Lancashire Under 11 Boys Crowned Champions in Taunton

Lancashire Under 11 Boys were crowned champions of the Taunton Festival, winning the tournament undefeated.

The last time Lancashire had won the trophy was back in 2005 and the Under 11 Boys were undefeated throughout the competition.

Utilising the 13 boy squad to the full, the boys won three matches, one match abandoned as a draw due to weather when we were in a winning position and one match abandoned without a ball being bowled due to ground conditions.

The first day saw the Red Rose County playing Oxfordshire on a ground, which in the winter months doubles as a rugby pitch, with a bobbly outfield that meant extra care was needed when in the field.  The start was delayed due to conditions and the overs reduced from 40 to 28 per side. Oxfordshire won the toss and elected to bowl, putting Lancashire in to bat. Lancashire ended their innings on 177 for 7, with Krishan Rangaraju being run out off the last ball for a healthy 91. Milan Majithia pushed the score along with an enterprising 45 runs from 45 balls. Lancashire’s total just surpassing the 175 runs required to gain maximum batting bonus points.

Lancashire took the field and with aggressive bowling and sharp fielding on a difficult outfield restricted Oxfordshire’s scoring options and bowled them out for 86 runs off 19.1 overs. Mahdi Abbas taking an excellent 5 for 26 off 5.1 overs and Dylan Riley taking 3 for 11 off 4 overs, both bowlers at one stage being on a hat trick.

Lancashire ended the day with 10 points for the win and maximum bowling and batting points.

Day two brought another reduced overs match, this time against Cornwall. Set for 20 overs, the match was further delayed as the umpires felt that water creeping under the covers had created damp patches which they deemed were dangerous. Meanwhile other teams were playing, potentially putting Lancashire at a disadvantage.  The Match eventually started at 2.15pm which meant it was always going to be a struggle to get the overs in before predicted thunderstorms came through later in the afternoon. 

Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat first. The innings eventually concluding with a score of 146 for 4 off just 20 overs. Major contributions being from Rion Dalugoda making 40 and Josh French who hit an impressive 61 runs from 40 balls with a strike rate of 152.

Time was against the Lancashire bowlers if they were to force a win, with the clouds darkening and distant thunder in the air. Only 8 overs were possible before, in heavy drizzle, the umpires called the match to a close. No further play was possible. Cornwall ended up on 33 for 4 after 8 overs. Henry Roberts taking 2 wickets in his only over. Lancashire took 4 points for the “draw” and took 3 batting bonus points and 2 bowling points. No other teams managed to force a win so Lancashire remained on top of the table with 29 points, 2 points ahead of their nearest rivals Gloucestershire.

Day three was a day of frustration. Torrential rain on Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday morning, meant that all play for the day was abandoned by the tournament organisers at 7.43 am.  Lancashire’s game against Kent Invicta was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Ironically throughout the day the sun was “cracking the flags” posing the question that with a later announcement, games may have been possible on a reduced overs basis.  The abandonment meant that players could spend most of the day with their parents and the whole group met up together in the evening for a meal and social evening out in the centre of Taunton, expertly organised by Paresh Majithia, our thanks go to him for taking on the task. The night was made special when an impromptu “knock about” on the Castle Green was joined by two members of the Somerset Constabulary who joined in the fun.  Video evidence is available of their batting and bowling skills. They eventually departed giving high fives and fist bumps and saluted the Lancashire lads by putting on the “blues and twos”. Photographic Evidence is also available of the varying skills of some of the parents in the subtle arts of batting and bowling.

Day 4 - Thursday. Thankfully the bad weather had passed and cricket was back on the menu. Lancashire we’re taking on Dorset, who themselves had had a good start to the competition and looking at their figures, wouldn’t be easy opponents.

Dorset won the toss and elected to field, putting Lancashire in to bat. Lancashire weren’t at their best with the bat, four players getting over twenty but only one able to push on and post a score over thirty. Jackson Bentley top scored with 40 off 41 balls and Lancashire were bowled out for 142 off 35 overs. This score was a recovery when you consider that Lancashire were 81 for 7 at one stage.

In the field Lancashire’s pace/seam bowlers took on the task in defending a relatively low score. With accurate, sometimes aggressive bowling they made it difficult for the Dorset batsmen and supported by aggressive fielding the required run rate was rising.   Twenty overs in and four wickets had been taken by the time the spin attack took over.  This set the stage for a batting collapse as the Dorset batters tried, against a strong spin attack, to up the scoring rate. Dorset tumbled from 92 for 5 to 99 all out. Rion Dalugoda taking 3 for 3, Dylan Riley 2 for 16 and Krishav Rangaraju 2 for 15. A Lancashire win by 43 runs giving Lancashire 10 points for the win plus 3 batting and 5 bowling points, meaning that with one match to go, Lancashire were top of the table with 51 points with Worcestershire second with 49.  Our last match on day 5 was against Worcestershire, on the main pitch, winner takes all.

Friday - Day 5.  The weather was good, the pitch was dry and with a strip that had consistently provided plenty of runs throughout the week, the scene was set for the match between the top two teams out of the 12 teams in the competition.

Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bowl.

After the loss of an early wicket Lancashire consolidated and from 6 for 1, Krishav Rangaraju and Rion Dalugoda put on 78 for the second wicket. When Krishav was out for a well constructed 47, Jackson Bentley took up the cause and helped push on the score and scoring rate by taking 46 from 42 balls in a enterprising innings. After the allotted 40 overs, Lancashire stood at 209 for six, which included a aggressive and entertaining innings of 36 from 16 balls from Rupert Hallows which was only ended by a very good catch on the boundary. In the Lancashire innings, Krishav Rangaraju scored 47 and Rion Dalugoda 62 which set the platform for the lower order batsmen to take advantage of an increasingly dispirited attack.

When Worcestershire came into bat, Lancashire’s pace and seam attack made scoring difficult, backed up by tidy fielding on a fast outfield.  Wickets fell regularly and when the spin attack came on they continued to make it difficult for the Worcestershire batters. Worcestershire eventually being bowled out for 64 off 24.2 overs, giving Lancashire a win by 145 runs. Noteable bowling figures were Mahdi Abbas 12 for 2 of 5 overs, Dylan Riley - 5 overs for only 4 runs with one wicket, Zach Barton - 17 for 2 and Moosa Kashmiri - 3 overs 3 wickets for 4 runs.

Taking a maximum of twenty points and beating our nearest challengers, Lancashire were comfortable Champions, the first time the Red Rose county has taken the trophy since 2005.

The players have deserved this success and have made great strides under the expert eye of Head Coach Frankie Haasbroek. Frankie coaches a style of cricket which when working correctly, subjects the opposition to constant pressure whether they be batting, bowling or fielding. He has helped create a squad that is operating as a unit and has instilled in them the belief that “we win together and we lose together” but whatever we do we do it together. His analysis of the game given in the post match team talks really helps the players and gives them guidance on managing game situations.  In this squad if one person is “having a bad day at the office”, others can “stand up” and take on the responsibility, either batting, bowling or fielding.