It’s been an incredible season. The Tigers finished joint top in the U11 South Central Championship, but narrowly missed out on the title because of head-to-head results. This was quite a turn-around from last year when we had a somewhat mixed season. A rigorous training schedule together with the addition of a few new recruits injected some new found vigour into the squad.

Our first game was against Ballinger Waggoners. Having won the toss, we elected to field and did very well to restrict the opposition to a score of 234 (the run total starts from 200). The Tigers were confident that they could achieve this target, but a string of early wickets put us on the back foot. We battled hard against a good bowling attack and slowly ground ourselves back in contention. By the end of the 18th over the Tigers were on 221 and were scoring at a run rate that would surely see them to victory. Unfortunately, disaster struck and the fall of two quick wickets saw us slip to a narrow defeat. The significance of this was not lost on Ballingers who celebrated wildly at the fall of the final wicket. Little did we know that this would be the defining moment of the season.

After this, the Tigers went from strength to strength. Next up were Chesham U10b, who were dispatched with a 52 run victory. The Tigers then travelled to Bledlow Ridge on a chilly Sunday morning. It proved to be difficult batting conditions for both sides, but the Tigers prevailed with a 19 run victory – a score line that belied the Tigers’ superiority with both bat and ball.

Next was a much sterner test against Wendover, who boasted two county players. The opposition won the toss and put us in to bat. The Tigers struggled to get their innings going and a regular loss of wickets meant that we were only able to post a score of 231. It would take a tremendous effort to win the game from here. However, the Tigers rose to the task with a brilliant bowling display. By the 18th over Wendover were on 220 runs and the game was on a knife edge. Some tidy bowling in the final two overs saw us take a narrow 8 run victory.

After such a nerve-racking finish, the Tigers released all their pent-up tension against Chesham U11b, who were at the wrong end of a thrashing. It was our most complete performance of the season as we ran away with a 182 run victory. The batting display was particularly pleasing as this was something we had struggled with all season. The Tigers amassed 347 runs for the loss of only 1 wicket.

By this stage of the season, we were neck and neck with Ballingers – both teams having won all but one game and both waiting for the other to slip up. There was no room for error.

Next up was another tough contest against Gerrards Cross. After winning the toss we elected to field and once again showed our bowling prowess as we restricted the opposition to a total of just 221. Although this seemed like an achievable target, we knew that Gerrards Cross had enough quality to defend this target. We struggled to get any momentum going with our batting and were pegged back by a string of wickets in the middle of the innings. By the time the final batting pair entered the field, we only had 211 runs on the board and the task was looking increasingly difficult. However, some resolute batting saw us scrape through with a 9 run victory. Another nail-biting finish that went to the final over. This league was not for the faint-hearted.

The Tigers then travelled to Holmer Green for the penultimate match of the season. Although we batted confidently, some kamikaze running between the wickets saw us post a paltry total of 231.

Any hope that the opposition had of victory quickly evaporated following a sensational bowling display by the Tigers. A massive 21 wicket haul saw us restrict them to a total of 134, leaving us with a 98 run victory.

The final game was away to Winchmore Hill, who had proven to be our nemesis on numerous previous occasions. However, a brilliant display with both bat and ball saw the Tigers vanquish their past demons and run away with a 70 run victory.

But as the season drew to a close, it became clear that Ballingers would win the league. Although the Tigers finished joint top, the rules state that head-to-head results determine the winner in the event of a tie. Attention was drawn to the closing stages of first game of the season. The entire fate of the league turned on the final over and on another day lady luck would have favoured us. However, it was not to be on this occasion. Cricket is a game of fine margins. Despite losing out on the top prize, the Tigers can be immensely proud of their achievements. A lesser team would have capitulated at the early loss, but Tigers were galvanised in defeat and went on to produce a string of victories that pushed Ballingers all the way to the finish line.

