SW v SE U14 May 2008

Hi everyone

Well I guess you've heard about the weekend from the boys!

They did really well, in my opinion. The SE team was essentially the same team we had played at Bordeaux last year - virtually all of them aged 14, and at this level, the age difference has a huge impact. I was delighted with the effort, enthusiasm and team spirit they displayed. They did a great job.

I attach a team picture from yesterday.

Tim

Awards ceremony 7th November 2007 Confo expo

It was with great enthusiasm John Harding & Andrew Brunsdon accepted their invitations to attend an Awards Ceremony at the Confo Expo, Bordeaux, for the Ligue Aquitaine of Baseball, Softball & cricket, where they were presented with an award each for participation in the U 15's

French Cricket squad. It was organised by madam Mady Bissey, President of the Ligue, and the awards were given by M. Jean-Claude LABADIE, President du Comite Regional Olympique et Sportive and M. Laborole, Inspecteur represente Le Direction Regional de la Jeunesse et des Sports.

WENTWORTH WOMBATS -V- ST AULAYE 3RD OCTOBER 2007

Wynford Hicks and Tim Williams had organised a friendly with a team of gentleman from Australia, who had come over to watch the rugby and were thrilled that they were able to get in some cricket matches too.

Their final match was with St Aulaye on the 3rd October and it was a brilliant day, St Aulaye did themselves proud, and won by 178 for 1 in 30 overs with the Wombats at 62 for 9, but a great day was had by all. The Wentworth Wombats presented one of their own cricket shirts to our captain of the day Adrian Raynor, and two of their caps to our very own Dan Nott and Jamie Sutherland, as they were so impressed with their cricket skills as such a young age.

Their enthusiasm was lovely and most of the players had their wives and children with them. In fact one family consisted of three generations, and their Grandfather Bert Rosenburg was thrilled that he was able to play cricket in a match, for the first time with his grandsons.

It was a great way to finish off the season and very memorable!

St Aulaye Junior Players Under 15's in Spain

John Harding and Andrew Brunsdon are currently competing in Spain for France in the Under 15 Division Two. Here are some photo's and quotes taken from the ECC Web site to keep you all up to date on their progress:

ECC review on the French Team

France are led by Robin Murphy, and their line up looks to have a nice blend of youth and experience. The highly rated Ryan Cook, Andrew Brunsdon, Shahzeb Mohammed, Nicholas Coombs, John Harding, and Alan Bulman are all tipped to feature heavily in the averages. Coach John Cook will be hoping for a good run this time out.


Day One France V Italy 26th August.
It was a closer affair on the top pitch in Group A at the La Manga Club, as France fell only 27 runs short of Italy’s total of 164. The Italians had at one stage been reduced to 75 for 7 by some excellent French fielding, resulting in three run outs, and three wickets from Stephen Woodall.An eighth wicket stand of 82, however, between Fahran Akbar and Michele Morettini rescued their team and ensured that Italy would post a more than competitive score. Having reached 104-5, France had a reasonable chance of victory but when the hard-hitting Haroon Rashid was caught for 20, four wickets fell for 14 runs to all but end French ambitions of an opening win.


Day Two France V Isle of Man 27th August
The Isle of Man couldn’t have wished for a better start to their campaign as they comfortably defeated the French by seven wickets.Chasing 93 to win, there were a few nervous moments, no more so than at 37-3, but Daniel Hawke and Jamie Johnstone put on an unbeaten 59 for the 4th wicket to see their team through.That France had managed only 92 was largely due to the efforts of Sam Walker, who took 4-11 from his six overs, and some excellent out-fielding that saw three French batsmen run out.

Credit must go, however, to John Harding, who carried his bat to ensure that France at least had something to defend.

28th Rest Day - Practice in the Nets.

For a complete run down and more photo's please go to http://www.cricketeurope.net/

Dordogne vs Charente Match Aug 2007

Third time lucky for Dordogne

The Dordogne XI won the AngloINFO shield for the first time last Sunday (19 August), beating the Charente XI by 3 wickets at Chenaud.

Batting first the Charente got off to a bad start in damp conditions, losing Simon Palmer for 5 and Rob Howard for 7. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals though captain Tom Martell made a bright 38, supported by Peter Bagnall (24) and Simon Haw (20). The opening bowlers, Simon Armstrong (2-15 in 8 overs) and Dordogne captain Adrian Raynor (8 overs for 16 runs), always made scoring difficult and the Charente finished with 143-9 in 40 overs.

John Harding (recently selected for the France U/15 squad) was the leading wicket-taker with 3-20 in 5 overs, and Alan Coombe took 2-22 in 5.4 overs before retiring with a muscle strain. Veteran wicketkeeper Eric Tilling was outstanding behind the stumps with two catches and a stumping.

