Pip Squire reports: The U13, ably led by Michael Bates opened the season with a sound victory against Tichborne this evening. Yateley won the toss and decided to field.  Some sharp fielding with 3 run-outs and a catch combined with tight bowling from all five bowlers limited Tichborne to 47 for 5 in 12 overs.
Yateley replied with 49 for 1 in 5 overs and so obtained 14 points for their efforts. It is difficult to chose a man of the match, but special mention to Dan Vincent who both kept wicket and batted well, with full supporting roles from the rest of the team Michael Bates, Henry Wildey, Tom Lyons, Ben Swingler-Brown and Hugh Squire.

The first ever county youth match will be played at Chandlers Lane on this coming Wednesday afternoon. The game is between Hampshire under 11s and Surrey under 11s and starts at 12-00. Ollie Barker from Yateley will be representing Hampshire. Both are very strong sides that have had a good season, Hampshire winning 6 and only losing 1 whilst drawing 2. Everybody is welcome to pop in especially those lads with county aspirations who may like to check out the standard!!. It is a 90 over match which should finish around 5-30pm if it goes the full distance. The bar will open at 5-00pm

Congratulations to Hampshire under 11 Ollie Barker for getting his highest score for the county against Buckinghamshire on Sunday. A ninth wicket partnership of 60 put Hampshire in a winning position and Ollie made 44 not out. He then took 1 for 12 but Bucks held out for draw. Well played Ollie

Pip Squire reports:
Thursday 19 June - Hampshire Cup Competition vs Cove (Away)
The U13 returned to their winning ways vs Cove.  They won the toss, elected to bat and despite some tidy bowling by Cove reached 103 for 5 in their 20 overs (Michael Bates 27 retired and Henry Wildey 26 retired).  The batting was followed by an outstanding display in the field, catches caught, tight fielding and some tremendous bowling reducing Cove to 48 all out.  Notable bowling performances from Jonathan Brogden 2 overs, 2 maidens, 2 wickets for 0 runs and Ben Swingler-Brown 2 overs, 2 wickets for 5 runs. However due to the delays in getting the match with Cove arranged we were forced to play off the semi-final vs Basingstoke the next day:
Friday 20 June - Hampshire Cup, semi-final vs Basingstoke (Away)
Unfortunately a school trip to France robbed the winning side against Cove of 5 key players for our match vs Basingstoke.  Pleas to rearrange the match fell on deaf ears at Basingstoke and we were forced to field a side with 3 members from our U11 and 1 from our U10 squads (they were all North Hants District players though).  In the absence of Michael Bates, Michael Squire captained, won the toss and elected to bat.  He and Henry Wildey got off to a good start against the Basingstoke opening fast bowlers, racing to 22 for 0 after 3 overs.  The bowling tightened up, Henry retired at 25 and the run rate dropped.  We only managed 79 for in our allotted overs, however given the standard of bowling (4 wides and 1 no ball) this was a good total from a young side (7 of the side U12).  What was much more impressive was the fielding.  79 was never going to be a defendable total, however the team spirit and encouragement amongst the Yateley boys was impressive, they never let up, chased every ball as though they could win.  Although Basingstoke reached 82 for 1 in 11 overs I was proud to be the Yateley Coach.

