After winning the league last year the U12 team decided to enter the Championship division this year to test themselves against the best in the county. It was a big step up for a team that was regularly depending on players from younger age groups to make up the numbers but everyone acquitted themselves brilliantly proving that we were at home in the top division. Although a strong core of regulars played most games, we fostered an inclusive atmosphere, playing a mixed ability team and opportunities were given to everyone in the squad and everyone was able to contribute to a great overall effort.

The season started away at Ballinger and it was immediately clear that this was going to be a big step up from the previous season. After the early season rain the grass in the outfield was very long so the ball was difficult to get away. The team played lots of lovely cricket shots that would have raced away later in the season but just stopped in the long grass. William saw off their opening bowlers but the team were unable to set a big enough total with Ali-Jawad top scoring with 10. We kept chipping away with 3 run outs and a lovely caught and bowled from Tommy, but dropped catches hurt us and despite economy rates of under 4 from Luke, Ayan, Aran and Tommy we were ultimately unable to defend the modest total.

Next up were 2 very close games against Amersham and Wendover which could have gone either way, but a running theme, dropped catches and some poor fielding cost us and enabled the opposition to just edge both games. Against Amersham the entire team had a bowl with Luke, William, Louis and Tommy all picking up wickets and Aron finishing with an economy rate of just 1. We initially struggled with the bat but Tommy came in to blast 29 from just 24 balls including our first 6 of the season but despite some lower order hitting from Thomas we came up just short. The Wendover game was very different to the slightly cagey match at Amersham. Wendover batted first and hit a huge 176 from their 20 overs with some fierce hitting taking a toll on our bowling figures. Arjun and Noah came out in credit picking up 5 wickets between them. At the innings break, with such an imposing total to chase the message to the boys was to just go out and enjoy themselves. They certainly did that with Ali-Jawad top scoring with 35 from 25 and Reyan then batted beautifully hitting 26 from only 10 balls enabling us to get to 167 and having Wendover incredibly worried that they weren't going to be able to defend their mammoth total.

We then had to field a weakened team against Beaconsfield, a team crammed with county players, to the extent that we had an U9, Teja stepping up to face U12 county bowlers. We struggled to take wickets but Teja bowled brilliantly and him, Ashmi and Aron all managed economy rates of under 6. When we came to bat though we just couldn't get the ball off the square and nobody was able to get in to double figures. Missing some of our key players, this was the only game where the team looked out of their depth.

4 games in and the team were desperate for a win and that duly came in the next home game against High Wycombe. High Wycombe batted first and hit 143 with Ayan and Dhiren really putting a brake on their run rate when it looked like they might get away and Ali-Jawad bowling well at the death. Having hit 167 in the last home game the team were confident that they could chase this down. Luke started things off well with a confident run a ball 24 at the top of the order, before he had to retire having faced the maximum 25 balls. Reyan and Ali-Jawad both hit double figures before getting out and then Dhiren scored 21 from only 14. The wickets kept tumbling though and it was starting to get very nerve wracking. Fraser was able to stick around for a bit but was run out after scoring a few and that bought Luke back in as we were 9 wickets down. Sam was able to hang in there as Luke, calmness personified, hit the winning runs.

It was 2 wins on the trot as we then beat Chesham in the next game. Louis opened the bowling with Noah and ended up with a very respectable economy of 3.5. Dhiren was in the wickets picking up a brace along with Tommy and Noah, with Ali-Jawad picking up 3 at the back end of the innings. Chesham were contained to 103 all out in 19 overs. Sam and Dhiren started things off well with Sam hitting 19 and Dhiren 17 before things slowed down a bit in the middle overs as some of our players were batting higher up the order than they were accustomed to. That meant the pressure was on towards the end with more than a run a ball needed. Aron with 9 runs played the supporting foil to Tommy who smashed 26 from 11 including 3 massive sixes to get there in the final over of the game.

The last league game was against the league champions, Gerrards Cross and we knew this was going to be tough, particularly with 4 U10s in the team including Kiyaan Hassan making his debut, and also Rayan playing his first competitive game. Gerrards Cross batted first, hitting 151 with only Tommy able to stem the flow of runs, although Kiyaan Hassan picked up his first wicket with a lovely caught and bowled. Sam and Aran opened for us and played well but we were always struggling to keep up with the run rate. Sam, Reyan, Dhiren and Noah all hit double figures and Tommy hit a couple of big sixes threatening to make a contest of it, but the wickets kept falling and we finished 30 short in the end.

I'm very proud of the whole squad who have proven themselves to be absolutely in the right division. We've been able to play a mixed ability team whilst remaining competitive throughout (let's pretend Beaconsfield never happened ?). Everybody has been welcomed into the team and contributed. The kids have played their cricket the right way, playing hard, but with respect and fairness.

Last but not least, thanks to all the parents that have given lifts, scored, umpired helped and supported the team throughout.

Congratulations all on a rewarding season. I look forward to the same again next year!