The Dordogne’s reply was dominated by David Horlock who scored 79 out of 121 and seemed to have the match won. But numbers 6, 7 and 8 could manage only 4 between them and it was left to Adrian Raynor (25 not out) to secure a narrow victory for the Dordogne by 3 wickets. For the Charente Rob Howard took 2 for 23 in his 8 overs and Simon Palmer 1-18 in his.

Charente XI: 143-9 in 40 overs (T Martell 38, P Bagnall 24, S Haw 20; J Harding 3-20, S Armstrong 2-15, A Coombe 2-22)
Dordogne XI: 144-7 in 36 overs (D Horlock 79, A Raynor 25*; R Howard 2-23)

Photos from Junior Pairs match 19th Aug 2007

A Junior pairs competition was held prior to the main Dordogne vs Charente match on Sunday 19th Aug 2007. As you can see Wynford acted as wicket keeper and Tim umpired. All the boys played very well with a very close competition. The final winners were Daniel Nott and Cameron Williams on 30 points. If only Jon & Kit had been there would they have given Daniel and Cameron a run for their money ... have to wait until next time!

Charlie Nott

2007 Junior Week from David, Cher & Andrew Brunsdon

Bonjour à tous, en tant que photo promise des garçons de Saint Aulaye, Paris et l'est Du sud. La bonne chance à tous, et vous remercient pendant un temps merveilleux.
David, Cher & Andrew.
PS: Thank you to David & John for their excellent coaching, Wynford and Tim for your facilities, kit and encouragement and Beth and Jeremy for their lunches. Excellent Junior week and time out with the French squad. Thank you all.

Some Photos from 2007 Junior Cricket Week

Another great Junior Cricket week. These are a few photos from the match including the France Under 15 team on Friday 3rd Aug.

St Aulaye Casuals vs Dorking 16th July 2007

St Aulaye batted and scored 132. At tea the game was called off. Dorking kept the Cup until next year. Thanks to the umpires, scores and special thanks for the excellent tea.

Dubai youngster aims to turn pro

Dubai youngster aims to turn pro
By Steve Hill, Correspondent Dubai:

Jonathan Houghton has set his sights on becoming a professional cricketer after breaking into the French national side at the tender age of 16.
The Jumeirah College pupil made his full international debut earlier last month as an off-spinner and lower order batsman for France in Division II of the European Championships held in Glasgow.
And spurred by that success, he has now applied for a scholarship at the renowned Millfield School in the hope of one day securing a full-time contract with county side Somerset and appearing for England.
This story of sporting ambition has a remarkable international flavour as Houghton was born in Muscat, Oman to a cricket-mad English father and a mother who is French of Lebanese origin.
He began playing cricket in Dubai at the age of 11, and owes much of his success to the support of the Darjeeling club where he has excelled, most recently securing the all-rounder of the year award for the 2005-06 season after taking 52 wickets.
Playing while on holiday in France brought Houghton to the attention of national selector David Bordes. And after scoring 397 runs in five outings last season for France under-15s in a Rome tournament, he stepped up to the full senior side this summer.
Houghton said: "I learned a lot, especially playing on grass. Almost all of my cricket so far has been on concrete at Darjeeling so it was a big change but it was good to be on grass and be able to dive around a bit in the field."
Houghton is now looking ahead and will hear in December if he has secured a scholarship at Millfield.

St Aulaye win 2006 Siddalls Cup

St Aulaye win 2006 Siddalls Cup

St Aulaye Cricket won the Siddalls Cup for the second time yesterday (27 August), beating Noé-Gascogne in a closely contested final at Eymet by 15 runs.

Winning the toss and batting, SAC scored 170 for 5 in 35 overs, then restricted Noé to 155 for 9. Batsmen on both sides struggled to reach the boundary over a slow, grassy outfield: there were only 12 fours in the match.

Man of the match: Richard Cox of St Aulaye, top scorer with 36 and two wickets in his six overs.

SAC's previous success was in 1998, the first year of the Siddalls Cup. Philip Pearce was the only player to represent SAC in both finals.

Other facts and figures:
* Adrian Raynor of St Aulaye (7 overs for 7 runs with 1 wicket) bowled 3 of the 5 maidens in the match.
* Seven players (four from St Aulaye, three from Noé) scored between 23 and 36 runs.
* St Aulaye scored 46 of their runs in boundaries, Noé only 20 (two 4s and two 6s).
* St Aulaye bowled no fewer than 19 wides/no balls, conceding 24 runs from them; Noé bowled 10 wides/no balls, conceding 15 runs.
* Noé conceded 8 runs in byes, St Aulaye just 1.
* St Aulaye had two 50 partnerships (Raynor and Eric Tilling, 50 for the first wicket; Cox and captain Tim Williams 52 for the fifth); Noé's best was 48 for the fourth wicket between Arun and Peter Curzons.

