Here’s your round up of what’s been going on this week, including some fantastic performances from youngsters who are sure to be seen in our senior teams of the future!

Falkland U11 Girls v Mortimer West End

On a glorious evening at Enborne Lodge the Falkland Cyclones took on Mortimer West End. Winning the toss, Cyclones put the visitors in to bat. Some aggressive hitting from the Mortimer openers saw a flurry of boundaries before 2 wickets from Annabel in her opening over pegged the visitors back. 2 further wickets from Louise began to put the pressure on the middle order before another flurry of boundaries towards the end of the innings saw Mortimer end on an impressive 301-4.
The Falkland innings got off to a bad start with the loss of a wicket on the first ball of the innings, before Lucy and Annabel steadied the ship. Steady accumulation of runs kept the Cyclones in the game, but the regular loss of wickets hampered the chase. The final pairing of Louise (11) and Sienna (17) had the ball disappearing to the boundary once again, but it wasn’t quite enough with the Cyclones finishing their innings on 274-7.

Cavaliers ‘cup capers’

On a baking hot morning the u13 Cavaliers headed to Peppard Stoke Row for the much anticipated semi finals of the West Berks Cup.
Winning the toss and bowling first, the boys knew they would have to bowl well to give themselves a chance against a very good (and tall!) PSR team. They did brilliantly to deal with the slope and had PSR 60-1 at eleven overs, with some tight bowling from Soorya, Theo and Bondy. But the depth and class of PSRs batting showed and they accelerated to 139 off their 20. If it wasn’t for Oscar and Joey bowling tightly at the end it would have been more.
Cavaliers needed a quick start and Gregor got them going but an impressive and tight bowling attack meant the boys found it hard to keep up with the run rate. There was some late energy from Theo, Soorya and Prakrit but it was too late as PSR won by 39 runs. A good lesson for the Cavaliers and good luck to PSR in the final.

Falkland Hurricanes

Falkland Hurricanes played a league fixture away at West Ilsley on a beautiful Sunny morning. A glorious day to be on the pitch.
Put into bat first, the Falkland pairs set about a steady accumulation of runs. Immi batting in the final pair played well and was the top scorer with 20. We set a target of 282-7 from our 20 overs.
The boys openers struggled to score against the great pace and line of Sai, the opening bowler for the Hurricanes. Sai managed to take wickets in both her overs.
The West Ilsley middle order found scoring easier and got the boys close to the run rate, but two quick wickets from Edith in her first over slowed them down.
The scores were close right to the end, the boys needed 16 from the final over. In stepped Beth to bowl the over. After 10 from the first 4 balls, it was tense, 6 needed from 2. Then came 2 wonderful dot balls which saw the girls home. A victory, 282-7 vs 276-8. Well done girls.

Falkland U15’s

Falkland U15s travelled to Hungerford this evening to take on a combined Newbury/Hungerford team in the League. Winning the toss, Falkland chose to take to the field and wasted no time putting the home team under pressure. Tight bowling from Oscar (0-7) and Alec (1-14) kept the runs down at the top of the order before Bobby (4-9), James (1-22) and Adam (1-8) ripped through the middle order. Late wickets from Kheyaan (2-8) saw the home team restricted to a total of 84-9 from their 20 overs.
The Falkland response got off to a shaky start with Alec falling at the end of the first over followed by James 2 balls later. Bobby (31 retired not out) and Jamie (10) steadied the ship and got the run chase back on track. On a deteriorating track, wickets fell at regular intervals, but Falkland passed the required total with 4 overs to go ending in 87-6.
A great team performance with contributions from all the boys sees the U15s return to the top of the league.

U13’s Cavaliers; ‘A fizzy sizzler’!

