T20 Shropshire U13 vs Stellenbosch Zone U13

What a privilege for the boys to play at Groot Drakenstein Games Club. The oldest cricket club in Africa and the place where the rule about off-side wides was first instituted. The historic pavilion is handsomeness itself and the towering jagged mountains gift this theatre of play the most dramatic of backdrops.

The chastening result of the first match left all with an appetite for ‘more time in the middle’. This match started with promise. Toby Egerton had one of the openers caught behind in the first over. However, the Stellenbosch boys were soon back in the swing – It was only the pace of Josh McDonald which broke the first of their team’s big stands. Josh soon accounted for another and in a mini-collapse, Olly Parton snaffled a couple too. Then the normal order resumed, Nos 5 & 8 putting on an unbroken stand of 68 to see their side to 168 for six in their 20 overs.

To those with an interest in the doorways of Romanesque buildings chevrons are of appeal. To batsmen they are not. Unencumbered by either dots or numbers, the repeated chevrons at the head of the page which records Shropshire’s innings tells a sobering story. However … joining one another with the score at 6 for three, Oscar Cooke and Freddie Timmis persevered, battling their respective ways to a stand of 59. At Oscar’s departure all of the other batsmen, Josh McDonald, Henry Walker, and Jovan Uppal contributed, ‘hanging around’ as Freddie Timmis excelled. The match ended with the team’s score on 111 for 7, and Freddie 59 not out. His was the highest score of the day and his accomplishments gave one and all a fillip of positivity on an otherwise challenging day of cricket … in a heavenly setting.