Captain Daniel Kite won the toss for the U10s and decided to bat first, his side posting a score that coach David Swan described as "always looking unbeatable", putting together 287.

This gave Merstham the opportunity to use all nine bowlers, each one returning their best bowling figures of the season. The fielding and bowling was exceptional. First ball of the innings: bowled Bateman, caught Kite.  A total of 16 wickets says it all. Daniel Kite took three wickets and took three catches, taking the man of the match award on his first game as captain as Oxted and Limpsfield only managed 249 in reply.

The U12s ESCL team ran Oxted and Limpsfield very close, losing by a single run in chilly conditions (editor’s note: we’re sure the players, in their excitement, didn’t notice, but the parents always will!).

Oxted batted first and reached a challenging total of 103 from their 20 overs.

With a run rate of more than five an over required, the team batted steadfastly, keeping the run rate ticking over nicely.  Aflie hitting an unbeaten 25 before having to retire and Josh knocking up a nice 19 helped get the rate following in the middle order. 

This left Merstham with Cameron and Matt requiring seven runs off the final over to draw. A four from Cameron followed by a single left Matt needing two runs of the last three balls against Oxted’s best pace bowler! 

Tension mounted on the boundary on both sides.   Two dot balls meant it was all or nothing on the last ball – and despite a valiant attempt and a mad dash on the final delivery Merstham only managed to run a single!

A great friendly game of cricket against a side that is top of the league made for a fantastic game and a performance of which the boys can be proud. The players all acquitted themselves brilliantly and are becoming a great team.

Merstham had a slow start to their batting; a cautious five runs from the first partnership. The run rate improved through the middle of the order with Sam L scoring 15 runs which included 3 fours. Best batsman goes to Matt R who was retired at 30 runs. He scored four fours off some fast bowlers as Merstham’s total reached 82-7 off 24 overs.

The bowling got off to a good start yielding three wickets in the first four overs. Both Vaibhav and Matt L had maiden overs. Unfortunately it was our bowling that let us down totalling 32 extra runs. Best bowler goes to to Sam L who took two wickets and only has five runs against him; four of which were byes. Old Rutlishians scored 87-4 off 20 overs to win the game.

Merstham U9 Eagles defeated Sanderstead by scoring 287-2, returning to winning ways against opponents who struck 250-7.

The Eagles bowled first, with Max Thomas swinging the Incrediball all over the place for three wickets. Ben Wright took two wickets as he continues to improve in leaps and bounds, and Michael Noad took a return catch off his own bowling.  All the bowlers bowled well and the whole team showed improvements in backing up and getting behind the stumps when bowling and keeping. Sanderstead finished with 250-7.

There was lots of good stuff on show when the Eagles batted as well. Michael played a Bothamesque (ref. Old Trafford 1981) hook off his nose and Hamdam Rashid showed maturity beyond his years.

Will Carney and Alex Bird scored 12 and 9 with fantastic running, some nice shots and a constant stream of chatter. Connor Morris hit another powerful six in making nine, again complemented by Ben who scored six. Barney Turner was unlucky to keep finding the field with some proper cricket shots.  Max Morgan hit one lovely shot and will benefit further from the experience.

The innings was finished off by some classy strokes from Max Thomas and Luke Hirchfield, although Max was run out after some fool (Dad!) exhorted him to 'look for the second'. The game was played in a great spirit and Michael was Man of the Match in recognition of this performance and the cup game on Monday.

Reigate Priory’s U9s beat the Eagles in cup game early in the month, scoring 323-7 to the Eagles’ 264-8.

The Eagles had a much stronger team than of late with everyone returning from half term. However, Priory had too much strength from one to 10 and were clearly very up for the match!

They had an excellent leg spinner and one quick bowler in particular whom they used strategically when our best batters were in to stem their usual scoring. Priory batted first and amassed 323-7 with some particularly sharp running between the wickets. Few of our bowlers bowled to their very best but Barney Turner claimed two wickets for six runs off two overs.  One wicket also was take each by Luke Hirchfield, Max Thomas, Will John Cox, and Alex Bird.

A few of our fielders seemed still to be on half term break on occasion and Priory capitalised on some of our more inexperienced bowlers.

In response, Eagles posted 264-8. Running between the wickets was much improved - taking the lead from Reigate in this regard. There was also some good batting with Michael Noad hitting 13 off 15 balls, Will Carney making nine and Luke the same score with some classy batsmanship. Connor Morris hit a powerful six.

The U9 Hawks played two league games, with contrasting fortunes.  Against Capel on the Friday evening, the Hawks were unlucky not to take more wickets, and Capel scored 294-3. Despite Jamie Cattermole's aggressive hitting in scoring 14, none of the other batsmen really got going, and the Hawks ended up short of the target on 269-6.

However, the Hawks quickly bounced back with an excellent win against Horley.  Horley were restricted to 273-5, with Jamie Cattermole taking two wickets the pick of many great bowling performances.  In response, the Hawks' batting and running between the wickets was simply awesome - whilst Jacob Law and Dinuk Jayamanne both smashed double figures, every single player contributed runs. The Hawks finished on 285-6, three late wickets when the game was already won making the result look far closer than it was.