In the sizzling heat the u13s Cavaliers took on Newbury in their next league game. Winning the toss and batting first, the Cavaliers drew up their batting battle plans on a whiteboard and got straight into action. A blistering 14 runs from Tom from the first over kept the scorers busy from the off. More runs were added by Kobi and Austin and after a tactical drinks break to check the whiteboard the boys tried to accelerate. But the Newbury bowling was tight and wickets fell, pegging the Cavaliers back. In marched Soorya and smashed a sizzling 29 off 11 balls to get the board ticking again. And with some good running from Will E at the end they got the total to a well planned 141.
Cavaliers bowling started well with Adam S taking a wicket in the first over. With new found energy in the field scoring runs was hard for Newbury, and with a miserly two overs for 0 runs from Will M, Newbury were well behind the run rate.
Cavaliers closed the game out, winning by 100runs but most importantly shared a glass of fizz and canapés with their newbury cc friends afterwards (lemonade and crisps) demonstrating the excellent spirit between the two teams!

U13’s Cavaliers dazzle in the drizzle!

On a dank and drizzly Sunday morning the u13s Cavaliers were away at Theale and Tilehurst for their next league game. Winning an important toss, the Cavaliers chose to bat first on a firm but wet wicket. T&Ts opening bowlers were tight and accurate but the Cavaliers openers were equal to it and rotated the strike well, not trying to over hit the ball. After the fall of the first wicket Bondy came to the crease and was majestic - running hard and putting away the bad ball, putting on a partnership of 60 with Gregor. Both retired with magnificent 30s and sent both their dads into a Father’s Day frenzy. With some excellent middle order energy from Theo, Soorya, Jack and Raymundo the boys got to 142 at the break.
Now it was the bowlers turn. Adam opened with a tight brace of overs and then boys were soon into the wickets with Ollie and Tom both taking double wicket maidens. But not to be out done, leg spinner Bertie picked up a wicket too. After such a dazzling display in the field t&t got to 31 all out giving the cavaliers a 110 run win. Tremendous team work lads.

U15 v Sulhamstead

Falkland U15’s made the short trip down the A4 to Sulhamstead. Falkland won the toss and decided to bowl, managing to restrict Sulhamstead to 42-3 from the first 10 overs with some good bowling from Aaryan and Alec. The Falkland fielding was excellent with 2 run outs. However, the rain continued to fall throughout the innings and made bowling tricky in the back end with some costly extras. Sulhamstead posted 112-6.

With the bat Falkland found scoring difficult on a very wet outfield where the ball just wouldn’t make it to the boundary. With contributions from Bobby B. (22) , Jamie D. (19) and Aaryan S. (24no) the boys were looking good to secure the win. However, as wickets and the rain continued to fall Falkland fell just 6 runs short on 106-7.

U9 v Newbury

Falkland took an U9 side to our friends at Newbury on a hot, sunny, Northcroft evening. A good crowd was out to see twenty boys show lots of effort and learn more about the geography of cricket. Falkland bowled well and notable amongst the wickets were William, Oscar, Jimmy and Thomas. All the boys took their turn behind the stumps and the mini marvel Ollie really led the way with great side-to-side leg movement as the ball went to leg or off. Sharp fielding by Jimmy also saw a couple of good run outs.
Into bat Falkland went, and Oscar started right on it with some imperious shots back past the bowler for four. Joey got in amongst the runs too and then the third pair of Joe and Jimmy were sharp, constantly looking for the extra runs in their calling.
An excellent effort from all ten boys took Falkland past the line, with a well earned victory. Thanks too to all the Falkland parents who scored for both Falkland and Newbury. A return match or two against Newbury awaits later this summer.

Another great week, with results going both ways, but lessons learnt and pricesless experience gained regardless. We would like to reiterate our constant gratitude for the huge amount of commitment involved in making all these fixtures possible; the young players, coaches, ground staff, and all parents, particularly on Father’s Day!

Let’s hope for some brighter (and warmer) weather for this week’s long list of fixtures!

Go well!

Pictured; Falkland U11 Cyclones