12		1.1	0	9	2
	4	T Stennett	4	LBW	4		4	2	6	4
	5	J Forrest	5	NO	30
	6	G Reece	6	BWL	0
	7	W Dickson	7	NO	26
	8	N Miles	8	LBW	0
	9	T May	9	BWL	0		2	0	19	0
	10	A Flindt	10	NO	1		2	0	10	0
	11	C Whitworth	11	DNB
Scorer
Umpire
		Toss won by		Trojans
		Team Batted First		Ropley
		Our score		164
		Wkts		6
		Opposition Score		76
		Wkts		10
		Win/lose		Won

Friday 5th June 09,  Ropley U15 v Eastleigh & Otterbourne U15, report by Keith Purchese

What a ‘nail-biting’ game!!

Ropley batted first on an overcast and chilly evening with a new opening pair of Robert Smith and Ed Stennett. Robert stroked the ball elegantly around the ground with relative ease, before being caught for 16 with the score at a respectable 30 for 1 off 7 overs.

Tom Stennett joined his brother and looked in fine form before playing on for 15. John Purchese came in and in no time began caressing the ball in all areas of the ground, from delicate late cuts to controlled on-drives, making 29 runs off 19 balls, before getting out. Ed was eventually trapped LBW for a very solid 21 after 58 minutes, with James Forrest ending at the close with 14 N.O. after demonstrating some powerful and aggressive batting. Ropley closed at 127 for 5 off 20 overs.

Our bowling didn’t start too well with 32 runs coming from 4 overs, but was steadied by accurate ‘stump to stump’ bowling from Ed Stennett 2 for 19 and John Purchese 3 for 17. By the 15th over, Eastleigh & Otterbourne were 12 runs ahead of Ropley’s score at the same stage with 4’s leaking at an alarming rate through the gaps in the field, until Tom Stennett (Cpt) made some subtle changes to the fielding positions which stemmed the flow of runs, together with calming down the odd piece of erratic throwing as the game was nearing the end.
Eastleigh & Otterbourne required 20 runs off 12 balls to win, however, a match winning last over from Tom Stennett prevented any more than 3 runs to come of his over, which resulted in Ropley U15 winning by 7 runs.

A large gathering of mums, dads and friends applauded both sides for such a thrilling and entertaining game and played in a competitive and sporting manner.
Congratulations to all!

Having Moira scoring is great for looking at the statistics.
Two areas which stood out were as follows:-

The first 5 batsmen all scored 14 runs or more (consistent scoring)
The progression of the total runs scored in each 5 over period increased markedly to post a very competitive score of 127 for 5.

                                      Total Runs               Difference
5 overs                          24
10 overs                        47                            23 runs
15 overs                        77                            30 runs
20 overs                        127                          50 runs

Overall, a great game and our players should take heart that this performance was a total Team effort and everyone helped to create a WIN.

WELL DONE!!

 

Game		Eastleigh & Otterbourne U15
Day		Friday
Date		05 June 2009
Venue		Home
Type		U15
Format		20 overs
Meet Time		17:40
Start Time		18:00
Result		Won	No.	How out	R	GD	O	M	R	W
Team	1	R Smith	1	CT	16		4	0	21	0
	2	E Stennett	2	LBW	21		4	0	17	2
	3	T Stennett	3	BWL	15		3	0	14	1
	4	J Purchese	4	BWL	29		4	1	17	3
	5	J Forrest	5	NO	14
	6	P Bhol	6	ST	0
	7	G Reece	7	NO	0
	8	M Greenwood	8	DNB
	9	C Whitworth	9	DNB
	10	T May	10	DNB			3	0	20	0
	11	A Flindt	11	DNB			2	0	17	0
Scorer		Moira Newton
Umpire		Keith Purchese
		Toss won by		Unknown
		Team Batted First		Ropley U15
		Our score		127
		Wkts		5
		Opposition Score		120
		Wkts		6
		Win/lose		WIN

Fri 29th May,  St Cross Syms B v Ropley, report by Richard Smith

(20 overs, max 4 overs per bowler, batters retire at 30, two runs for a wide or no-ball)
St Cross 117 for 4, Ropley 95 for 7, St Cross won by 22 runs.

