In a busy week for holidays and back to school camps, we were delighted to have two Esher teams and six other clubs counting AJ Academy, Ashtead, East Molesey, Reigate Priory, Spencer and Wimbledon represented by over 60 girls aged 10-12.
In Group B the Esher Dragons found it challenging against strong U12 teams from Ashtead, East Molesey and eventual winners Reigate Priory, who won all their matches and qualified by a healthy margin after East Molesey and Ashtead tied a thrilling first game. The excitement continued right to the end, with second place not decided until the penultimate ball of the final match when Ashtead passed the 64 run mark (needed to pip East Molesey on net run rate) against Esher Dragons. During this final over, Anna K also took 3 wickets on debut for Esher Dragons, triggering wild scenes of celebration among both sets of supporters and leaving the neutrals unsure who had actually won the game. In spite of not getting the win their efforts deserved, there was some lovely bowling from Georgia B and Amelia C to complement some courageous batting from Marni H, Aanya J, Danielle M and Sienna P who also stood in admirably as WK for the team. They were captained wonderfully by Serena P who contributed well with bat and ball and also found time to bowl an excellent over for the Griffins in their first game when they were a player short.
Progress was smoother for Esher Griffins in Group A after Hannah P won the toss and we contained Spencer to a manageable target of 42. Arabella C then began her inexorable rise to the top of the tournament batting charts by shepherding the Griffins batting unit to the total inside 5 overs. AJ Academy were up next, opening with two boys who had kindly stepped in to ensure their girls had a team but were seen off by excellent deliveries from Violet D and Freya D, who was denied a hat-trick by the first ball grace addition to the rules. Violet and Freya then opened the batting and got a 50 partnership that guaranteed Esher’s progression to the knockout stages, easily seeing off another gettable target of 41. This was in no small measure due to an excellent performance behind the stumps by stand-in WK Hannah P, who following her recent TV work for the Hundred, really did keep like Sarah Taylor! In the group decider against an unbeaten Wimbledon, the fielding performance went up a notch with a brilliant over from Erin G and Maisie L applied the coup de grace with a wicket maiden death over to leave us only needing 36. Opening the batting, U10 Clara P retired after hitting a fluent 25 and was well supported by Lucy D promoted up the order.
The semi final was our best performance of the tournament when after a strong start by Ashtead, getting to 27-1 in 3 overs, Clara’s 4th over unleashed complete mayhem with an outstanding yorker to get rid of their gun batter sandwiched between direct hit run outs by Violet, ensuring the tournament’s fielding award would be hers. Ashtead’s total of 45 was passed with an over to spare thanks to a big partnership between Violet and Arabella whose styles complemented each other like Hayden and Langer in their pomp.
Onto the final against unbeaten Reigate Priory who had easily disposed of Wimbledon in the other semi final. It looked all over for Esher after losing the toss and collapsing to 5 for 5. However, reassured by the presence of Lucy as our rock in the tail, Arabella hit out, reaching an eventual 38 off 19 which, supported by a Jack Leach-esque 1 from No.8 Maisie L, was surely as good an innings as the final of an Esher Tournament has seen. Confident of defending a highly unlikely target of 60, Esher were in the box seat after Erin Gregory continued her habit of removing our opponents most dangerous batter with an unplayable delivery, leaving Reigate needing a daunting 13 off the last over. But having lost in the final of the first Esher Junior Girls Tournament in June by a whisker to Weybridge, they were determined not to add to that tally and all rounder of the tournament Bella brilliantly got them home off the penultimate ball with her second 4 of the over down the ground.
The pain of defeat quickly gave way to an overwhelming feeling of pride in how well all of the Esher Griffins and Dragons had played, that the final itself had been such an exceptional advert for the girls game and that the standard of the tournament as a whole showed how vibrant girls cricket at this age has become.
The Hundred may have finished for this year but there is no doubt that the Oval Invincibles have an incredible pipeline coming through for future editions! AGMs Susan Clarke and Matt Price would like to thank all parents for their support and in particular Ashima Jain and Mike Dennis who provided invaluable assistance on the day.