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Another excellent performance from this young under 10 side saw Bar romp to a convincing victory over Edmonton. After losing the toss Bar were asked to bat first, Luke McGee and Ben Rayner both looked comfortable early on. However a mix up in the second over saw McGee run out
for just 4. Rayner quickly put the run out behind him and went on to make 20 with some lovely shots off his legs. Number 3 Harrison Palmer batted fluently for 17* and when Rayner was dismissed he was joined by debutant Katie Rowlands. Both Katie and Harrison were retired giving Matthew Swallow and Jamie Blackburn a chance at the crease. Blackburn was unfortunately out second ball LBW. Nevertheless Swallow and number 7 Charlie Watson calmly saw the innings home reaching 5* and 4* respectively. Bar amassing a mammoth total of 123 in 20 overs, a score that was considerably assisted by 71 extras (including 53 runs in wides).

Bar went about the task of defending their total very sensibly, opening bowlers James Ilott and Charlie Watson started well, with neither giving away any wides in the first four over. As they have done all season Bar's back bowlers also bowled straight, and if you bowl straight in any
form of cricket you give yourself a much better chance of winning. James Ilott came very close to claiming a hatrick in his second spell, bowling two batsman in his final over.Luke McGee again captained the side maturely; his enthusiastic encouragement really helps motivate the players. He was also the pick of the bowlers, not going for a run off the bat until his penultimate ball and picking up two wickets with what at this level could be described as express
pace. Edmonton didn't ever really look like getting close to the required total and like other matches this season Bar's ability to restrict the number of extras they gave away (Edmonton's 71 compared to Bar's 43) was the main difference in the totals.

With the next round of the Gubby Allen cup looming, this side is improving with every game. A bit of work on their concentration in the field and they will have a real chance of progressing further. I must thank Tom Rowlands and Amy Watson who helped out in the field and congratulate everyone on another well deserved victory.

Greg

Having been comprehensively beaten by Barnet in a friendly a week ago, the boys weren't too confident going into this game. After losing the toss and being asked to bat first (a distinct disadvantage in this competition where you lose 5 runs for every wicket) Potters Bar batted exceptionally. Still illustrating the sound defensive technique that they possessed in the first two games, the boys played some beautiful attacking shots (Luke McGee and Matthew Swallow). Intelligent running between the wickets particularly from James Ilott and Matthew Mason saw PB reach 290 for 5 off our 16 overs (a total of 265 after a deduction of 5 runs for each wicket lost); meaning Barnet required 266 to win. At this stage the game was touch and go as 250 is probably a par score.

We couldn't have started any better, two wickets in the first over from Charlie Watson put the pressure straight on Barnet, another wicket in the second over bowled by Jamie Blackburn left Barnet staring down the barrel at 207-3 (or 192 net) off 2 overs. From there we lost our way a bit, people wandering around the field like grazing cows meant that Barnet were able to pick the gaps and score a few boundaries, after 5 overs they had recovered to 228 for 3 (213 net). This period of wandering was followed by three overs of very tight bowling by James Ilott, Matthew Mason and Charlie Watson, with only 7 runs scored for the loss of 2 wickets. Then the moment the boys feared most, Barnet's Middlesex colt came into bat. Having thwarted us to all parts a week ago the boys were extremely nervous. Luke McGee took captains responsibility and bowled two of the next four overs, he also made some intelligent field placings and we managed to restrict Barnet to scoring 31 runs for the loss of one wicket in this 4 over period.

With 4 overs remaining Barnet were 277-6 (237 net), meaning 19 runs were required from the last 4 overs. We again bowled excellently with Barnet finishing on 293-7 (258 Net). A brilliant win by the boys who were so surprised that some of them didn't realise they had won until they came off the field. Another good performance from this side that are getting better and better with each game they play.

Unfortunately the U10's experienced defeat in their second game of the season last night. A very young side containing only three ten year olds, four nine year olds and four eight year olds played a much taller and older Barnet side that contained a couple of experienced county players. Batting first we showed excellent defensive technique and ran very well between the wickets. However the kids were determined not give their wickets away and consequently failed to play many attacking shots, so we end our 16 overs on 54 for 5, with a couple of players retiring to allow others to bat. Ben Rayner batted very well and top scored with 9.

Barnet then opened up with two very good batsman, one of which smashed two sixes off full tosses, they knocked the runs off in 12 overs without losing a wicket. I must say our fielding and bowling was brilliant, the players stayed interested despite the freezing cold and we bowled only one wide in 12 overs (which at this level is immaculate). We can take lots of positives from this, particularly our batting technique and bowling, this young side has great potential and when they are a little bit bigger will be able to post scores that their bowling will easily defend.

I pleased to report an excellent victory by a very young U10's side. Hornsey batted first and after starting on 200 some very tight bowling and excellent fielding we restricted them to 191 off 12 overs. As often is the case in these games all we had to do was avoid losing wickets to win the game, having explained this to the kids I watched James Ilott open the batting and swat the first ball of the second over square leg for the only four of the game. It was a rank long hop and had to go but was not what I was expecting. Other than that the boys batted very sensibly defending the straight balls and leaving the wides (2 runs for a wide we only bowled 9 in 12 overs they bowled 17). Until, Luke McGee decided to reverse sweep in the penultimate over. If he had got out I would over killed him, but he pulled the shot off better the Jonty Rhodes so I couldn't really say much.

All in all I was delighted with the performance and it was nice to see a team containing only two 10 years olds perform the basic skills they had been taught through the winter. All 8 of the lads played well and it would be hard to single any of them out, a special mention for Luke McGee who captained the side excellently including intelligent field placings and continuous encouragement from behind the stumps.


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