Long Itchington Cricket Club

Long Itchington U11 vs Barby U11 11/8/2011
Barby won the toss and elected to field on a dry, slow,worn pitch that was likely to be hard to score runs on.
Brennnan and Lucas opened the batting and put on a solid 15 runs for the first pair with no loss of wickets, including a fine 4 from Lucas. Bean and William took the score to 21 with one loss of wicket. Ethan and Peter C despite hitting some good shots and scoring 19 runs unfortunately losing 3 wickets to make a net score increase of only 4 runs. Peter C looked fluent in his first game of the season hitting 2 fine fours. James and George were the final pair and we needed a good stand. They did not disappoint hitting a net 17 runs after being out just the once. James again looking at ease after hitting his first ball for 4 to make 12 runs which made him the top scorer on the day. LI finished on a respectable 242.
Barby tried to get after the LI bowling from the start but there aggressive intent also let to a regular loss of wickets. For the second week running LI took 8 wickets with 3 fabulous catches in the outfield from Brennan, James and George. Pick of the bowlers were George with 3 over’s 1 for 8 and Ethan 2 over’s 1 for 5. Good death bowling under pressure again this time from George and James made sure Barby did not get over the line, finishing 10 runs short. Overall it was probably the best fielding display of the year.
LI ended on unbeaten run of 7 games to round of the season after sealing the league title the week before.

Long Itchington U11 vs Long Buckby U11
On an evening where play looked unlikely, both teams were eager to play so the coaches chanced the weather and played.
Buckby won the toss and put LI in on a fast, bouncy , greasy artificial pitch. Brennan opened with debutant Jake. The pair looked solid and in their 4 over’s put on 15 runs for no wickets including a superb dance down the wicket and hit it over the top 4 from Brennan. Will and Bean in next were a little unlucky to lose some wickets to superb direct hit run outs in the field and Will wore his first ‘rib tickler’ with great bravery to see the fast bowlers off. Jamie and George then put on 19 runs in the next 4 over’s with no loss of wickets with some controlled and intelligent batting. James and Harry carried on the good work with another 14 runs for the last 4 over’s including a fine back foot drive for 4 from James that whistled to the boundary.
Only one bowled this week but thanks to 3 run outs a slightly below par 242 was put on the board.
Right from the start however LI showed the value of line and length and never let Buckby in the game. They had 8 wickets(All bowled) and they constantly had Buckby on the back foot and despite 9 off the last over Buckby were 4 runs short. Will with 2 overs for 1 with 3 runs concede and George 2 overs for 2 with 5 runs conceding were the pick. Special mention also to Brennan and Jamie for fine death bowling under pleasure and Bean for only one bye.
This results now means LI WIN THE RUGBY AND DISTRCT U11 LEAGUE as they are now unassailable with one game left. A fine effort to all the lads who have played this year.

On a lovely sunny summers evening Oakfield were the visitors with the Itchington lads on a good winning run. Having lost the toss the lads were inserted into bat and the regular openers of Brennan Lumby and Harry Mitchell made a steady start putting on 10 for the first pair. James Rawbone and Lucas batted well to increase the score by 17 and a solid platform was set for the last pairs. They duly obliged with Ned Mitchell and Bean Dunkerton putting on 19 with no outs including a memorable straight drive from Ned. George Heaven and Jamie Haywood then continued the good work to also put on 19 with Jamie hitting two excellent 4’s in his 10. Aided by a few wides from Oakfield a score of 265 looked to be reasonable to defend but would still require a good bowling performance.

The innings could not have got off to a better start with Ned clean bowling one opener and Brennan catching the other off Jamie. Bean and Lucas also bowled well to ensure a tight start was achieved. James and George then bowled a fantastic four over spell with only one run being added to the total with James bowling 2 overs for 1 run and George’s overs only going for 4 runs with one wicket. The pressure was kept on Oakfield as Jamie came back and bowled a wicket maiden. Brennan and Ned shared the last overs and both bowled immaculately both taking a couple of wickets and the icing was put on the cake with a run out by George off the last ball. Itchington ran out winners by 36 runs with an excellent all round performance, well led by Ned and Harry M performing admirably behind the stumps. Both will be missed for the last couple of matches due to hols but a fantastic first season by both.

