It was a good season for the Under 17s having played 7 games winning 3 and losing 4. It is a very difficult time for most of this age group due to exams, work and other commitments like girls.

With a squad of 2 under 17s and 6 under 16s it was a challenge to put out a competitive side. We managed to utilise some of the under 15s to take a full team of 11 out. These included Lee Cousens, Shaun Cousens, Chris McMohan, Ian Antonio, Graham Doggett, Simon Cook, Luke Cottrell and Zain Qazilbash.

Mr Simper and Mrs Doggett did a grand job on the scoring and Mr Khan assisted with transporting some of the players.

The highlight of the season was going to Richmond with 9 players of which only 5 were under 17s. At 96 – 7 it did not look to good, but Graham Doggett and Zain Qazilbash put on 39 in 5 overs for the last stand giving us 135 to bowl at. With only 9 men in the field the lads fielded like champions and we won the game by just 8 runs. Avion was given a souvenir stump which he broke during a deadly spell.

The low point for me and the team was the final game, - we put together what could be described as the strongest possible side but due to an organisational error the game was never played.

Two guys turned up for training every week, they were Bilal and Aman. Apart from that, work and exams had taken over and the turn out was disappointing.

Awards

With the most runs scored, and a memorable finish against Twickenham where we needed 16 off two overs and he finished the game with 7 balls to spare with a 4, 6, 6, was Bilal Khan.

With the most wickets taken at an average of 6 runs per wicket, and figures of 4-0-9-4 in one match against Twickenham, was Zain Hussain.

Very difficult one to decide, this young man surprised most of us with his wicket keeping ability; for me he was the find of the season behind the sticks - it was Ian Antonio.

Ashford ran two U15 teams this year due to the large number of boys in this two year age group. This enabled all players to play many more games than in previous years. The two teams were mainly divided into two groups by age, with 3 of the more senior players moving to the B team, to captain the side and add experience and ability. The teams were captained very well by Simon Cook (A) and Todd Wootton (B).

The U15As had a fantastic season, finshing 2^nd in their league and reaching final of the area cup competition. Overall the team won 8 games, 1 game was rained off when the team was about to win, and lost only 3 league games all season, plus the cup final.

Fielding

The fielding was excellent throughout the season. All of the players performed to a high standard. Special mention should go to 2 under 12s, Tom Green and Daniel Rose, who regularly played due to injuries in the team. They both fielded to the same high standard as the 15 year olds and did not look out of place in any of the games.

Batting

There were good contributions from many players including, Zain Qazilbash, Chris Shipman, Alex Roberts, Luke Cottrell, Daniel Rose and Alex Jackson.

3 players scored over 150 runs this season, Ian Antonio scoring 158 at an average of 15.8 and Lee Cousens scoring 187 at a very good average of 31.2. A very long way ahead this year with 394 runs at an average of 43.8 was Simon Cook. Simon had an incredibly consistent season and led by example every game.

This year’s batting award was presented to Simon.

Bowling

The wickets were very spread around this year. All of the players bowled at some time throughout the season. Players taking wickets included Alex Jackson, Simon Cook, Tom Green and Alex Roberts. Those taking 5 wickets or more included Zain Qazilbash, Lee Cousens, Chris Shipman, and Luke Cottrell. Of these Zain was by far the most economical bowler, costing only 3.64 runs per over.

The highest wicket taker this year was Ian Antonio. Not only did he take 9 wickets, but these were taken at an amazing rate of only 8.89 runs per wicket. Ian won this year’s bowling award.

Manager’s award

This was a difficult award to give this year as there were many players who could have won the award. Luke Cottrell came a close second for his consistent bowling and scoring over 100 runs. However the winner of the award this year was Lee Cousens. Lee was third in the bowling and second in the batting with 187 runs at an average of 31. Lee also fielded with great enthusiasm all season.