After the match two St Aulaye players received Siddalls awards: Adrian Raynor (league bowler of the season) and Jonathan Houghton, who captained the France under 17 XI (most improved young French player).--

Report by Wynford Hicks 28/8/06

Watch UK Cricket legally

I have just tested out a new way of watching the Test Match via the computer and provided you have ADSL it works well. The ECB have a new agreement with a UK TV service that you can access via www.ecb.co.uk/ecbtv . The cost is € 8 per day, € 30 per Test or € 75 for a year and you need to register and pay by credit card. Picture quality is good and you get all the slow motion replays, analysis of umpire decisions, Monty Panesar repeatedly dropping catches ( we must sign him on for the SW XI), expert comments, etc
It beats playing solitaire by a mile!!!
Stephen

SW Juniors Victory - the Inside Story

By Alex Dudney (captain of the SW Junior Team May 2006)

As you probably know, on the 12-14 May 2006 the SW men's team and a junior team of the best players in the area went to Entrecasteaux in the Var. Both teams went to play the South East to find out "who's the best".

In the junior game there were some great performances. The SW won the toss and elected to bowl first. In the bowling, John Harding took an early wicket to smash the stumps down in the first over. John opened with Sami Holderness, who kept the run rate down all through his spell.

Daniel Nott, our best wicket keeper, got injured, but came back on and threw the stumps down to claim two run-outs. Alexander Cox was a brilliant step-in wicket keeper seeing as he'd had no wicki experience. Then Andrew Brunsden and Alex Dudney (captain) chipped in to claim two wickets each, and at the end Tom Smallwood took his first wicket brilliantly.

Tom again stepped out to the middle with Alex Dudney to open the batting. Alex raced to a 23 retired, and that was followed by a 20 retired from Andrew Brunsden, with a 6 on the way! Kit Harding and Charlie went on to the end to take us to the required 78 runs.

It was a great performance from everyone, so well done!!

Junior Cricket SW vs SE at Entrecasteaux 2006

The SW juniors played the SE juniors for a game sponsored by Siddalls at Entrecasteaux on Sunday morning 14th May 2006. The game was 20 overs each. SW won the toss and elected to field. They bowled and fielded very well dealing with some excellent batting from the SE. Daniel Nott had to retire early on from his wicket keeping duties after taking a hit on the helmet but then quickly returned to assist in the fielding and bowling.

SE were all out for 76 with Brunsen and J Harding both taking 2 wickets. Most of the other wickets were Run Outs due to some excellent fielding all around. Top scorer for SE was R Cook on 11.

SW retired 2 players after scoring 20 runs (Dudney and Brunsen). SW scored 77 for 1 in 13 overs to win the match.

Many thanks to all the players for a very entertaining game and to the umpires (Mike Lomax & Graham Kelsey), the scorer (Bob Bartlett) and the lovely lunch provided by the club. A superb day ... enjoyed in the true spirit of cricket by all. Report by Charlie Nott

St Aulaye V Eymet 30 April Result

Date et Lieu 30 avril à Chenaud

St Aulaye à gagné le toss et a lancé

Eymet 108 - 10 dans 33.1 series
Palmer, S 57 courses
Cox, R 3 -6, Martell B 2 -7, Wedgwood, B 2-31

St Aulaye 111 - 3 dans 22.4 series
Gaynor, A 46 not out

Résultat St Aulaye (26pts) bat Eymet (1 pt) par 7 guichets

Barclays National League - Clothing Rules

The BNL regulations for 2006 specify that all players should be dressed in white cricket clothing. Does our secretary risked being excluded from the action because of the colour of his pads? Should he invest in a jar of white Blanco before the season begins to spare the umpires a sensitive decision?
El Pres

The St Aulaye junior team (4 members) assisted by two members of Drancy CC, came second, losing in the final of the inaugural indoor 6-a-side U-19 competition at Le Touquet in March 2006. Pictured above is Ben Martell, captain, with the two match umpires and the captain of USCA, the eventual winning team. St Aulaye team members were:
Ben Martell
James Bagnall
Peter Bagnall, and
Ben Searson (on loan from Damazan CC).

Indoor competition at St Astier

St Aulaye won the 2006 indoor competition at St Astier on 26 March, beating Angoulême, Thénac and Bordeaux. The trophy - a decanter - will be on display and in use at the annual dinner on 1 April. Highlights of the competition were two athletic catches (P Bagnall, G Fox) and a legside stumping off a wide (J Bagnall). St Aulaye juniors also won their match against Bordeaux juniors.

Scores
Angoulême, 28 all out, lost to St Aulaye, 32-0
St Aulaye, 169-4, beat Thénac, 43 all out
Final: Bordeaux, 66 all out, lost to St Aulaye, 67-1
Juniors: St Aulaye, 67-3, beat Bordeaux, 64-2