UNDER 15s CYPRUS SQUAD

    

From the young cricketers that attended the youth training programme, 25 of the best have been selected to train and play matches in preparation forn the Under 15 Eurochamps in Spain next August. Coaches John Conway, Ian McCarrick John Mills explain the training programme that the boys will have to folow. It is going to take commitment from the boys and support from their long suffering parents for the team to perform well in Spain.

    

KRS V FOLEYS in the PAX SCHOOLS LEAGUE

Ian McCarrick writes

A hot sunny afternoon at Dhekelia cricket pitch, the warm up completed and Foleys coach pulls up.  Eleven young men step on to the lush green grass, and the steely look in their eyes tell KRS they are here to win.  Foleys captain Creon wins the toss and elects to have a bowl.

KRS openers tried to bat themselves in but some excellent pace bowling from Elliot and an impressive display of swing bowling from Will Carr unsettled the partnership.  Eventually Elliott got his reward with a ball that climbed and his captain took the catch neatly.  A wicket each for Will and Rushil put KSR under sever pressure, but opener Alex Mccarrick was resisting stubbornly.  His innings held KRS together and he played some classy shots as he moved on to top score in the match.  With Will picking off another two wickets at the other end, only a brief flurry from Jordan Mckenzie kept the scoreboard ticking over.  Alexıs guard was eventually broken by Rushil, and KRS could only hope their tail would wag.  It did in the shape of George Lewer who hit 14 runs while others dropped around him.  Captain Creon came on and mopped up the tail with the help of Alex Kyriackou.  KRS had been kept down to 71 all out in the 19th over, Foleys thoroughly professional display in the field had put them right in the driving seat, needing just 3.5 runs an over in their innings.

KRS captain Dan Barrett got his men together an told them what he expected, 100% effort every ball, and fight till the last run is scored.  Elliot and Will looked to have weathered the excellent swing bowling of Josh Keeling and Alex Mccarrick till Will edged a ball from Josh to Ben Mccarrick at 1st slip.  This brought Creon to the crease who set of at a rapid pace to gun down the runs his team required, but in the very next over Alex got one to swing late and dislodge his off stump.  KRS captain Dan then brought himself on to bowl with dramatic effect, he produced a masterful performance of line, length and pace taking 4 wickets in 4 overs for just 6 runs, including the key wicket of Elliott.  After a brief flurry of runs from George, Dan decided it was time for the spin twins, Ben Mccarrick and Sam Burley.  They kept the run rate up and Benıs right arm leg spin did for Archit, and when Sam had Rushil caught Foleys last recognised batsmen had gone.  With the run rate rising Josh and Alex were brought back to clear up the tail, and when Nicholas was run out on the last ball Foleys had come up short by just 8 runs.

This was an excellent match to watch, played in a determined and professional manner.  All the young men were sporting in their efforts and can be very proud of their performance; I have no doubt that Foleys are already plotting their revenge in the return leg at Happy Valley to take place after half term.

 

AYNIC v AMERICAN ACADEMY. JUNIOR FRIENDLY

The American Academy Larnaca took its fledgling cricket team to the green fields of Aynic for the first of their monthly fixtures against the Aynic juniors. The boys and girls from the American Academy play cricket on Wednesday afternoons on their gravel playground dodging the stray shots from the girls fooball team practicing at the other end. To play on a proper pitch surrounded by grass was a revelation.

 

Aynic juniors batted first in a 20 over game managing 65. The American Academy passed that total but the game went on nevertheless as noone really wanted it to stop.

There was a lot of energy and excitement in the cricket, expansive celebrations at the loss of each wicket, eager support  from parents on the boundary. When the game was over the man of the match received his trophy of gumdrops and the rest of us had tea.

 

KING RICHARD SCHOOL v AMERICAN ACADEMY LARNACA

In the first of the six games of the Schools League , King Richard School from Dekeliia played the American Academy from Larnaca.

The Schools league is an opportunity for young players to get involved in competitive games, away from their gravel schoolyards, played on proper pitches with grass outfields.

Some of the young players have never worn the armory of protective gear needed when playing with the hard cricket ball and had a few problems getting used to walking and running like penguins with the unwieldy pads strapped to their legs.

King Richard were put into bat and their batsmen took advantage of the opportunity to build individual scores. Openers David Bailey and A.McCarrick  had a good stand for the first wicket, playing well within themselves both seemed untroubled by the Academy opening bowlers. A. McCarrick was run out on an unfortunate call, soon  followed by no 3 D.Barrett who was caught with a fine overhead catch from Mario in the covers. There followed the defining partnership of the KRS innings between D. Bailey and Ben McCarrick..Together they added over 60 runs before David Bailey was bowled by Phillip on 31. Ben Mcarrick played on to his half century, partnered by J.Hewitt (12 no) finishing on 57 no, ratcheting the score up to 169–3 after 25 overs.

The Academy knew they were not going to match this score, and were content to bat for as long as possible to gain as much experience as possible. The first three bats came and went without making an impression, victims of some accurate medium pace bowling from  Dan and D.Bailey. A brief partnership between Nick and Eva, held up the proceedings for a while, and a flurry from Lefteri at no 8, gave some respectability to an inexperienced Academy batting lineup. All out for 58, the Academy were outplayed by a strong KRS team.