The U15Bs had a good season finishing halfway in their league. This was a very good achievement as most of the team was made up of U14s and an U12.

Fielding

As always, the captain Todd Wootton led by example in the field. Many of the players such as Paul Dobbs, Jo Lewis, Matt Browne, Scott Doran and Bilal Hassan improved as the season went on. Well done to these boys.

Batting

A little disappointing in this area. Many boys showed promise and improvement in the nets through the year, but only 3 players totalled more than 50 runs for the whole season. A special mention for Matt Dodds who scored 28 in one game, showing what he is capable of.

The players who scored over 50 runs were Paul Dobbs, who scored 108 runs at an very good average of 27, and Chris McMahon, who scored 117 runs at an average of 14.6. Out in front was Shaun Cousens with 224 runs at an average of 32. Shaun was presented with this year’s batting award.

Bowling

There was some excellent bowling from many of the players. Jack Brown, Joe Lewis, Matt Dodds, Todd Wootton, Matt Browne, Nick Munday and Bilal Hassan all bowled with enthusiasm. The wickets were mainly taken by 4 players: James Dadge, Shaun Cousens, Paul Dobbs and Chris McMahon.

James bowled very well early on in the season and Paul took 7 wickets, often bowling at critical parts of the game. The bowling was mainly opened by Shaun Cousens and Chris McMahon with Shaun’s bowling throughout the season very economical at only 3.56 runs per over.

This year’s bowling award went to Chris who took 9 wickets, putting in an incredible amount of effort throughout the season. Well done Chris. 

Manager’s award

This year the award was presented to Paul Dobbs. Paul showed great improvement in the field, bowled with excellent consistency all season taking 7 wickets, and also scored over 100 runs.

Well done Paul Dobbs.

Thank you

I would like to say a huge thank you to Steve Brown and Kevin Antonio. Without their help there was no realistic way of running two teams this year, thereby giving all of the boys a chance to play more games. The time and effort they both put in is greatly appreciated.

Keith Cook award

As most of you will be aware, Simon Cook’s father, Keith, passed away last year. Last year, with Simon’s mother’s agreement, Ashford presented a ‘Keith Cook’ award. I am happy to say that this year Christine again agreed to the presentation of this award. One of the things that Keith would regularly speak to me about was the behaviour and effort made by the players. I had many players in the A&B teams who were in contention for this award. This year I took into consideration effort, the ability to be part of a team, politeness, consistent concentration and behaviour in matches and training. One boy, Zain Qazilbash, not only bowled very well throughout the season, often opening the bowling at a very economical rate, but also had all of the points mentioned previously, appreciated so much by Keith Cook.

It is an honour to win this award and it gave me great pleasure to present it to Zain.

The under 13s were very frustrated when the season started, with the first league and cup game being washed out with heavy rain. However with enthusiastic training sessions came their first win of the season, but frustration was felt again with teams crying off with very late notice. We eventually rearranged our rained off cup game against Indian Gymkhana, which we won with ease by 10 wickets, followed by another win in the league. Unfortunately with more cry offs we won the league by playing only 2 out of 6 league games.

Shaun Cousens won the batting award and Shaun Smith the bowling award. The manager’s award went to Chris Hill who showed so much improvement this year -always keen in the field, helpful and polite. Graham Doggett performed well with some tight bowling, without always getting the rewards he deserved. Daniel Rose contributed with the batting and wicket keeping.

I am sure all the players enjoyed the season as much as me and Mike Rose. It has been a pleasure coaching you all. For those of you moving up next year I wish you all the best. For the rest of you and for the players coming up, we both look forward to another great season.

Under 11s

What a season. Played 14, won 9, lost 4 with one abandoned.

The season started in late April with rain. Several matches were rained off and so our Middlesex programme was cut to only 4 matches. We won all four to win the Middlesex West Area U11 Division 2 which means the U13s will compete in Division 1 next season.