Some key performances to highlight across the season:

The top batting and bowling stats are shown below. Will Butcher led the batting charts, scoring 45 net runs with a strike rate of 76. Will was ranked 10th in the league based on total runs. He was ably assisted by Mayur Patel (ranked 16th in the league) and Rafe Alibhai (ranked 12th).

Reyan Patel topped the bowling stats with a net economy rate of -1.81. Reyan was ranked 2nd in the league based on total wickets. Also impressive with the ball were Will Butcher (ranked 4th in the league) and Ali Jawad Fazel (ranked 9th).

There were excellent individual performances from the two girls who debuted for the Tigers this season – Avani Rajan and Ashmi Mehta – both of whom took hat-tricks against Chesham U11b and Holmer Green respectively.

There were also notable improvements in performance throughout the season from a number of players, particularly Zac Holligan with the ball and Ali-Jawad Fazel with the bat.

Finally, we would like to say a few thank-yous:

· Thank you to the parents for all the support they have provided this season, including transporting the players to training and the matches

· Thank you to Raj Brar for arranging the fixtures, helping out with training sessions and all the support and advice he has provided to the coaches

· Thank you to John Campbell, John Moffitt and all the administrators at the club for ‘getting the game on’ in sometimes strange circumstances

· Thank you to Dave Brown for organising membership, kit etc and also for the bulletin updates each week

· Thank you to Mark Rogers for organising the net booking process, which the squad used to help us hit the ground running

· Thank you to Mike Pickard and Chris Wenman for preparing excellent pitches for us to play on.

· And finally to the players – thank you for being so enthusiastic, for being a pleasure to coach, and for playing the game and representing the club in the right spirit.

Top Batters

Club rank	County net runs rank	Player	Runs	Balls	Wickets	Average	Net runs	Net strike rate
1	10	William Butcher	51	59	1	51.0	45	76
2	16	Mayur Patel	40	53	0	40.0	40	75
3	12	Rafe Alibhai	55	62	2	27.5	43	69
4	18	Reyan Patel	48	95	2	24.0	36	38
5	44	Luke Hargreaves	38	54	4	9.5	14	26
6	43	Ali Jawad Fazel	62	81	8	7.8	14	17
7	53	Max Schiavi	69	83	10	6.9	9	11
8	73	Zac Holligan	51	68	8	6.4	3	4
9	101	Joseph Sear	34	90	6	5.7	-2	-2
10	127	Aaran Amin	9	49	3	3.0	-9	-18

Top Bowlers

Club Rank	County Wickets Rank	Player	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Average	Net Runs	Net Economy Rate
1	2	Reyan Patel	16	43	12	3.58	-29	-1.81
2	4	William Butcher	12	34	9	3.78	-20	-1.67
3	9	Ali Jawad Fazel	14	40	8	5	-8	-0.57
4	23	Aaran Amin	10	26	5	5.2	-4	-0.40
5	15	Rafe Alibhai	13	33	6	5.5	-3	-0.23
6	42	Joseph Sear	14	43	4	10.75	19	1.36
7	37	Mayur Patel	10	38	4	9.5	14	1.40
8	49	Luke Hargreaves	8	33	3	11	15	1.88
9	26	Zac Holligan	12	53	5	10.6	23	1.92
10	17	Max Schiavi	14	65	6	10.83	29	2.07

Season results (league matches)

1. Loss by 15 runs (219 v 234) v Ballinger Waggoners (home)

2. Win by 52 runs (258 v 206) v Chesham U10b (home)

3. Win by 19 runs (225 v 244) v Bledlow Ridge (away)

4. Win by 8 runs (231 v 223) v Wendover (home)

5. Win by 182 runs (341 v 159) v Chesham U11b (home)

6. Win by 9 runs (230 v 221) v Gerrards Cross (home)

7. Win by 98 runs (134 v 232) v Holmer Green (away)

8. Win by 70 runs (226 v 296) v Winchmore Hill (away)

Link to league table/results here