This season the Under 15’s played a total of 11 games. These were a mix of Middlesex West Area League, Middlesex Cup, Middlesex Plate and friendly games. They won 4 and lost 7 of these games. a further 3 games were cancelled due to the weather. The team's best performance was in the Middlesex Plate competition, ending just one point short of a final place!

The under 15’s suffered form only having a squad of 13 players, this made fielding a full team, of under 15’s, impossible during the Summer Holiday. The team was rescued by the addition of Under 13 players on a number of occasions, notably Matthew Adams, Sam Langworth and Ben Simper.

The under 15’s had a number of very notable individual performances during the season. Throughout the summer the batting of William Gaines must be mentioned, William made a telling contribution in virtually every inning he played, scoring 243 runs at an average of 48. William was awarded the under 15’s batting award for the season. There was good support batting from Andrew Tomkins, Mark Peedell and Adam Smith. Andrew Strand had a good season bowling leg spin, for the under 15’s and the weekend mens teams. For the under 15’s he took a total of 9 wickets, including a hat trick against Sunbury. Andrew won the seasons under 15’s bowling award. There was good support bowling from William Gaines (5 wickets), Mark Peedell and Mark Fleckney (6 wickets each), James Knill (7 wickets) and Andrew Tomkins (8 wickets). The Manager's award went to Mark Peedell, who made significant contributions, with either the bat, ball or in the field in every game he played during the season.

Many of this year's under 15 colts played weekend cricket in the full Ashford teams, from 1st to 4th eleven sides. Some 10 out of the squad of 13 players played for the men's teams. There were a number of fine performances, two of which must be mentioned. Andrew Stand playing for the 4th eleven against Olinda Vandals took 7 wickets for 31 runs. Adam Smith again playing for the 4th eleven, against Cheam, scored his maiden century for Ashford. Adam scored 130 not out after opening the innings.

A year of mixed fortunes cricket wise, but a year weather wise I wish to forget. During the 14 matches we played I can only remember one when we were warm (not good).

We had a fair number of new players who came up from the under 11 s and our first task was to get a team spirit going with the colts from the previous year and then get them to play as a team. When this happens they played extremely well but consistency is the key.

Every colt that signed on for the season played in a match. Analysis of the matches played are: Played 14, won 2, lost 11, drawn l, conceded 1.

Out of the 11 games lost, 5 were lost in the last two overs of the games. My thanks to the parents who supported us during the season and Steve Adams and Clive Taylor whose help during the season made it all possible.

This season was, as usual, very busy for the U11s with regard to the fixture arrangements. The team played in three competitions: Middlesex League, the John Charcol Trophy and the Middlesex Plate.

In addition, an U10 team took part in two tournaments, the Spelthorne 8-a-side Festival and the Woking & Horsell 6-a-side competition.

The usual fixture congestion in August was very apparent and it became increasingly difficult to get sides out as holidays interfered. However, this gave an opportunity for new players to be tried and for more Colts to get involved in matches than would otherwise have been the case.

In total, the team played 14 won 4, lost 10, and had 4 cancelled (probably conceded!). They came very close to winning on a number of other occasions but the luck just didn’t go their way.

The team gradually learnt the benefit of occupying the crease. This slowly improved during the season and reached a situation where it was usually only the top 5 or 6 batsmen who got a bat. This is bad luck on the lower order but all batsmen must strive to build an innings. The next step comes with increased confidence when knowing which ball to hit and which ball to leave becomes automatic.

As a result of the above, the team was not getting bowled out but they were not really scoring enough runs to challenge the opposition.

The bowling also improved during the year from the early season disappointments when, in one game, they conceded 56 extras to a situation where there were several extra bowlers to chose from.

One example of this was an early season match against Twickenham. The manager changed the opening bowler who had figures of 3 overs, 6 for 10 with the opposition at 16 for 6. They went on to score 107 mainly due to extras and Ashford lost.

The fielding was in general good although the hours spent on a Friday night on the basics of fielding were sometime forgotten during matches. The catching sometimes let us down but the boys all tried hard.

Most of the runs were scored by Paul Dobbs, Simon Cook, Lee Cousens, Alex Jackson, Matthew Tippell and Todd Wootton but many other boys made useful contributions throughout the season.

Paul Dobbs, Simon Cook, Lee Cousins, Alex Jackson and Matthew Tippell took most of the wickets but Paul Fleckney, Luke Cottrell and Luke McLean all contributed and improved noticeably during the season.

The wicketkeeping was shared between Todd Wootton and Patrick Weaver who both did an excellent job.

I should like to thank all those who have supported the team during the season on many very cold and wet evenings and especially all those who assisted with the scoring, the umpiring and generally organising the boys on match days. Support is vital and all players respond to the correct support.

Finally, I would like to thank Adrian Chessman and Richard Chessman who stood in for me when I was unavailable and for their help and that of Michael Wilson and Paul Frost on Friday evenings. Especial thanks to Richard who co-ordinated the U10 tournament at Woking. Thanks also to my daughter Bethan for her assistance on the administrative side. Without mentioning all the names, I would also like to thank all those who helped in any way to assist the smooth running of the U11.

The more people who do help the easier and the more enjoyable it gets. Please, if any of you can spare an evening or two throughout the season, let me know.

Finally, I hope all the Colts enjoyed the year and that you each gained something from it. I look forward to seeing you all next season.