This was a more subdued performance than last week’s, although enlivened at the end by an exciting knock from Pip Bhol.

Tom Stennett lost the toss, and St Cross elected to bat. The relatively long boundaries made it likely there would be running to do, and St Cross’s opening pair of Steve Berryman and Will Tsang had to work for their runs against some reasonably accurate bowling from Tom Stennett and Robert Smith – there was only one 4 in the first six overs, and when first change bowlers Ed Stennett and John Purchese came on the score was 26 for 0 after six. In the ninth over, Tsang hit a chance to Gabriel Reece at midwicket. Gabriel couldn’t hold it, but stayed cool and threw accurately to the bowler’s end, where Tsang was neatly run out by Ed. A good effort! John bowled a maiden – a valuable thing in twenty-over cricket - and the score was 47 after 10 overs. Berryman however was still accumulating singles and eventually retired on 30. The new batsmen were more aggressive and the scoring rate began to increase. John and Ed bowled out their four overs each, and Tom May and Anthony Flindt came on with the score at 71 after 14. Neither could really find the rhythm that they had last week, and although Anthony bowled James Brooke, St Cross’s strongest hitter, for 25, the scoring rate had by then accelerated. Despite Tom Stennett and Robert each taking a wicket in their last over as the innings closed, they couldn’t close down the run rate either and St Cross finished on a respectable 117 for 4. Our fielding was good overall, but we needed to bowl more tightly (we conceded 27 in wides).

We always aim for 120 if we bat first, so the target was achievable, but chasing runs does put pressure on the batsmen and the opening pair of Robert Smith and John Purchese knew they had to make a good start. They had 12 on the board after two overs (including a run four – good effort!), but Robert backed up too far on a run that wasn’t there and was run out. Tom Stennett came in, but he and John had some accurate bowling to deal with and didn’t seem to be able to get the ball off the square (maybe instead of driving try soft hands, play it short and away from the fielder, take a single – this worked for Berryman) and the score was 39 when John was caught at mid-on in the eleventh over. We now needed 78 off 10 overs and this looked more difficult. The slow bowlers came on and Tom Stennett opened up with a four, but was caught on 10. Ed Stennett hit a good four in his ten runs before he fell victim, bowled, to a new bowler with a very unusual action, who went on to take three wickets with four balls. Myles Greenwood was LBW playing across the line of a straight one, and Charlie Whitworth survived the hat-trick ball only to be bowled by the next delivery. Gabriel Reece came in to replace Myles, and Pip Bhol came in for Charlie, with all the fielders now gathered around the bat. Pip was undaunted and decided to take advantage of this field placing by hitting over the top, electrifying the spectators with a sparkling 17. He was finally caught in the deep in the last over after making Ropley’s top score. Gabriel hit a lovely lofted straight drive for 4, and was 6 not out at the end. Tom May was 0 not out, and 5 penalty runs (awarded when the ball hit the wicket keeper’s discarded helmet) were added, rounding up the Ropley score to 95. Anthony Flindt and Guy Meager did not bat.

In summary, our fielding was good and our bowling was OK (though still too many wides) but we were beaten by a side who batted better.

Next Friday: Eastleigh and Otterbourne at home.

Game		St Cross B
Day		Friday
Date		29 May 2009
Venue		Away
Type		U15
Format		20 overs
Meet Time		17:00
Start Time		18:00
Result		Lost	No.	How out	R	GD	O	M	R	W
Team	1	R Smith	1	RO	5		4	0	17	1
	2	J Purchese	2	CT	6		4	1	23	0
	3	T Stennett	3	CT	10		4	0	20	1
	4	E Stennett	4	BWL	10		4	0	22	0
	5	M Greenwood	5	LBW	1
	6	G Reece	6	NO	6
	7	C Whitworth	7	BWL	0
	8	P Bhol	8	CT	17
	9	T May	9	NO	0		2	0	13