Godalming hosted both the under 13 and under 15 finals; unfortunately it seemed that the under 13s had the larger pitch and the under 15s faced defending two astonishingly short boundaries. Sunbury batted first and fully exploited the playing area; A Poynter opened and scored 136 not out from a massive total of 186 for 5. The other Sunbury batsmen scored only 28 between them. Unfortunately the Yateley bowlers were rather put to the sword with James Platt going for 30 off 2 and TomWhite 30 off 3. Stuart Skeates went for 36 off 5 and Alex Barker took 1 for 32 off 5 although both suffered in their final over and had bowled admirably before that. Ben Brady took the honours with 3 for 40 off 5 including a hat trick opportunity.

The total was far too great for Yateley to contemplate and we lost wickets regularly as a result of over ambition. No-one reached double figures as Yateley tumbled out for 34.

The boys had done extremely well to reach the final and despite inevitable disappointment should be pleased with the season’s efforts.

Seven of Yateley’s defeated West Surrey Finalists set off for Hartley Wintney immediately after the West Surrey Final. They played four games, winning two and losing two, ending up second equal in the competition out of six sides. Olly Briggs top scored with over 100 runs in the four games (once out and three retired), Alex Barker scored 56 (twice out and twice retired) and James Platt retired on 25 in his only game before he had to leave for holidays! All except the wicket keeper bowl in this competition and Stuart Skeates and Alex Barker were probably the pick of Yateley’s bowlers. Ben Brady, Stephen Maskell and Tom White chipped in with their bowling and batting and all the boys fielded well.

Aldershot won the competition to make it a great day for them after their two counties final win in the morning.

A number of the boys have had losing semifinals in recent years and were determined to win this one. That attitude was very evident as they rocked Farnham with a brilliant fielding display; the pressure applied to the batsmen by restricting the flow of runs was as responsible as Chris Miller’s throw and Alex Barker removing the bails for a fourth over run out. Remarkably, both Stuart Skeates and Alex recorded 1-14 off 5 overs in an excellent first ten overs during which Farnham managed 34-3. They finished on 83-6, accelerating slightly in the second half but still well contained by Yateley’s tight fielding and bowling. Chris Miller took 2-16, Tom White 0-22 and Robbie Clark 1-4.

Robbie Clark and Chris Miller put on a steady 23 for the first wicket but then Yateley lost two wickets from successive balls. Chris then added 42 in what seemed a decisive stand with Olly Briggs before Olly was caught for 12 and quickly afterwards Chris departed to a stunning catch for a well made 36. From 65-4 in the 16th over Yateley progressed to 78-7 at the end of the 19th to set up a nail biting finish. Cometh the hour cometh the man and James Platt did not disappoint, smashing two fours off the final over to win the match with Yateley reaching 86-7.

Rather closer than it might have been but it was a well fought contest and Yateley won in the end! The win sets up a final against either Cobham or Sunbury at Godalming on Sunday 28 July at 0930. Keep it going lads!

Normandy batted first and put on 66 for the first wicket. However that took 14 overs as James Platt’s back injury forced Yateley to vary the bowling line up. Chris Miller’s seam up partnered Alex Barker’s spin, with two overs of Chris reserved for the end of the innings. Alex bowled his 5 overs for 22 runs, Tom White went for only 18 off 5 overs and Robbie Clark took 1-37 off his five. Chris Miller finished with 2-10. Yateley’s performance in the field was a huge improvement over Friday at Windsor and the field was helped by improved bowling.

Yateley lost both openers for single figures before Chris Miller and Olly Briggs added 39 for the third wicket. Olly was out for 15 at 67-3. Chris continued to dominate the innings and finished on 53 not out as Yateley ended on 101-4 at the end of the 19th over.

A good victory which leaves the team with 5 wins and a tie out of 7 played. We will need to see other results to find out whether we have won the division; in any event, it has been a very creditable effort!