With only two matches left and only one defeat so far the lads need to keep up the good performances.

Long Itchington U11s vs Southam Junior Section
Southam Junior section hosted a friendly game against LI U11s on Tuesday. LI had the younger side with 4 U11s and 4 U10s whilst Southam had 6 U11s and 2 U12s. LI’s skipper Brennan won the toss and elected to bat after a good chase in their last game.
LI Generally bowled quite tightly coming under the target of 10 wides bowled. They also took 5 wickets though the bowlers and 2 run outs with an outstanding catch by Harry M the highlight of the fielding display with Peter also keeping well.
James 2 Over’s, 9 Runs for 1 George 2 Over’s 11 runs for 1 Harry G 2 Over’s 6 runs for 1 Harry M 2 Over’s 12 runs for 2
Southam ended on a competitive 244 with Kyle top scoring on 15.
LI batted sensible with Brennan, Harry M opening up well again with Jamie and Will keeping the score going. 16 runs were needed by the last pair, James and Harry to win the game. 5 runs were scored off the 1st over, followed by 9 off the next with James hitting 2 fine 4’s. 2 was hit off Owens last over who bowled with good pace throughout his 3 over’s. The scores were level before the last over and LI just needed to keep their nerve to win. Unfortunately for Southam they bowled a wide so James just needed to keep the last 3 balls out to win which he duly did. Congratulations on Brennan on his first taste of Captaincy.
The lads have shown some good maturity in the last 3 games with batting in particularly showing some improvement. Keep it up lads

After suffering their first defeat in the Rugby League against Long Buckby a couple of weeks ago and being unlucky to be rained off during a fantastic batting performance against Barby, a win was needed against Rowlands with whom they were very equally matched in their first meeting.

Rowlands won the toss and batted and set about the task with relish going after the bowling of Ned Mitchell, James Rawbone, Brennan Lumby and Peter Armstrong. After the first 8 overs they were on 262 with only Brennan managing a wicket. The team however showed real character when under pressure, as Harry Grant took a wicket and followed by a wicket maiden by Jamie Haywood started to turn the tide. Harry G picked up another wicket to finish with 2-8 and when Harry Mitchell took 2 wickets in his first over things were definitely swinging towards Long Itchington. Ned and James returned to complete the innings both only going for a few runs and with Harry M and Bean Dunkerton instigating a run out, Rowlands finished on 265 loosing 7 wickets with their score only increasing by 3 in the last 8 overs.

265 however is still a good total and the opening partnership of Brennan (9) and Harry M (6) made a perfect start putting on 26 for the first wicket with both batting superbly including hitting excellent 4’s and not loosing a wicket. Peter and Bean kept the score moving forward setting up Jamie (9) and Ned (10) to bat beautifully, including a perfect cover drive for 4 by Jamie (the quality of which has never been seen from his Fathers bat!). This left James and Harry G needing 14 from the final 4 overs which was made slightly harder when James played a touch early and was caught and bowled. However he immediately made amends hitting a couple of fours, one a fantastic shot just landing inside the boundary and, being very ably backed up by Harry G who also struck an excellent 4, this left the lads 2 runs ahead with one over to go. So the scenario was basically not to loose a wicket ( -5 runs)  in the final 6 balls, 3 balls safely navigated by James (13 – net 8), then a run leaving Harry (6) to keep out the last 2…the 5^th ball was on a perfect length aiming at middle stump which Harry did fantastically to keep out and then he safely negotiated the last ball which meant a hard fought victory by 3 runs.

A good game of cricket with 2 equally matched sides with the lads just inching across the line based on good batting which continues to improve each week and a good attitude in the field for the final 8 overs after being a bit lacklustre in the first 8.