We slipped up in the plate this year. We won 2 matches but lost to Sheen Park, a new side. We scored 129 for 1 in 20 overs but with the manager trying to ensure that all boys "got a game", Sheen Park were able to pass this score in the last over. Having said this none of our bowlers bowled badly on the day, Sheen Park batted well.

There was some good success in the Jim Warden Trophy organised by Egham Cricket Club. We achieved victories against Windsor, Staines & Laleham and Egham but we lost to Valley End. Poor organisation by our opponents, and the weather, prevented the East Molesey and Ottershaw matches from occurring.

Unlike previous years, the batting was not dependent on one player. Daniel Moss and Ben Brown both scored over 200 runs during the season while David Merchant and Stef D’Adamo scored over 100. Jasraj Sanghera, Freddie Cottrell, Jamie Watson, Ian Doggett, Ethan Dyett, Harry Jackman, Adam Geeves and Mikey Bishey all contributed with the bat and scored valuable runs. For the 2005 season all batsmen must concentrate on their consistency.

Daniel Darroch, Furqan Bhullar, Mohammed Khan, Jiwan Gill and Jordan Bateson also contributed with the bat but the opportunities they received were unfortunately few and far between. One area where our batting was particularly impressive and improved considerably during the year was the running between the wickets.

The bowling was also shared around with Jasraj Sanghera, Harry Jackman, Ethan Dyett, Freddie Cottrell, Ben Brown, David Merchant, Mikey Bishey, Adam Geeves and Jamie Watson taking the wickets and bowling the bulk of the overs.

Jiwan Gill, Daniel Darroch and Daniel Moss also took wickets while Furqan Bhullar, Stef D'Adamo, Mohammed Khan, Abbas Kausar and Jordan Bateson also bowled but unfortunately without success.

The wicketkeeping was performed almost exclusively by Ian Doggett. Ian volunteered to do the job in April and although he had little experience at the time, his confidence grew during the season and he improved considerably as the matches went by. He will be a valuable asset to the U11s next year.

A team is not only about batting, bowling and wicketkeeping. The lads have to be able to field as well and this is one area where we improved enormously. Friday nights obviously paid off. Our fielding from mid-season onwards was a delight to watch and our opponents noticed it. Winning is often seen to be all about batting and bowling. It isn’t. If you can stop your opponents scoring runs you immediately give yourself a big advantage.

Throughout the season the U11 side received tremendous support from the parents for matches for which I thank you all. Support really does help and the more encouragement, the better, but more specific help is still required. Managers cannot get everything ready before a game, umpire and/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 to relieve the managers and coaches of some of the administrative burden of running a Colts team. Please help, no offers will be refused. We are gradually getting there but more help is still required.

I would like to thank everyone who did help the U11s in anyway throughout the season to ensure that Fridays were enjoyable and that match days ran smoothly. A special thanks to Chris White, Mark Doggett and Ikie Gill for their help and assistance on Friday nights. Thanks also to Richard Mansfield for his excellent coaching.

Many thanks also to David Merchant senior and Mark Doggett for managing the side in my absence. While on thanks I should like to say a very special thank you to the whole Doggett family. Mark was always available, Elaine scored in nearly every match, while Graham and Ian were always around to help set up and clear away. Many thanks – it does make the Manager’s life easier and more attractive for the following season!

The 2004 U11 Awards:

Batting award is shared – Ben Brown (257 at an average of 25) and Daniel Moss (211 at an average of 30).

Bowling award – Harry Jackman with 13 wickets and at an average of only 7.4 per wicket.

All Rounder’s award – David Merchant for his excellent contributions as captain and with both bat and ball.

Under 10s

The under 10s had their first season in the Middlesex friendly league and although we did not win many matches the team spirit was excellent throughout the year.

