Shenley Village Cricket Club

SHENLEY UNDER 13s ARE COUNTY CHAMPIONS


Shenley Village Cricket Club had four of their junior teams representing them on the Hertfordshire Junior Leagues Finals Day on Sunday.

The Under 9s won a nail-bitingly close semi-final against local rivals Radlett at Bishop’s Stortford CC. They were beaten in the final by Hertford, an impressively strong batting side, but did themselves and the club proud to finish as County runners-up.

The Under 11s side (featuring most of the boys who last year won the County U10s title) also faced Radlett in their semi-final at Knebworth Park; this time narrowly failing to reach the Radlett run target.

Meanwhile, at Tring Park CC, the Shenley Village U12s lost a close-fought semi with Hemel Hempstead. The Shenley boys bowled and fielded well to restrict Hemel to 95-7. But despite some good batting performances from Ashley Smith and Nikhil Amin (both of whom retired with unbeaten 30s) they fell short by 8 runs.

It was the Under 13s side who came away with the main prize, being crowned 2009 Herts Junior League champions at Berkhamsted CC. The awful weather did not deter them from their task, as they beat Knebworth in the final by 4 wickets. Knebworth batted first in a rain-interrupted innings and at a good pace – having scored 30 runs off just 4 overs. But the Shenley bowlers managed to slow the run rate and take key wickets with Knebworth ending on 95-4.

Shenley openers Charlie Thurston (23) and Milind Chohan (31 retired) then set about their task in brisk style, taking the score to 59 without loss after 6 overs. By the 10th over Shenley were cruising on 75-1 with only 21 runs needed, 8 wickets in hand and 10 overs at their disposal. However, the match changed course with three batsmen soon back in the pavilion, having come unstuck while going for big hits. They also lost two wickets to run-outs.

At the end of the 19th over, the scores were tied, with Shenley just needing one run to win. In an unbelievably tense finish – and with anxious spectators on their feet – Knebworth’s Lewis bowled three dot balls and the atmosphere was electric. A no-ball and four overthrows followed, taking Shenley to a total of 100-6 and clinching the title with 3 balls to spare.

Having narrowly failed to take the spoils a year ago, it was a well-deserved win for this talented side.