County Under 12: Last season

WILTSHIRE  UNDER  12  COUNTY  SEASON  2007

Coach– Tim Cowley

Managers– Philip Hawkins and Tim Mynott

Captains– Tom Cowley and Jack Mynott

Players– Tom Alsop, Cameron Baden, Stuart Brothers, Harry Brothwood, Matty Chapple, Kalun George, James Gillespie, Lawrence Hannaford, Harry Hawkins, Adam Lavis, Adam Mitchell, Akash Sharma, Archie Walker.

 

4 June - away

Gwent 101

Wiltshire 105 – 6

A comfortable victory to get the season underway.  9 bowlers were used and all bowled very tightly.  Tom Alsop 4 for 14, Lawrence Hannaford 2 for 2 and Adam Mitchell 2 for 24 were the pick of the bowlers.  Two silly run outs saw Wiltshire struggling at 16 for 3, but Tom Cowley 41* and Adam Mitchell 31 put on 68 to put Wiltshire within sight of their target.

17 June - away

Dorset145

Wiltshire 146 – 4

Dorsetproved much stiffer opposition.  An early wicket raised Wiltshire’s spirits, but the second wicket did not fall until 72 runs had been posted on the board.  Adam Lavis and Tom Cowley then ripped through the middle order with some fine spin and medium pace bowling to grab 6 wickets for 14 runs.  Some resistance and hard hitting by the tailenders enabled Dorset to reach 145, despite Wiltshire using 8 bowlers – the last 20 runs could have been crucial.  Tom Cowley 5 for 16 and Adam Lavis 4 for 31 bowled very well, and Harry Hawkins collected 3 excellent stumpings as well as taking a fine catch.  Harry Hawkins got the Wiltshire innings off to a flying start with shots all round the wicket in a hard hit 34.  Runs stalled thereafter, but Jack Mynott crafted a fine 61* on a pitch giving assistance to bowlers to see Wiltshire home with one over to spare.

8 July - home

Wiltshire 253 – 6

Isle of Wight65

With Isle of Wight arriving an hour late, they were greeted by a very wet outfield, but dry pitch in glorious sunshine. Wiltshire won the toss and batted through all their allotted 40 overs.  Tom Cowley topscored with 62, including a spectacular pull for 6 over mid wicket, and Kalun George made a hard hitting 42*.  Adam Mitchell also provided good support in the middle order with 35.  Lawrence Hannaford was too accurate for the top order claiming 3 for 8 in a fast 4 over spell.  Adam Lavis kept the pressure up with another fine spell of spin bowling in taking 4 for 14.  Wiltshire’s fielding was also excellent with all catches being taken – Wiltshire much the stronger side all round.

31 July - home

Berkshire129 – 6

Wiltshire 132 – 4

Tight Wilshire bowling, again using 8 bowlers, and good ground fielding, restricted Berkshire to 132 for 9 in their 45 overs.  Adam Lavis 2 for 12 and Harry Brothwood 2 for 23 bowled very well, while Lawrence Hannaford was very economical with 1 for 14 off 9 overs.  Akash Sharma and Harry Hawkins started slowly posting 38 off 17 overs before Akash was caught and bowled.  Tom Cowley (15) and Jack Mynott (13) in turn joined Harry who had now really got his eye in, finishing with an excellent, watchful 67* as Wiltshire ran out winners for the fourth consecutive time with eight overs to spare.  Team spirit was extremely high!

1 August - away

Wiltshire 114

Oxfordshire 118 – 3

Down to earth with a bump the next day in blisteringly hot conditions – very unusual for this summer!  With Stuart Brothers, Harry Hawkins and Jack Mynott going cheaply, Jack to another run out mishap, it was left to Tom Cowley and Adam Mitchell to bolster the middle order with scores of 35 and 29 respectively.  However, when they were both out with the score at 78, the necessary wag from the tail did not materialise and Wiltshire subsided to 114 all out off 39 overs.  Two early wickets had Oxfordshire rocking at 15 for 2, but the no. 4 Oxfordshire batsman made a mockery of the game by scoring 73 off only 24 scoring shots – he took his chances, but no catches went to hand until he was caught on the boundary to make the score 108 for 3.  A good, testing game with lessons learnt of what to do when a batsman chances his arm. 

 

2 August - home

Dorset107 – 9

Wiltshire 109 – 6

The second victory over Dorset during the season proved the mettle and team spirit that had been built up within the side to bounce back with a convincing victory after defeat the day before.  Wiltshire’s eight bowlers never let Dorset settle despite a 50 run partnership in the middle of their innings.  Stuart Brothers bowled his leg spin particularly well, taking 4 for 17 in 7 overs – all the bowlers bowled tightly to restrict Dorset to 107 for 9 in their 40 overs.  Wiltshire’s innings started very poorly, and at 21 for 4 it looked as if all the good work done by the bowlers would be wasted.  However, Jack Mynott (20) and Tom Cowley (37*) steadied the ship to get near the target, with Archie Walker’s deft and skilful 16* at a crucial stage of the game making sure of another Wiltshire victory.   

10 August - home

Wiltshire 167 – 9

Herefordshire 130

Wiltshire continued their winning ways with another comprehensive victory over new opposition.  167 for 9 was a reasonable total for 40 overs, the mainstay of which was another excellent innings of 63 by Harry Hawkins, proving himself a fine wicketkeeper/batsman again.  38 extras was second top score.  Tom Cowley was again in the runs with a patient 21.  The team’s total was reached despite being subject to a hat trick in the middle order with one Herefordshire bowling at one stage taking 5 wickets for 1 run in 14 balls.  Lawrence Hannaford and Jack Mynott’s tight opening spell was consolidated with more accurate bowling from Harry Brothwood and Cameron Boden.  Adam Lavis, Stuart Brothers and Archie Walker then weaved their spells to achieve a comfortable win by 37 runs. 

17 August - away

Isle of Wight111

Wiltshire 112 – 4

Wiltshire rounded off their season with another comprehensive win away at the Isle of Wight.  Accurate, hostile bowling at the beginning and end of the innings by Jack Mynott brought him 4 for 18.  Adam Lavis again bowled accurately finishing with 3 for 25.  The fielding and catching were exemplary - testament to all the hard practice that had gone on during the season.  Harry Hawkins had a rare batting failure, and it was left to the reliable Tom Cowley (35*) and Adam Mitchell (23) to post a 50 run partnership for the third wicket.  Jack Mynott (25*) then helped Tom gather the required runs to finish off a memorable season – 7 wins out of 8 matches played in the wettest summer for many years.

Due to the dreadful weather, the much awaited Shrewsbury Festival was cancelled  Much credit must therefore go to the Wiltshire Under 12 coach, Tim Cowley, who managed to fix three matches in its place to give the boys a season they will remember, despite 3 other cancelled games. 

Tim Cowley’s enthusiastic and dedicated coaching have managed to forge this side into a very good unit – they will be a force to be reckoned with against all opposition in the future if they keep up their progress. 

Fine individual performances and a great team spirit resulted in seven wins out of eight - much of the credit for the team’s performance must go to coach Tim Cowley.

Finally, Tim Cowley and the managers would like to thank all the parents for their support during the year, particularly for the teas provided by the boys’ parents and for those fathers who kept the scorebooks.