The highlight of our season would have to be the exciting match we had with Teddington. A good all round bowling and fielding performance set us a challenging score of 114 to win. Abbas Kausar and Furqan Bhullar gave us a good start putting on 50 + for the first wicket. Chris Harding came in and hit some big shots to get us near their score. Stef D’Adamo and Saroop Gill then came together and edged us closer and with one over to go we still needed 4 to win. After playing out 4 dot balls Stef hit a four down to third man for us to win the game with one ball to spare. I’m not sure who were the more excited, the team or the fanatical support that was coming from the parents on the boundary.

I would first like to thank all the under 9s who helped make up the team over the course of the season because without them we would not have been able to get 11 out for every match. They were, in no particular order, Matthew Frost, James McKenna, Dean Stroudly, Saroop Gill, Amber Cousens, David King, Luke Wheeler, Nasir Khleif, Joe Balmer, Ahmad Salahuddin and Yash Bancil.

My next thank yous are for Chris White and Elaine for scoring, collecting match fees, and helping with the stats.

For the under 10s there were fine batting performances from Jagroop Gill, Abbas Kausar, Jasraj Sangherea, Ian Doggett, Chris Harding, Dale Hawkett, Stef D’Adamo, Diljeet Guarav and Liam Balmer.

The bowling was shared amongst the whole team with Stef D’Adamo, Diljeet Guarav, Jiwan Gill, Jasraj Sangherea, Abbas Kausar, and Furqan Bhullar putting in regular excellent performances.

There are two boys of whom I would like to make a special mention for their great improvement over the season in their all round performance - Richard Hill and Joseph White.

The first award, for the best batsman, goes to a player who put in consistent performances all season with the bat and also with the gloves – Ian Doggett.

The next award is for the best bowler and it goes to a player who could always be relied on to bowl well and took nearly twice as many wickets as anyone else – Diljeet Guarav.

The next award I have pleasure in giving is the manager’s award and I have decided to present it to the player who put in the best all round performance with his consistent batting, bowling, fielding and overall enthusiasm – Stef D’Adamo.

There is one final award. This goes to a player who in a game against Wycombe House achieved something in a game to which all bowlers aspire and very few achieve, taking a hat-trick – Jiwan Gill.

Under 9s

The big change in this season was that the U10s entered a league for the first time - this meant that 14 players from the U9 group were able to get match experience and a few (Matthew Frost, Saroop Gill, David King and James McKenna) played for that team on a regular basis. This will hold them in good stead for next season.

Attendance at training was good and despite the abysmal summer the rain seemed to hold off quite well between 6 and 8 on Friday nights. I said in my report last season that in that year the children had been particularly well behaved......this year's crop did not quiet maintain last year's high standard so good luck to Mark and Chris for next season!

We did have plenty of talent - Ahmad Salahuddin and Yash Bancil joined this season and both proved that they had potential to be good cricketers. Dean Stroudley has played his 3rd season in the U9s and is now a colts veteran and well prepared for next year's league. Joe Balmer has developed into being a very pacey bowler and Sam English has shown much improvement largely due to the Middlesex winter nets that he attended. Daniel Ward (thankfully no more than a distant relative of the first team skipper) and Francis White are both natural athletes and are sure to excel at cricket or any sport that they compete in.

We also have some girls that play, the most regular attendees being Amber Cousens and Georgina Sutch. Thankfully, Amber seems to have taken after her older brothers rather than her dad as she can both bowl straight and play a perfect cover drive.

One of the best moments of the season was when we gave Luke Wheeler a game in the U10s. He in fact is an U7 and managed to bat for 7 overs against Richmond and also picked up a wicket.

Last season we started presenting an award for the U9s - I was pleased to see that last year's winner Diljeet is still playing and doing extremely well. This year we have decided to present the trophy to a boy who has attended training regularly, who has behaved himself extremely well, and has shown real potential in batting, bowing and fielding. This year the award goes to James McKenna.

Many thanks to all the coaches who assisted, especially Jakki, David Frost and Jon Cousens.