The Crows U11s returned on Friday evening with an away fixture at Gracedeiu. Once again, there was a lot of shiny new kit and some nervous parents as 4 Crows made their hardball debuts.

Noah Cockerill skippered and decided to bat having won the toss.

Pairs selected, Noah led from the front. Ably supported by Oscar Pello, the Crows made it through the first 4 overs without losing a wicket. Both ran well between the wickets and were unlucky not to collect a few boundaries.

After the first sanitation break, Lennon, fresh from a retweet from Bumble, and Lewis made their way to the middle. Both were appearing in their first game, and made a nervy start. After losing a couple of wickets, they began to find their feet. Lennon hit a swashbuckling boundary and Lewis was centimetres away from following suit!

Next in were two more debutants, Charlie and Louan. Ultra competitive Charlie had clearly decided he was not giving his wicket up without a fight and backed up that claim with a fine display of defensive technique! Louan kept the scoreboard ticking at the other end and the pair developed a useful partnership, running well between the wickets and picking the gaps nicely.

Final pairing Murphy and Stanley finished off the innings well with some lusty blows, Murphy hitting 3 classy boundaries and Stan rotating the strike intelligently.

Ratby finished on 69-4.

More sanitiser was applied and Gracedeiu were ready to start their chase. Noah, once again leading from the front, started with a tight over and was rewarded with a wicket. Though he had Murphy to thank after a quite spectacular diving catch behind the stumps!

Next up was Oscar. Having negotiated a £5 per wicket deal with his dad, he was focused. What followed was a demolition job on Gracedeiu’s hopes. 3 wickets in four balls! Two clean bowled and a smart catch off his own bowling. Oscar would later claim a fourth wicket and £20 from his dad!

Stan set a great example of how to bowl a tight line and length. This was heeded by Charlie, Lewis, Lennon and Louan. The four debutants all bowled and fielded really well. There weren’t many wides and everyone was backing up in the field. Charlie picked up 2 wickets, both bowled and celebrated with gusto!

Despite a late rally from the final pair, Gracedeiu were left on 52-8. A crushing victory for the Crows, but more importantly there were some fantastic performances!