Match Reports

Gloucestershire U15's Development vs Staffordshire

The U15’s Development season finally managed to get under way with a comprehensive 38 run victory over Staffordshire.

Tockington Manor School played host to both teams on a glorious bank holiday Monday and players from both sides were raring to get onto the field to make the most of it, after an unfortunate amount of cancellations in May. Gloucestershire won the toss, and quite rightly skipper Charlie Watkins elected to bat first on brilliantly prepared wicket.

Archie Symonds (18) and Tom Hill (75) laid solid foundations, with a strong opening partnership of 51 inside 11 overs with both players looking very comfortable at the crease and negating Staffordshire’s disciplined opening attack. Once Archie Symonds was caught behind, the responsibility lied with Tom Hill to lead from the front whilst our middle order unfortunately struggled against the impressive H Kalia (3 for 28) and B Lester (2 for 44) for Staffordshire. Tom occupying the crease for 115 balls, batted superbly for 75 and was ably assisted by Tom Unsworth (20) and Oliver Pearson (20) as we were eventually all out for 209. J Harvey (2 for 17) for Staffordshire giving Gloucestershire some trouble towards the end of the innings.

Staffordshire wanting to take advantage managed to also form an opening stand of 51, looking to control the start of their innings and set a great platform for their middle order. However, once the ball was thrown to Charlie Husband (5 for 16) for a bowl the innings took a positive turn for Gloucestershire as he looked to stamp his authority with an impressive 5 wicket haul and only going for 16 runs off his 8.4 overs. Ably assisted by Benjamin Gillespie (3 for 17), Staffordshire's batsman struggled to form partnerships to reach the total giving Gloucestershire the victory. Credit to their number 9 batsman T Malkin who scored 30* to get them close to the target.

A promising start for the U15’s Development side, plenty of positives but a lot to work with the next fixture taking place this Thursday against Cricket Wales East. Thank you to Staffordshire Cricket for traveling to Tockington Manor School for the fixture and we wish them well for the season ahead. Again, a special mention to Tockington for being fantastic hosts and we look forward to playing there again soon.