Batsmen on top as U9s start with victory: Merstham juniors round-up

Merstham U9s began their season in winning ways with a convincing victory over local rivals Reigate Priory.

Bowling first, Merstham got off to the perfect start, with Alec Baker claiming a wicket with the very first ball of the match. Excellent fielding resulted in six run outs, which – coupled with some good bowling – resulted in Merstham restricting Priory to 287-8 off their 20 overs.

Merstham’s innings got off to a strong start, with Alec and Oliver White putting together a partnership of 23 for the first pairing. Consistent scoring through the middle order set up the platform for first Dylan Kenny and Travis Bateman followed by Thomas Pieters and Paolo Bertorelli to hit some lusty blows, with Thomas hitting the first six of the season to top score with 22.

Merstham finished on 336-2 off their 20 overs, to take victory. A great start to the season for the Merstham boys in a match played in a good spirit.

On Monday May 1, the U11 Panthers played their first cricket match, writes captain Barney Turner.

It was a cold, rather rainy day for it, but we gave it our best shot. Things started off nicely with Ben Lehain and Lucas De Acetis (making his debut for Merstham) bowling well.

As the game went on, our players showed a good start to the season, but sadly none of us could have predicted the last Lingfield pair to be as strong as they were.

Our fielding was good, and included a great run out by Connor Thorp, but we need to work on the boundaries. The best bowling figures went to Flynn McRobbie with 2-2 off his 12 balls.

Our batting could have been better, but no one is perfect and it gives us something to work on. They were a very strong team and we put up a good fight with Matthew Gray and Connor Thorp both making double figures.

We had reached 259 after 16 overs vs their 258 at the same point, but couldn't' match the 41 that their final pair made. I think we deserved a higher score as we put out a strong team performance.

Things to work on; Bowling accuracy, Boundary protection.

The U14s began the season with a tough opening fixture against a strong Dorking side who are new to the league this year. Dorking batted first with their opening pair quickly establishing a strong platform.

Despite some accurate Merstham bowling, the Dorking openers used their height and strength to pick up quick runs, including a couple of early sixes.

Both had to retire on 40 and, despite Josh Young taking the wicket of their number three first ball, the runs continued to flow and Dorking reached a very strong total of 154.

Showing no real signs of weakness, Dorking then opened with two very quick and accurate bowlers. Despite this, Merstham batted well and the runs continued to flow.

Luc Cordier top-scored with 23 but Brennan Calafato hit a quickfire 20 and Josh Young a stylish 17.

Unfortunately by the 18th over the light was fading rapidly and with Merstham on a creditable 84-5, but a long way short of Dorking's imposing total, the umpires brought proceedings to an early close.

Man of the match was Luc Cordier for his batting and a very tidy three over spell with the ball. Oli Shaw and Tom Whittenbury also made very promising debuts.