On Sunday June 11th, it was the turn of the U9 Girls to don their Tiger stripes and step out onto the cricket pitch to represent Thame for the first time!
Travelling to Oxford Sports Park, on an absolute scorcher, the girls were ready and keen to go from the outset. After a few rounds of cartwheels and the obligatory Rock, Paper, Scissors, captain for the match shootout… it was Cumnor up first! Sophia, as skipper for this match (scissors over paper), won the toss and decided to field. Leading from the front, she took two wickets in her over, backed up with some excellent bowling and fielding throughout. The girls took a total of 5 wickets, one ‘jaffa’ in particular from Abby, to restrict Cumnor to a total of 218 (Note – they start on 200).
Confidence at the interval was high (rightly so) and carried over into our batting (perhaps a little too much). A mixture of extravagant boundaries (including an incredible 6 from Sophia), some “yes, no, maybe, ooops” running, and tight Cumnor bowling meant that with the last pair of Harriet and Olivia to bat, we needed 12 off the last two overs. Taking it down to the last ball, the girls didn’t disappoint, scampering a single to tie the game!
Enough excitement for one day, no chance… up next was Peppard. Harriet took the captaincy for this match (staying true to a solid Rock strategy). Once again, the girls chose to bowl first and did so superbly; maidens from Emily and Olivia, and low single figure overs from Sophia, Harriet, Abby, and Lucy restricted Peppard to a miserly 216. Unfortunately, up against a very strong bowling side, despite all the girl’s best efforts to play positive attacking shots, our batting was somewhat Bazball without the Baz. It was just one of those times where it didn’t quite come off, meaning that we unfortunately fell short on a total of 192. Regardless the girl’s attitude and positivity didn’t wane one bit, which was brilliant to see!
Last up was against Tiddington; Abby taking on the reigns as captain for this one. Winning the toss (again!!), the girls went for a change of tactic and decided to bat first. Steady contributions throughout, including lovely boundaries from Lucy and Emily, saw us reach a total of 211. A Strong start with the ball, including a super over from Ebony, meant that at the halfway stage it was still very much in the balance. Unfortunately, despite some excellent fielding, with a few near misses on catches and run-outs, the girls couldn’t get the couple of wickets that would have made all the difference. Tiddington eventually running out winners!
Another fantastic day all round, again lots of smiles and great team spirit, with no shortage of excellent cricket!
Congratulations to all the girls – Sophia H, Harriet D, Emily A, Abby L, Lucy G, Ebony M, Olivia S.
Thanks also to all the parents for their support throughout 👍
Also, a big shout out to Elizabeth V and Chloe T who both played for Thame U11’s in a hardball fixture that same morning – representing and doing the girls proud as ever!
Written by Steve Shaw