Pip Squire reports:
After a promising start the U13 suffered a set back at the week-end losing away to a very strong Horsley & Send side by 56 runs on Friday 13 (clearly not an auspicious date) and then on Sunday losing by 14 runs in a very well contested match to Egham, at home.
Send (Away) Friday 13 June 2003
Yateley got off to a good start with a wicket in the second over.  Unfortunately this was the beginning of a strong batting display from two successive large 13 year olds who very quickly put on over 70 runs in 10 overs before retiring at 33 runs each.  After their departure our bowlers and fielders played extremely well to take 6 wickets in 6 overs for 30 runs, but the damage had been done leaving a target of 131 runs to win.  The Horsley & Send opening bowlers were as good as their strong batsmen and removed our top three batsmen for 22 in their opening 5 overs. From that point we could never match the required run rate, however the boys kept their heads and their wickets.  Chris Shepherd was the highest scorer with 12 not out in a reply of 74 for 6.  Well played to our boys for maintaining their dignity.
Egham (Home) Sunday 15 June 2003
Egham got off to a good start until Tim Moore removed the middle stump of the opening batsman with a classic yorker in the seventh over with the score on 44.  However despite this and the retirement of their other opening batsman, Egham maintained their run rate and set a target of 141 runs to win in 20 overs.  The Yateley bowlers did well, the difficulty was cutting off the fours on a very quick outfield.  The opening Yateley batsmen (Michael Bates and Henry Wildey) set a solid base by seeing out the good opening bowlers.  They then set about the second string bowlers going from 20 for 0 after 6 overs to 60  for 0 after 11 overs.  Michael Bates retired with a well scored 33.  The batting continued well and at the end of the 16th over, after Daniel Bone had just scored 18 runs in one over, we were back in the hunt.  Unfortunately Daniel was caught going for the boundary again and the return of the opening bowlers slowed the run rate.  Despite scoring 18 off the last over we were still 14 runs short at the close.  Yately 126 for 3, Egham 140 for 4.  A great game.
Despite these two losses, the Sunday game showed just how quickly the U13 team learns and adapts.  They recognised that they need to weather the storm of the opening bowlers and after that they set about the run chase with quiet determination.  A great team effort and very entertaining cricket.  266 runs in 40 overs, it was as good as the professional 20Twenty game.  With this display I am sure we will go out and refind our winning streak.

Nick White reports:
Yateley U15's achieved a 10-wicket victory over Finchamstead at home this Sunday. A sterling performance in the field restricted Finch to 88 runs for 5, no mean achievement when they where running at over 5 per over midway through the innings. There where great bowling performances all round, the openers putting Finch under extreme pressure, Stuart Skeats achieving 2 for 16 across his 2 spells and Michael Yarnall 0 for 21. Other wicket takers where Chris Tull and Mat Perry (2 for off 2), with the l one good run out accounting for the last wicket.

James Chandler (27) and Robbie Clark (42) achieved the required score in a measured and assured innings in just over 17 overs.

This has to be the best performance to date and if this standard of play is built on the U15 will have a good season.

Pip Squire reports:
After losing three Friday practices to rain at the beginning of May the U13s have made a good start to their West Surrey League Campaign. They beat Normandy by 14 runs on Sunday 25 May (Yateley 111 for 3, (Henry Wildey 30 Retired), Normandy 97 for 7). This was followed by an even more convincing 8 wicket win against Merrow on Sunday 1 June (Merrow 66 all out in 15.4 overs, Yateley 67 for 2 after 11.1 overs).

The match against Merrow showed a disciplined bowling attack (Chris Shepherd 3 overs, 3 wickets for 4 runs and Michael Bates 3 overs, 5 wickets for 14 runs) and really good team spirit in the field, walking in, encouragement around the park and sharp fielding. A real pleasure to watch.

We now need to maintain the focus to go on and beat Horsley & Send on Friday. Keep up the good work

Just a note to confirm that William is fine and eager to play as soon as possible after his bump on the head on Sunday. William was hit with the ball quiet hard whilst fielding against Woking. He very bravely tried to stop a shot for a Woking player and unfortunately the ball came off his hands into
his head.
William is an excellent player and we hope that this will not put him off playing.
We lost the game by about 25 runs which considering the fact that we had
four under 9's was a good performance.
Paul Sandford

The U15’s played their first match against Basingstoke in the cup on Sunday, and like last year suffered a considerable defeat. Batting first and scoring only 21 runs all out it took Basingstoke all of 11 balls to finish the game.
The lack of match practice, linked to some good accurate bowling and a pitch where the ball kept low all contrived to give Basingstoke a good win.