U15 Cricket English Schools Cricket Association Regional Competition
After their 10 wicket victory in the Kent Cup Final on Tuesday 17th June against Kent College, the U15s were given the opportunity to represent Kent in the ESCA U15 T20 Competition.
They were drawn in the preliminary round against Dulwich College which was played on Monday 23rd June - the winners due to travel to Brighton Aldridge Community Academy the following day. Judd began in the field and started the match well, taking wickets in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th overs of the match with excellent spells by Aleeyan Akber and Campbell South. Dulwich reached the half-way point of their innings with the score 31-6. Some great fielding prevented the visiting from reaching the boundary (only twice from overs 10-20) and regular wickets throughout left the home side requiring 79 runs in reply with Aleeyan taking 4 wickets in the process.
Much like the Kent Cup Final, the innings began with Amrit Gupta and Agi Sarkar at the crease. Both were able to find the boundary with much more ease than the Dulwich team, taking the score to 42 before the first wicket fell in the 5th over. Hugo Read then came to the crease and with 21 runs in just 10 balls faced took Judd over the line and into the Regional Quarter Final.
The following day, the team left school with high spirits and arrived at an unseasonably cloudy Brighton ground with rain falling. The boys were lucky to enjoy some warm-up practice in Aldridge Community Academy’s indoor net facilities until the weather had passed. Losing the toss, Judd were once again sent into the field where BACA began well. Conceding 30 runs off the first 21 balls, it was Aleeyan combining with a sensational catch from Campbell for the initial break-through. With tight bowling spells from both Hugo and Agi to follow, a couple of wickets going to Mayank Mahesh and a couple of run-outs from Eddie O’Brien, the home team finished their 20 overs on 107.
Amrit set the innings up, taking the first over in response for 16 runs. His score of 38 off 25, helping the chase up to 76 off just 8 overs meaning that Hugo could help see off the chase in an efficient manner with Judd winning by 6 wickets and 8 overs to spare.
So on to “Finals Day”. The team were in the school bus at 7:30am to travel to Hutton CC in Brentwood where they would meet the winners of the Essex Cup in the Regional Semi Final, Brentwood School. Our hour-long journey compared to the oppositions’ 5 minutes down the road could have been a determining factor in the result of the match.
However, having lost the toss once again, Judd were once again put into the field to begin the match. Brentwood took 20 off the first two overs, with Judd once again turning to Aleeyan for the first and second wickets of the match. The second falling with Brentwood at 57-2 off just 6.2 overs. As with the previous round, Hugo and Agi held it tight in the middle of the innings, and it was left to Harry Sutcliffe to bowl the penultimate over. With three dot balls and a wicket, it stemmed the possible onslaught and Mayank managed to end the innings with 4 wickets, leaving Brentwood with 4 balls left - how crucial this could be at the end of the game.
The reply started well, with Amrit backfoot cutting the first ball to the boundary. However, when he was bowled on the third ball of the over, the odds were against Judd. After 15 overs and a run out, Judd had scrambled to 74-6 with Campbell and Pedri Van der Merwe at the crease. Needing 46 off the last 30 balls, Pedri put his foot down. With two maximums and a boundary, he made 26 quick runs before Harry Sutcliffe came in to see Judd home with just 2 balls and 2 wickets remaining. A valiant effort showcasing the strength in depth of the team.
In the final, against Epsom College, Judd once again entered the first half of the match in the field. At the halfway point of the first innings, Epsom were 68-1 - after a fantastic stumping from Eddie - looking very comfortable. With two wickets in the following over from Agi, and wickets in the following overs from Mayank, Harry, Mayank, Agi, Campbell and Agi, Epsom were 108-9. Their final wicket managed to add an extra 25 runs to the total meaning Judd would need 132 runs for victory.
The chase didn’t start well, with Agi, Aleeyan and Hugo all out in the first 26 balls leaving Judd 11-3. From that point on, Epsom were in control. Even with Pedri hitting another 18 runs, Harry scoring a run-a-ball 26 and Ed Collins batting at 10 scoring 13 with a six over deep midwicket, Judd could only manage 105-8 in response.
With 4 matches in 4 days, the team were outstanding and everyone should be incredibly proud of their achievements along the way. Whilst they did not book their place in the National Finals at Arundel Castle in August, to make it to the final 8 teams of the National competition is remarkable. Well done to everyone involved.
Mr Dobson