The under 17’s performances undoubtedly suffered because of the very small under 17 squad. The following under 17’s played during the season, Mark Fleckney, Trevor Langworth, Adam Smith, Andrew Strand, James Knill, Andrew Tomkins, William Gaines and Jonathan Swain. These were supplemented by colts from the under 15 and under 13 teams. Ben Simper, Sam Langworth, Scott Hammerton and Mark Thompson from the under 15’s and Lee Cousens from the under 13’s.

All the under 17’s played regularly in the clubs weekend sides throughout the season. They put in some very fine individual performances. Of particular note was the batting of Adam Smith and the bowling of Trevor Langworth.

Without the help of the following individuals, Gill Tomkins and Ron Simper, the under 17’s would not have been able to play any games. Gill and Ron both kept the score book and Ron helped out with the umpiring duties.

The awards, starting with the batting award. The team struggled for runs throughout the season. Some of the players could not repeat their fine weekend performances in the mid-week colts games. There were useful individual scores by Andrew Strand and Andrew Tomkins. The batting award went to Adam Smith with 74 runs in 5 innings.

As with batting the team struggled to take wickets during the 2002 season. The main bowlers were William Gaines, Andrew Tomkins, James Knill, Andrew Strand and Ben Simper. Of note were the contributions from the two under 15 boys Ben Simper, who took 3 wickets and Sam Langworth, one wicket. Also Lee Cousens from the under 13’s who also got one wicket. One bowler stood out during the season, with 8 wickets the bowling award for 2002 went to Trevor Langworth.

The last award was the Managers award. This was awarded to a colt who because of exam commitments only played 4 of the 5 games. In each of these four games he made significant contributions to the teams batting totals and also bowled and fielded with great spirit. The under 17 Managers award went to Andrew Tomkins.

To finish the under 17 report on a high notes. An under 17 team was entered in the clubs internal 6-a-side competition held on 21 June. The team consisted of Andrew Strand, Trevor Langworth (captain), James Knill, Jonathan Swain, Adam Smith and William Gaines. The under 17’s won the competition, putting in some notable performances on the day. Adam Smith scored the most runs and hit the most 6’s in the competition. Jonathan Swain took the most wickets on the day.

The achievements of the side appear all the more impressive when it is considered that the Club only ever had a maximum of eight colt members falling into the under 15 age group. As a consequence, a number of under 13s (or below) were drafted into each match, and it was encouraging to see many of them – most notably Simon Cook, Lee Cousens and Shaun Cousens – more than holding their own at this level.

Over the season, the side won six matches and lost six, but this is not a fair reflection of the team’s overall performance. Five of the six losses were recorded against Teddington and Twickenham, both very strong clubs at this age group fielding a number of county players.

In contrast, the six victories came against six different clubs, and the side adapted well to the different challenges levelled against them. Matthew Adams led the team with increasing responsibility and common sense as the season progressed, and Ben Simper performed admirably when standing in Matt’s absence.

A variety of individuals enjoyed success over the course of the season, but the core of the side was the ‘Big Six’ of Matt Adams, Mark Thompson, Sam Langworth, Ben Simper, Zain Hussain and Scott Hammerton. Always enthusiastic and playing their part were also Paul Edwards and Joe Orton.

Many thanks to all those who took part; work hard over the winter and the best of the success for next season.

BOWLING AWARD: Throughout the season all players were given a bowl. The bowlers used most were Lee Cousens, Zain Qazilbash, Paul Dobbs, Matt Tippel and Simon Cook.

Zain and Lee opened the bowling in most of the games. Lee bowled with good speed and Zain was extremely controlled and accurate. Paul tried a bit of everything from spin to fast and ended bowing up a consistent medium pace. Matt had a good season bowling and was the second highest wicket taker. Most of the bowlers mentioned took their wickets at an average of between 14 and 17. However way out in the front with13 wickets taken at an average of 8.5 was Simon Cook. Simon bowled 30 overs at 3.7 runs per over which along with a similar figure from Zain was by far the cheapest. Well done Simon.

BATTING AWARD: Thanks go to Lee Cousens and Ian Antonio for opening in most of the games. Most players did not want to open and it is sometimes a very hard task to face what are probably the best bowlers in the opposition.

There were good contributions from most players through the season including Luke Cotterill, Paul Dobbs, Todd Wooten, Matt Tippel, Amadeep and Arjun Rehency, Jake Jenkins and Ian Antonio. Of the players mentioned Ian Antonio scored the highest total of runs with 67.

There were 3 players who showed consistency throughout the whole season, Simon Cook, Lee Cousens and Shaun Cousens. Simon scored 110 runs and Lee 138. However, this year’s batting award goes to a player who did not start the season and was brought in to keep wicket. Shaun Cousens scored the highest number of runs (155) with the best average.

MANAGER’S PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: Zain and Lee came close for this award. Along with his very good bowling figures Zain’s fielding improved throughout the season. Lee bowled and fielded with great enthusiasm and was also the second highest run scorer.

However the award went to a person who made a real effort in all aspects of the game. Matt Tippel played with a smile on his face and encouraged all the bowlers however badly they were bowling. He was the second highest wicket taker and scored 52 runs in the season. Well done Matt.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: This was a hard choice. Nearly all the players improved especially in the field. A special mention to Bilal for the hard work he put in fielding towards the end of the season and the great improvement shown. This year’s award though went to Mike Hawthorne for his overall improvement in every aspect of the game. Fielding, bowling and batting all greatly improved along with other items often ignored such as running between the wickets. Well done Mike.

