Under 13 Boys
With 45 boys in the group and a lot less rain than last year, we were able to play 51 matches this season across 5 leagues and 3 cup entries. Whilst we always want to be competitive, the main aim was to give the boys as much opportunity as possible to learn, develop and enjoy their cricket. A mid-table finish in the tier 1 leagues, both in our own age group and the age group above, indicates that we have achieved the right balance.
Half of all the matches we played were Tier 1 and sixty percent of the boys played Tier 1 cricket this season. For Tier 2 competitions, the aim is to provide a lot of match play opportunities to promote the development of skills. Several boys played both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cricket and we successfully won 2 midweek Tier 2 leagues this year, indicating the strength and depth of our whole age group. For all the Cup competitions, the primary aim is to win and this is reflected in the team selection. It is also worth remembering that Cup restrictions prevent players from playing across different teams.
Cup matches tend to be tense, and we had a nervous start against East Molesey in round 2. Our fielding was excellent and not one bye was conceded. We comprehensively beat Horsley and Send in the Quarter-final with a strong bowling and fielding performance. The Semi-final against Ashtead was both close and entertaining. We were restricted to 101 runs which looked to be light. At 35-4, Ashtead appeared to be on the ropes. However, they fought back hard and we managed to scrape in by 5 runs, due a gritty bowling performance and two outstanding direct hit run-outs. We faced Chobham in the Surrey Cup Final and managed to restrict them to 107. This was a good target to chase down and we knocked off the runs in 15 overs. Once again, Esher were Surrey Cup champions, representing Surrey in the national championships. Unfortunately, we lost a very close game to Hampstead by 7 runs. We had a very good start and managed to restrict their batters in the early overs. However, they still managed to get a competitive score and we were never able to get ahead of the run rate. The boys learned a lot from the experience, which should help them in the years ahead.
In the 100 ball competition, our Tier 2 Plate teams were both knocked out of the completion in the early rounds, and we were not able to successfully defend the 2021 plate final.
In the U14 Tier 1 Sunday league, we managed to finish mid table. This is a great result given that we are playing up against some very strong teams. Whilst the older boys do not necessarily bowl better, they hit the ball much harder and tend to punish loose bowling. We were also impacted by losing many of our Surrey performance players to their Sunday matches. All in all, a very good learning experience. There were several notable batting and bowling performances which helped us to win 3 of our matches. In the Griffins Tier 1 Sunday league, we also finished mid table. Once again, there were some fine individual batting and bowling performances across the board. However, we probably should have had a better finish which requires us to be more consistent.
In the Tier 2 leagues, we were brilliant and won both the Central and Midweek leagues. We were fourth in the Sunday league, where we had to abandon two games. Looking at the statistics, we had nine boys retiring after scoring 30 runs and 5 boys took at least 3 wickets in a game. Once again, our results are indicative of our depth and the tremendous skills the boys are developing.
As always, it takes a tremendous amount of effort, coordination and support to get through the season. Once again, thank you all for your support – match managers, umpires, scorers and those providing match teas. It was great to see so many parents involved, particularly with umpiring and scoring. We continue to develop a strong community identity which we will build on in the 2023 season. Congratulations to the boys who continue to be part of the Surrey Performance set up. It is very competitive process and we all benefit from their contributions to the age group. We hope the boys get some well-earned rest and we look forward to another exciting season in 2023.