This week saw our courageous U9s team set off for the wilds of Frensham, taking precious time out from their bank holiday weekends to play yet another thrills and spills game of junior cricket, gamely supported by their families, some wet picnic equipment and even a few canine lawn hoovers.

Frensham won the toss and elected to bat first, largely due to a couple of their team not having arrived from the morning football tournament they were competing in, (good to see it's not just our weekends dominated by kids sport).

I think it's fair to say this Frensham team were experienced and disciplined and despite some heroic Elsteadonian efforts notched up an impressive run total.

However, if Frensham thought they were going to have it easy they were to be sadly mistaken. Mr Sam "I eat batsmen for breakfast" Shaw-Allen clearly had, taking two wickets and forcing the Frensham batsman into a schoolboy error (ok fair enough, he was actually a schoolboy) for Koby "the hands" Rival to pluck an easy catch.

There were solid fielding performances from across the team with Kit "Iceman" Jowett ending his bowling stint within winking distance of a couple of maiden overs, conceding just two singles.

End of the first innings saw Frensham at an impressive 217. Time to take care of business. Our intrepid 10 immediately went on the offensive, showing they really did mean business by demolishing three packets of the oppositions finest Maryland chocolate chip biscuits in a matter of minutes. The Frensham mums simply didn’t stand a chance.

With order restored and blood sugar levels dangerously high Elstead went into bat with steely determination and a "devil may care" bravado. This might well have paid off had we had another 10 overs to play on top of our allocated 20. Unfortunately the rules once again precluded such creativity.

Whether it was the tricky angle of the driving rain or simply a pitch that at times looked wetter than a sea otter taking a shower I’m not sure but alas, Elstead’s Herculean efforts went unrewarded with the Elstead U9 batting closing on a still very credible 187 runs.

Amongst the notable performances this week we saw Jacob "birthday boy" Stratford giving himself an extra present with a fantastic couple of 4's, whilst the ever consistent Mr Joe "my bat completes me" Ryman scored a staggering 37, hitting one 4 after another along with a trademark 6 to round of his stint at the cricketing coalface.

Once again this enterprising set of youngsters played incredibly well and should all be justifiably proud of their contributions in producing yet another entertaining match for the spectators watching.

No training next week and no Sunday game either (alright, alright, calm down Parents - I can hear your shouts of joy from here). Our next match is on June 11th - details of the team everybody wants a place on to follow shortly. Meantime have a great half term and see you all again at training on Saturday 10th June.
Jon & Paul