Thanks to Richard for his training and to Sally Dobbs and Deb for scoring. A massive thank you to Kevin Antonio who helped nearly every week at training and with games whenever he was able.

All children aged under 12 played in games throughout the season. Unfortunately the season was short due to rained off games and lack of enthusiasm in getting these rearranged by opposition.

Alex Jackson and David Aylott played in all the games. The other spaces were shared around and most players took part in 2 or 3 games. An effort was made to give everyone a bowl and bat. The Captain, Alex Jackson, controlled the bowling and fielding very well.

BATTING AWARD: Excluding the winner there were good scores from a few players including Matt Dodds, Shaun Cousens, Alex Jackson, Alex Roberts and Jack Brown. With the highest number of runs and the best average was Graham Tew. Graham’s figures would have been even better as Graham was 20 not out when rain stopped play in one of our games. Well done Graham.

BOWLING AWARD: All players bowled and therefore the wickets were fairly spread out. Players who took 2 wickets included Gurpet Bansall, Joe Lewis and Jack Brown. Alex Jackson took 3. All of the bowlers mentioned took the wickets at an average of between 20 and 30. Shaun Cousens though was the highest wicket taker with 6 wickets at an average of 8 runs.

MANAGER’S PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: This year’s award goes to Alex Jackson. Alex was captain of the side and received the award for many reasons including:

Captaincy - Some children were not very responsive to Alex and he coped with this very well.

Bowling - Alex was the 2^nd highest wicket taker.

Batting - Alex scored the 2^nd highest number of runs.

Fielding - including the wicket keeping that he shared with Shaun, and finally his general attitude to training and matches.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: We had some new players this year and out of these two shone above the rest. The award was a close call between Jack Brown who showed real promise especially with his bowling and one other. This person had not played cricket before this year but turned up nearly every week to training, concentrated and listened to what was being taught. He also listened to what his captain said during games and reacted promptly. Whether training or playing Matthew Dodds was an example to others. Well done Matt.

Thanks very much to Richard for his training. Those that listened and acted upon what was taught improved as the season progressed. Thanks are also due to James Knill, Debbie and Lee for their help with scoring.

Four months and fifteen matches later there were 33 different boys and girls who had attended coaching on Friday evenings and 27 of these took part in the remaining matches.

Results in the Middlesex League and Cup were disappointing but there was much more success in the second half of the season. The side won one match out of three in the Middlesex Plate and four out of six in the Jim Warden trophy. A final tally of played 15 won 5 lost 10 was considerably better than the manager and probably most of the parents had feared early on.

The improvement during the season has a lot to do with the boys and their attitude. It did improve and their concentration and their belief in their own abilities also improved. Next season the U11s lose only five of the squad to the next age group. With the bulk of the squad still U11 there is great optimism for next season.

The batting early on relied heavily on Shaun Cousens who had several very impressive knocks but unfortunately with little support. Later in the season, Graham Dotimggett, Daniel Proctor, Daniel Rose, Elliot Smith, Shaun Smith, David Harmer and Charlie Cottrell all took their turn at scoring runs.

The bowling was shared and most members of the group had a bowl at one stage. Shaun Cousens again was one of the leading bowlers. David Merchant bowled in nearly every match and the improvements were noticeable every time he played. Graham Doggett, Elliot Smith, Ryan Blake and Shaun Smith were the other main bowlers with Shaun Smith particularly impressive in only half a season (the manager chose him as wicket keeper for the first half). Other bowlers were Daniel Proctor, Peter Russell, Daniel Moss, Daniel Rose, Tom Green and Charlie Cottrell.

There was no regular wicket keeper and consequently this position was shared between five boys. Shaun Smith, Shaun Cousens, Daniel Proctor, Daniel Rose and Charlie Cottrell. All performed well although extras were sometime the leading scorer!

A cricket team consists of 11 players but there were occasions when not everyone got the opportunity to perform. The rest of the squad turned out regularly and fielded willingly even if they could not contribute as much as perhaps they would have liked. Thanks to the contributions from Jordon Moss, Alex Zammitt, James Beauchamp, Robert King, Daniel Barnett, Ben Kingham, Chris Hill, Reece Cawley and Virain Rathov.

The U11 side received tremendous support from the parents throughout the season but more specific help is still required. Managers cannot get everything ready before a game, umpire or score during a game, collect the match fees and then tidy up after a game. Help is urgently needed. More and better coaching is a target at Ashford. Better coaching involves one to one coaching but this can only happen with more parental help.

I would like to thank everyone who assisted in anyway throughout the season to ensure that Friday's were enjoyable and that match days ran smoothly. A special thanks to Paul Cousens and to Gordon Smith for their help and assistance on match days with umpiring and/or scoring and thanks to Richard Mansfield for his coaching. Thanks of course also to Halliford Construction for their financial support, which has helped the Colts in a number of specific areas and the Club overall in its development programme.

I look forward to seeing you all again next year.

The 2002 U11 Awards:

Batting award - Shaun Cousens who scored 285 runs at a very impressive average, which was over 200 runs more than anyone else.

Bowling award - Shaun Smith with 10 wickets and the best bowling average.

All Round award - Graham Doggett for his regular contributions with both bat and ball.

Manager's Award - Elliot Smith for his mature attitude, his efforts captaining on the field to produce the best out of his team and for his performances with both bat and ball.