This was a match which Yateley should have won but didn’t; now the possibility of winning the league depends on other teams results.

Windsor batted first and made 126-4 from their 20 overs. Chris Miller bowled a good spell of 2-10 off five overs but the rest of Yateley’s bowling was rather loose and the fielding unusually ragged. Dropped catches and thoughtless throwing contributed to Windsor setting a demanding total.

Yateley lost their opening pair rather quickly. Olly Briggs added 15 before losing a stump and then Robbie Clark and Will Moore put on 54 before Robbie (39) had to retire after being hit on the helmet by a wild no ball. Will was bowled shortly afterwards for 18. Yateley required 36 off the last 3 overs and managed 27 of them, with James Platt (13*) and Ben Brady (7*) running everything and James producing a very big six.

A disappointing outcome and the boys will have to pick themselves up for the final West Surrey league match at Normandy on Monday.

Yateley batted first and lost a wicket with the first ball, but Will Moore and Robbie Clarke restored the situation with a stand of 26. Will played really well for his top score 23. Yateley never managed any momentum in their innings but helped by James Platt (11) and Stephen Maskell (11*) they reached 89-7 off their 20 overs.

As they did in our home fixture earlier in the season Aldershot’s openers played very steadily and built their innings with safe shots, accumulating runs with minimum risk. Yateley fielded enthusiastically and well but Aldershot progressed to a wining total. Yateley took two wickets thanks to slick fielding for a run out by Robbie Clarke and a first ‘A’ team wicket for Dave Hughes who bowled very confidently.

Aldershot won by 8 wickets.

Yateley won the toss and decided to field, in case of more rain and a reduced over allocation. In the event the weather was kind, if a little cold!

Camberley were well contained by the opening spells from James Platt (2-27) and Chris Miller (1-15) who each bowled 5 overs. Yateley were in command with the score 28-3 off nine, but Camberley launched a mid innings blitz to reach 76-3 off fourteen. They were later contained particularly by an accurate spell from Robbie Clark (1-13). Yateley produced an athletic fielding display, none more than Ben Brady who produced another excellent display in his sweepers role; one of Ben’s stops was nothing short of miraculous. Jason Chappel and Olly Briggs took good catches and Alex Barker had a direct hit run out with the last ball of the innings to leave Camberley on 107-5.

Yateley started purposefully looking for around 5 an over but lost Alex Barker early on for 5. Chris Miller (32 off 36 balls) and Tom White (23 off 28 balls) added 55 for the second wicket before Olly Briggs reasserted the scoring rate with a quick 20 off 15 balls. James Platt scored 11 off 7 balls and Yateley faced the final over needing 11 to win. Having hit the first ball for 4 and the second for 2 James was bowled by the third leaving Yateley needing 5 off 3. The excitement was so intense that new batsman Robbie Clark had to be restrained from running out to the wicket! A dot ball and then a single left Stephen Maskell needing 4 for victory off the last ball. It didn’t go for four but quick running and overthrows gave Yateley 3 runs and a tie (107-6). A thoroughly entertaining , if slightly nailbiting game! We still have a chance of winning our division of the West Surrey.

With the West Surrey League no longer admitting B teams this friendly was arranged to widen further the group of boys to have played U15 cricket this season.

Yateley batted first and Will Moore scored a breezy 20 before being caught. The boys were generally having difficulty dealing with the Hartley Wintney bowling and slumped to 50 for 9 before James Chandler (5*) and Robbie Clark (13*), in the unaccustomed positions of 10 and 11, added an unbeaten 30 for the last wicket. Yateley finished on 80 for 9 after 20 overs.

Hartley Wintney struggled at first, being reduced to 38-6. Alastair McDougall took 3-8 with other wickets coming from Will Moore (1-10) and Dave Hughes (1-7). Ben Brady created a good run out but Hartley Wintney steadied the ship and lost no further wickets as they ran out winners by 4 wickets. Yateley fielded enthusiastically and well, and at one stage had a real chance of winning.

