Page 46 - West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club Yearbook 2016-17

UNDER 14 – AGE CO-ORDINATOR’S REPORT
Under 14 GOLD
The 16/17 season welcomed four new players to the Gold Team; Selwyn, Saarang, Asvath, Menura and new coaches with Paul and Zia taking on the reigns. Our season was full of highlights, a few disappointments and a growing sense of team as we brought together the new and old; to recreate the sense of fun that our team has always had a strong focus on.
It was a slow start with our first win not coming until round 4. Our side has been traditionally strong with our bowling and fielding however neither discipline found rhythm. We ended the season with 4 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. The boys hung in tight and we had some great highlights, such as:
Matt’s season high of 77 with the bat against Beecroft, Selwyn’s 63 vs Kenthurst, Rajat’s 75 not out vs Normo, Al's 59 vs Redfield and Pat's 58 vs Glenorie. With the ball Joey and Rey, as our opening bowlers, were very efficient and picked up 12 wickets a piece. Sach was in form against Castle Hill with 3/8 and we were thrilled with Menura in his first year of cricket picking up 6 wickets. Asvath and Naveen took 3 each, and Saarang also 3 in his first year. The season had some nail biting moments, we had great intensity in the local derby vs Blue but the weather gods decided to abandon the match.
The last “friendly” game of the season the boys had great fun securing a decisive victory. Vino scoring a season high 23 not out, Selwyn 75 and Luca 3/8 ending the season on a positive. Our boys always displayed great sportsmanship lead ably by Luca during the season. Big thanks to Paul for coaching the boys, Zia for the on field support and our fantastic cohort of parents who week in and out turned up to cheer on our team.
Under 14 WHITE
A real coming of age!!!
It was always going to be a hard slog for the U-14 Whites who came about when two separate teams were merged. Not having played together or known each other made it hard for the boys to gel, and the absence of strong teamwork played a big part in the early season losses. There were days when the team morale was completely down and out and this even caused some members to quit midway through the season.
Despite the repeated setbacks, however, the boys trained regularly and showed a lot of commitment to improve. And over the next few weeks, the boys slowly started to bond and began to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Encouragement started to flow and this created much positivity all-
round – really a welcome change. As we drew nearer to December, the margin of losses became narrower, until........ that first win!! Yes, what an amazing feeling it was to have finally won a game. That win gave the boys a tremendous confidence boost, and they started to compete hard and play like a team.
Of the last 6 games, we won 3, drew 2 due to inclement weather (we had a real chance of winning both though!) and only lost 1. And this from a team that looked completely out of sorts at the season’s start and even lost players! No mean feat that! Full credit to the boys for showing resilience and staying true – the hard work paid off. Well-done Whites, really proud of you all. We now have a great foundation for the 2017-18 season.
Under 14 BLUE
The 14 Blues had a great year, both on and off the field. The season started with 11 boys all returning for another season and we were pleased to welcome Joshua and Kieran. Last season we built a brand new team with most boys not knowing each other, but this year was different and we hit the ground running. It was great to see each boy pick up where they left off last year and improve again this year.
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