Last season the U11s were known for their close finishes; thankfully they haven’t lost the knack in 2018, writes Graeme Law.

Unfortunately, the NEC cup game against Reigate Priory - played as a pairs game - wasn’t close.  It wasn’t even close to being close.  

Priory batted first and it appeared a number of the Merstham boys were still half asleep, as some of our bowling and fielding was significantly less tight than usual.

(Questions will no doubt be asked about discipline and whether a curfew needs to be imposed in the future).  

Whatever the reason, Priory racked up 161-3 in their 20 overs - Seb Parsons, Sam Gill and Ruari Gibbs with a wicket each.

In reply, Merstham struggled to impose themselves against Priory's strong bowling attack and eventually managed 92-8.  The innings was notable for the fact that it contained two fives and an eight (yes - EIGHT: Sam Flower - who top scored with 16 - hooking a chest-high no-ball for six).  

A bad day at the office; a loss by 99 runs; a chance to concentrate on the league.

On the next evening, the ESCL team ventured into the wilds of Wallington with a team best described as “inexperienced”: three debutants and two boys playing only their second ever match.

Wallington batted first and it was clear we were in for a close contest - they scored runs, but we picked up regular wickets - Tom Parkman and Dilshaan Mugunthan with a wicket each, and two great run outs - Ralph Cobbold and Seth Saunders combining for the first, and Seb Parsons doing it pretty much all himself for the second. 

But after 11 overs a storm of biblical proportions arrived - rain, thunder, lightning and locusts.  It looked like we’d need an ark more than a heavy roller to get any play.  But this is England. We took a (long) early tea, the sun eventually returned and eventually we were playing again, in a game reduced to 15 overs a side. 

Cobbold bowled two great overs at the death and picked up a couple of wickets - leaving Merstham to chase a net score of 248 on a pitch that by now could be flatteringly described as “temperamental”.

Parsons and Parkman got us off to a great start, albeit their running between the wickets appeared to rely more on telepathy than the conventional medium of the spoken word. Harrison Brindley came in and played some typically audacious shots for his 12.

But then it was time for our new boys - Eric Cobbold, Byron Wood and Saunders - batting with William Telford. While runs were hard to come by, crucially the boys batted with grit and determination, only losing one wicket in those middle overs.  This left the game tantalisingly poised - 19 runs required from the final three overs.

We actually only needed two overs to knock the runs off - Jacob Law’s blistering assault on the bowlers taking us into the lead.  That left Mugunthan to face the remaining few balls, knowing that a single wicket would see us back behind Wallington’s score. But Mugunthan is the captain of cool, and calmly negotiated the final over without any further drama, seeing us home by five runs.  We’d scored 59 for the loss of only one wicket - a fantastic performance by the whole team.

Merstham U10s claimed a memorable win in the first round of the NEC Cup, with a nail-biting last-over win against local rivals Reigate Priory, writes Jon White.

Having beaten last season’s nemesis of Southern Railway in the preliminary round just two days earlier, Merstham faced a strong Reigate side featuring a number of Surrey county players.

After Dylan Kenny won the toss and elected to bowl, Oliver White was straight into the action with two wickets in the first over. Tight bowling and excellent fielding kept the runs down, before Paolo Bertorelli claimed the third wicket, and a direct hit from Hamdan Rashid resulted in a run out for the fourth in the same over.

The 16^th over then saw things really swing Merstham’s way as William Blair picked up a wicket, followed by Henry Clark doing likewise in the next over. Oliver then claimed two more before Charlie Halford-Nichols and Hamdan both got among the wickets to leave Reigate on 252-10 after their 20 overs.

Merstham’s reply began well, with Oliver and Henry getting us off to a good start, including Oliver hitting the first six of the season. Steady and sensible batting throughout the innings was the key, with James Barkwith, Thomas Pieters and Paolo batting well with good defence against some accurate Reigate bowling to keep wickets to a minimum. Hamdan and Travis Bateman picked up key runs in the middle of the innings, before the last pair of Charlie and Dylan hit a couple of crucial fours to take us past the Reigate total, with both of them defending resolutely for the last few balls to see Merstham finish on 258-3 to record a fantastic win.

All the boys should be incredibly proud of their efforts against such a strong Reigate side. Thanks too to all the parents and grandparents who came along to provide such great support. We now await news on our opponents for the second round.