Yateley batted first but couldn’t achieve any momentum. Each batsman was out after seeming to be established but nobody managed a meaningful score. Gethyn Howells top scored with 19 but otherwise only James Chandler (10) and James Platt (10) reached double figures. Yateley ended on 81-7 after 20 overs which wasn’t enough.

Finchampstead wobbled at 32-3 but then knocked off the runs in 16.1 overs to win by 7 wickets. Stuart Skeates bowled an excellent opening spell of 2-8 off 4 overs. James Platt achieved a terrific run out with a direct hit from square leg and Yateley fielded very well. However once Finch’s fourth wicket pair became established there was only going to be one result.

Yateley batted first losing Robbie Clark for 9 with the score at 36. Robbie’s opening partner, Tom White, was joined by Olly Briggs and the pair put on 77 for the second wicket; Olly was bowled for 43 made off only 24 balls. Tom continued and made a memorable 52, particularly as he was struggling due to painful blows to the foot. Yateley finished on a very competitive 137-3.

With Tom White unable to bowl and several other principal bowlers unavailable midweek the team had to bowl and field well to contain Eversley. Ben Brady took a brilliant catch and Olly Briggs bagged two more. Stephen Maskell took 3-15 and created a run out, James Platt took 2-29 and David Hughes 1-17 as Eversley ended on 119-6, Yateley winning by 18 runs.

Four wins out of four in the West Surrey League. Let’s hope the boys can keep it up!

Click here to see the photographs of the Under 9s taken by Chris Cole who reports:
"We arrived to find the place enveloped in low cloud and drenched in drizzle.  But after some fantastic (but expensive) bacon sandwiches everything including the weather improved. The boys did a fantastic job, playing 4 games in total. They won two out of three qualifiers, only losing against a scary Hambledon "A". Quarter final was against an excellent team from Liphook - and despite losing we displayed some excellent cricket, in the batting, bowling and fielding departments."

Yateley U10's travelled to Rowledge but ended up on the wrong side of a close game against an older and more experienced team.

The match was played on a damp pitch with the conditions overcast and humid. Yateley were asked to bat and the opening pair of Hugh Squire and Daniel Vincent got us off to a good start scoring 24 runs for the loss of only 1 wicket. The second pairing of Samuel Hill and Grant Murray scored 10 runs off of their 4 overs but unfortunately lost 3 wickets. We needed a steady stream of runs from the 3rd pair of Thomas Charles and George Wilson, and they certainly didn't let the side down, scoring 20 runs without any dismissals, the element of their game that was most pleasing was the good calling and running between the wickets. Yateley were now set up for a good end to the innings, Joe Chapple and Ben Fowlis scored 8 runs but were out twice, this left skipper Nicholas Ovens and Ben Swingler-Brown to close the innings scoring 30 runs but unfortunately losing 12 runs for three dismissals, Yateley finished on a slightly disappointing 256.

Rowledge were always up with the run rate and Yateley's bowlers struggled to take wickets, in so much as Rowledge were past Yateley's score after 12 overs, only having lost 2 wickets. The last bowling pair of Hugh Squire and Nicholas Ovens then brought some respectability to the score taking 4 wickets in the last three overs, leaving Rowledge on 282. Yateley never gave up, and a very good fielding performance by Yateley, including, a truly outstanding catch by Hugh Squire, a run-out and catch by Tom Charles, some good stops in the deep by Samuel Hill, two very good overs by Ben Fowlis and a catch from Joshua Stillwell in his first ever game

Frimley batted first and were contained by some improved Yateley bowling. Stewart Skeates bowled 4 overs for 8 runs and James Platt at the other end took 1-19. The spinners however did the damage with Tom White taking 3-5 and Amit Seghal 2-9. Ben Brady took 1-14 and Will Moore bowled a tidy couple of overs for 2 runs. Frimley were all out for 57

Sensing an easy victory, Yateley were shocked to loose early wickets and at 37-6 defeat looked a distinct possibility. Frimley’s bowlers seemed to find more shooters than Yateley had done as the pitch seemed to have a real chance of winning the match. However Amit Seghal and Ben Brady saw Yateley through to a two wicket victory with an undefeated 13 for the ninth wicket. Olly Briggs top scored with 11 (!).

