126
County Representative Boys
Warwickshire Under 16
Played 8 Won 3 Lost 3 Abandoned 2
The season kicked off for the u16’s with a trip to
Loughborough to help the England Women’s team prepare
for their Ashes clash. The 50 over match was played with a
white ball and coloured clothing, and proved a useful start to
the season, despite the result.
The team then returned for a second year to the
Bablake School t20 tournament, which saw the side play 5
matches over two days at Bablake School. After some fine
performances the team got to the final where they beat a
strong Warwick side by 21 runs having posted 135, thanks
to a fine 71 from Tom Pyke. Tom fell three runs short of being
leading run scorer over the two days but made up for that
by being leading wicket taker and best bowler, including two
fantastic performances against Queen Marys Walsall 5-9 and
King Edwards Aston 5-11.
With the warm ups out the way the team moved into the
heart of the season with the fixtures against other county
sides.
The first three games against Shropshire, Staffordshire
and Buckinghamshire were all away from home but being
on the road did not appear to affect the team, who under
the enthusiastic captaincy of Henry Brookes, won all three
matches.
In all three games it was the bowling that stood out with
Shropshire dismissed for 97, Staffs restricted to 122 for 8 in a
25 over a side rain affected match and Bucks dismissed for
90. The bowling attack proved the real strength of the side
with Matt Davison providing real pace and more than ably
supported by fellow seamers Henry Brookes, James Rudge
and Khayam Khan. Tom Pyke and Mo Ahmed provided
excellent spin bowling options and it was not surprising that
all played a part in the great season the u17s had in 2015.
While the bowling was strong the same can’t be said
for the batting where the team struggled to find any real
consistency. There were some fine individual performances
including a 122 for Harry Johnson against Bucks, where
Taran Toor also weighed in with a run a ball 51 but in both the
chases of small totals against Shropshire and Staffs the side
rather limped home, although credit must go to Jack Bewick
who top scored in both games.
The final three games of the season were all at home but
in the mirror image of the away games saw three defeats
against Cheshire, Northants and Lancashire. These games
also saw the squad really stretched to its limit as we used 23
players in total in the three matches, many stepping up from
younger age groups.
In the first against Cheshire the opposition amassed an
impressive 308 for 4 in the game at K and D but thanks to
a fine 76 from Fahd Janjua and 73 from Dan Clark the side
looked capable of pulling off a great win with 166 on the
board for the loss of just one wicket and with 20 overs still
to go. However the critical run out of Fahd saw the sides
chase subside to 249 all out with 16 balls to go. Credit must
go to Dan Mousley who stepped up to play at very short
notice and turned in a useful bowling performance as well
as a lively 25 off 13 balls. The next match against Northants
was the closest fought of the season. Northants posted a
very competitive 275 with James Rudge 2-28 the pick of the
bowlers. In reply Raja Shahzeb top scored with 52* and there
were other valuable contributions from Harry Johnson 40,
Matt Davison 48 and Tom Pyke 45. The momentum switched
several times but two stands between Raja Shahzeb and
firstly Tom Pyke and then Khayam Khan for the eighth and
ninth wickets looked to have put the side on the verge of
victory only for the team to fall an agonising 6 runs short with
2 overs to spare.
The final match v Lancashire was a disappointment
especially on the batting front as no one proved capable of
forging a partnership with George Hargrave who carried his
bat for 55* as the side capitulated to 108 all out in 35 overs,
with only one other batsman making double figures. With little
to defend and the bowling attack shorn of 5 of its bowlers,
who were playing for the u17’s, Lancashire knocked off the
runs in 23 overs for the loss of just 3 wickets.
Finally a big thanks from me to those who helped keep
me on the straight and narrow in 2015, especially coaches
Steve Rouse and Mo Sheikh, scorer Sarah Sandland, all the
parents who supported the team, and last but not least to all
the players. I look forward to seeing the new batch in 2016.
Under 16 Squad
George Hargrave
