U12s Tour of Devon

This was a tour as keenly anticipated by the parents and coaches as the boys themselves. We departed with 18 boys on Friday afternoon in a number of vehicles and all arrived safely at our holiday chalets in Witheridge, near Tiverton in time for a quick drink at the local pub. More importantly we left with 18 boys at the end! The locals were in fancy dress, but that’s another story!

On Saturday morning the boys were in high spirits having slept well and contributed admirably in a classroom session where did some team building exercises and came up with the qualities that they wanted to aspire to and how they would conduct themselves on tour and in the future.

Blackheath U12s Squad. We always:

1. Train Hard
2. Keep our heads up <Never give up>
3. Take all matches seriously <Always try to win>
4. Are friends
5. Enjoy success and encourage each other

After this session everybody went to the ground where they had literally only just completed the new club house (that day). The first game was a nine aside between the Blackheath boys with Jamie Bloomfield and William Melhuish captaining.

After some drills, Jamie’s “Red” team went into bat and scored steadily on a dry pitch with a fast outfield. They reached 87 for 6 off 20 overs. Jamie Bloomfield scored 13 and Toby Pakenham was retired having reached 20. Unfortunately running between the wickets was slightly confused on occasions which led to two silly run outs. Huw Whiteman bowled well and took two wickets with Josh Van der Meulen and Theo Gloyens taking one each. Well done as well to Jamie Reed who was the most economical bowler.
William’s team went into bat and scored more quickly and reached the target in only 14.5 overs with both William and Ben Taylor retired on 20 runs. Josh Van der Meulen was 11 not out and Seb Rimmer 5 not out. Jamie Bloomfield took 1 wicket and other wicket was another run out!! Most economical bowler was Tom Howe.

By the time this game was finished the bar was fully plumbed in and operational. Given that the fathers were suffering from the very cold wind a couple pints helped lift their spirits in time for the afternoon game against Exeter and Witheridge.

The Witheridge Coach arrived explaining that their side was made up from a mixture of County, District and regular village players and should be competitive. The Blackheath coaches acted in a calm and appropriate manner but the competitive spirit was clearly surging. A strong Blackheath side took to the field as Exeter and Witheridge went into bat and scored 107 for 7 off their 20 overs. The bowling was accurate and restricted their run rate with Jamie Bloomfield, Ben Taylor, William Melhuish and Josh Van der Meulen being the pick of the crop. This was by no means a challenging target under normal circumstances and the coaches were keen to point out that sensible play and good running between the wickets would certainly lead to a win. Other than a good opening stand between Harry Poil 19 and William Melhuish 14, Blackheath decided to make heavy weather of the run chase completing ignoring the coaches’ advice by allowing 4 of their players to be run out.

Jamie Bloomfield and Ben Taylor steadied the ship and pulled us back into the game with admirable mental strength. Jamie was retired after bludgeoning a much needed 31 and Ben Taylor contributed well with 11. Paddy Field and Jamie Harris were the next batsmen. Needless to say it was close with Blackheath needing 3 off the last over. BUT HANG ON……….. the scoreboard was wrong! (A school boy error to believe the scoreboard and not check with the scorer) Blackheath needed 8 off the last over! So a game that should have been in the bag was very much on. Both Paddy and Jamie played the last over really well under immense pressure. Paddy got the winning runs with one ball to spare which lead to much celebration amongst the boys and relief amongst the coaches and parents. Blackheath had scored 108 for 5 off 19.5 overs.

Man of the match went to the Captain Jamie Bloomfield with most improved player going to Sebastian Rimmer. Interestingly, and to his great credit, Seb had volunteered to play for Exeter and Witheridge when they discovered they were one man short and therefore picked up a Blackheath award playing for the opposition! It was particularly encouraging to see the boys show real mental strength and resolve to come back and win after having so dramatically lost their way in the middle of the innings.

Back at the homestead the boys all went swimming and enjoyed the feast lovingly laid on by Sharon and Alexia. They and the adults were tired and retired relatively early to prepare for the following day. (What goes on tour stays on tour).

Sunday at the club saw a mini tournament played out between the two Blackheath sides and Witheridge. In order that the boys who had enjoyed a net session with Guy Pakenham the previous afternoon saw some proper action, the batting order was reversed in both teams. The format was 6 overs and players to be retired on 10 runs.

Three games were played and Blackeath Red and White teams both beat Witheridge. In the final game between William’s Whites and Jamie’s Reds, the Whites narrowly prevailed again with 31 for 4 off 6 overs; Reds 28 for 4 off 6 overs.
The final over was extremely exciting with 4 required off the last ball with Jamie Bloomfield having been retired with only that ball remaining. Toby Pakenham went out to face a single ball with defeat or glory in the swing of a bat. Huw Whiteman saved his finest ball of the tour for such an occasion and although Toby courageously swung the bat hard, the yorker hit the stumps and Whites had won. Huw was carried off the pitch by his teammates singing Rule Britannia!!!!?????

In the 3 games played the most notable achievements were as follows; it was particularly satisfying to see James Westray play beautifully retiring on 11 runs, with Seb Rimmer and Jamie Reed both scoring 5 runs. For the Reds, Rupert Wilson-Harris and Felix Nicklin bowled well. Tom Howe, Toby Pakenham and Paddy Field got a wicket each.
Reds batting: Toby Pakenham retired on 10, James Hughes was solid opening the batting, Wilson Harris scored 4 runs, Felix Nicklin was not out. Whites bowling : Chris Thompson, Seb Rimmer, Jamie Reed all economical. 2 wickets for Huw Whiteman and 1 for Josh Van der Muelen, 1 run out.

The tour was a massive success and thanks go to;

• Sharon Thompson and Alexia Howe who worked exceptionally hard and looked after everybody extremely well. They are essential for any tour!!
• Louise and Graham Nicklin who organised the tour and arranged the accommodation. It was first class and deserves a second visit.
• Chris Poil, Hamish Whiteman and Guy Pakenham who did their level best to encourage, coach, train and bring the best cricket out of the boys.
• All the parents for coming along and supporting the boys.
   

Tour report by Guy Pakenham with photos supplied by Sharon Thompson.