In far from ideal weather conditions Yateley Under 15’s played Aldershot on Sunday 9th June. Aldershot chose to bat and made 124 for 2, with both wickets coming from run-outs in the later stages of the innings. Yatetley’s bowling seemed to be affected by the slippery conditions and “extras” made a good score. Best bowling figures came from Tom White (15 – 0 off 4) and Robbie Clarke (18 –0 off 4).

Yateley’s innings started poorly with the loss of 3 wickets for 5 runs. A great fourth wicket stand of 53 between Robbie Clark (21) and Gethin Howells (34, a seasons best) started to right the situation, but with the loss of these two the only other batsman to significantly help make the score look respectable was Jason Chappel 12 not out. Finally Yateley where 94 for 9 off their 20 overs.

Valley End won the toss and batted, making steady progress against a largely accurate Yateley attack. Chris Miller conceded 18 runs off 5 overs and Alex Barker took 1-13 off his five. Tom White (1-32) was Yateley’s other wicket taker as Valley End amassed 124-2 off 20 overs. Having been 65-1 after 15 overs Yateley were very disappointed to allow Valley End another 59 off the last 5 overs. Our fielding was not up to its usual high standard and too many extras were allowed.

Yateley had to keep the scoreboard turning over from the start to be in with a chance of victory. Martin Ashton was dismissed for 6 with the score on 15. Thereafter Alex Barker and Chris Miller both played fine innings to add an unbeaten 110 for the second wicket partnership and carry the side home by 9 wickets. Alex made 63 not out and Chris 52 not out, each including two sixes in their knocks. In the end victory was claimed with two and a half overs to spare.

With Camberley having won the toss and elected to field, Yateley’s opening partnership of Martin Ashton (22) and Robbie Clark (25) put on 43 for the first wicket. They ran aggressively and saw the benefit of putting pressure on the fielders. Almost inevitably both were eventually run out but only after they had provided their team with an excellent platform for a 20 over match. James Platt made a hard hitting 21 as Yateley closed on 95 for 6.

James Platt (1-20 off 4 overs) and Ben Brady (0-19 off 4 overs) opened Yateley’s bowling. Then Tom White (3-8 off 4 overs) and Olly Briggs (2-11 off 4 overs) wrapped up Camberley’s middle order with Stephen Maskell (1-3 off 2 overs) and Robbie Clark (1-0 off 1 over) mopping up the tail. Yateley fielded very well with two excellent run outs (Tom White and Ben Brady fielding) and Jason Chappel completed an excellent one handed stumping. James Platt, Martin Ashton and David Hughes all held catches.

Camberley were 65 all out off 19 overs leaving Yateley with their first win in the 2 counties by a 30 run margin.

Yateley lost the toss but fielded first, which had anyway been the intention. Wokingham scored 111 for 5 off their 20 overs. Yateley’s wicket takers were Stuart Skeates (1-13), Tom White (1-20), Gethyn Howells (2-24) and Robbie Clark (1-8).

Yateley needed a strong reply and unfortunately found themselves 0-2 part way through the first over. However a 52 run stand between Robbie Clark and Olly Briggs put Yateley back in contention. Olly made 30 off 14 balls while Robbie played an excellent innings, begining in the first over and stumped for 35 chasing runs in the final over. Tom White finished on 11 not out. Yateley managed 105 for 6 in an exciting finish but just failed to force a victory.

Yateley were soundly beaten in this one sided match, dominated for Basingstoke by a quite outstanding young cricketer. Fortunately, Yateley won the toss and batted first. None of our batsmen could build any momentum as we slumped to 30 for 6 off 12 overs. Basingstoke sportingly used 8 bowlers, and towards the end of our innings Tom White (11) and Will Moore (13 not out) managed to give our score some respectability, after Robbie Clark had hung in for several overs in scoring 7. The boys did manage to use all 20 overs finishing on 72-9.

Having taken 3 for 2 with his bowling, Basingstoke’s outstanding Mitchell Stokes completely took Yateley’s bowling apart. One could only sympathise with Stuart Skeates and James Platt who bowled perfectly well but had no answer to the onslaught. Basingstoke beat our total in 5.2 overs! Stokes scored 71 not out with his opening partner still on 4!

Both sides were very sporting throughout…we had no chance of competing against such a talent.

The under 10s got off to a winning start beating Windsor by 123 runs  after scoring an excellent 325 (net 125) with Ben Swingler-Brown starring with 4-6.

The under 11s also made a winning start against Valley End. Valley End managed 228 after losing 10 wickets with Thomas Lyons taking 4 for 3!! We batted confidently running out easy winners at 267.

The under 9s first ever league match ended a close defeat at Valley End. V.E. scored well to make 279, losing 5 wickets, in spite of two wickets for David Cole. We only lost 3 wickets but fell 17 short at 260.

Yateley u15 soundly defeated Woking and Horsell by 8 wickets in the West Surrey League.

Woking chose to bat and promptly despatched the first two balls to the boundary. Yateley however gradually exerted pressure on the visitors with some accurate bowling and brilliant catching. In all seven catches were taken; Alex Barker took four (two off his own bowling and two full length dives) with Ben Brady, Olly Briggs and Jason Chappel all taking excellent, some acrobatic, catches. Jason also completed a stumping. Of the bowlers Stuart Skeates bowled a fine opening spell (3-14 off 5 overs), Tom White (2-18 off 5 overs), Alex Barker (3-14 off 5 overs) and Amit Segal weighed in with 1-6 off 2 overs.

Yateley were never in trouble with the bat, making 81-2 off 12.3 overs. Amazingly only Alex Barker managed double figures, 54 not out, in a very powerful display. He was ably supported by James Chandler and James Platt.

A good win which hopefully bodes well for a busy period over next weekend with 3 matches in five days.

This was our first match in the Two Counties league in which we will play this season in addition to the West Surrey. Yateley won the toss and elected to field.

Finchampstead’s progress was restricted in the early overs principally due to a fine opening spell from James Platt (2-3 off 4 overs). Yateley’s fielding was lively and Finchampstead completed their 20 overs at 95-5. Gethyn Howells was Yateley’s other wicket taker with 3-21. Jason Chappel impressed behind the stumps with only 2 byes conceded.

Yateley’s innings started slowly but doggedly with James Chandler (15) and Martin Ashton (25) resisting fine bowling from Finchampstead’s quick opening bowlers. James Platt accelerated the scoring with a quickfire 30 but Yateley finished just short of the target at 89-9 to lose by 6 runs.

In glorious weather the Under 15’s started off the season with a good win over Hartley Wintney in a pre-season friendly. Hartley Wintney batted first and scored 74 for 8 off their 20 overs, much credit has to go the fielding and bowling of the Yateley lads, with only 4 wides/no balls and some superb catching. Special note should go to Amit Sehgal who took 2 wickets for 5 runs, and Will Moore with 2 for 11.

Yateley’s batting was also very sound, the side scoring 78 in 12 overs to win and going on to score 120 in the 20 overs. Particular batting honours go to Olly Briggs (27) and Tom White (26), both retired, Stuart Skeats (19) and Robbie Clark (13 not out).

All in all, a very sound start to the season and a good base for the first league game against Camberley next week.