...start competitive 2018 season with a 100% record.
BYC U17s have made a promising start to both the Specsavers County 2 day Championship and Royal London County 1 day Cup, as they reach the season's half-way point.
There have been several notable performances in the 4 wins over Herefordshire and Shropshire.
In the first 2 day Championship match away to Herefordshire, a 204 run 4th wicket partnership by Fayaz Homyoon (125) and Tom O'Toole (154*) formed the backbone of BYC U17s 353/4 declaration. BYC then bowled-out Herefordshire for 325 in a close match. George Whitcombe opened the bowling and picked up his first County fifer (14.1-46-5) which on a flat wicket at Colwall CC, also secured him the Man of the Match award (pictured below).
BYC U17s, led by skipper Joe Thorne, then went on to a comprehensive 1 day win at the picturesque Eastnor CC, in the shadow of the castle. Herefordshire were bowled out for 134 in 32 overs with wickets shared around the team and BYC U17s reached the target in 22 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. Dan Clark top scored with 49*
The 2 day match versus Shropshire U17s was an interesting battle. Batters had the upper hand again on a benign track, with a rapid outfield due to endless hours of sunshine at Potton Town CC. SCB U17s won the toss and batting first, tallied 351 with Ollie Gilks, Ben Lees and Cameron Steele all exceeding 50 runs for the visitors. BYC U17s spinners came into play, with Fayaz Homyoon tieing up one end with extremely parsimonious left arm spin (19-8-25-2) and Musa Illyas grabbing the bulk of the wickets at the other end with his right arm off spin (22-1-100-4).
BYC U17 batters then faced 24 overs as SCB skittled the night-watchmen. BYC crawled to 61/3, leaving SCB in pole position for a win at close of play on day 1. However, BYC's batters had other ideas and Dan Clarke crafted a hard-working 126 to steady the ship. He was ably supported by Tom O'Toole 41 and Fayaz Homyoon 68. BYC secured the 2 day win with a a final score of 427 and an extremely entertaining 98 from, vice-captain Tom Blythman in only 61 balls.
SCB were unfortunate to lose the toss for the 1 day game that followed, meaning they had to deliver 150 consecutive overs in the field. SCB stuck to their task, but BYC U17s pressed home their advantage and steady starts from 7 batters secured a total of 236/9 off 50 overs for the home team playing at Southill Park CC. A tiring SCB struggled to meet the target and fell well short in reply. A combination of ruthless spin and improved fielding reduced SCB to 132 all out. Homyoon again applied relentless pressure (9-4-15-3) and is currently top of the national U17 averages for his economy. Although the turning pitch meant the spinners bagged half the wickets, two Blythman stumpings and 3 run outs reflected a strong fielding performance..
Lead BYC U17 Coach, Justin Pieris said: "The squad is beginning to gel. There is healthy competition for all places and I am delighted that good performances with bat and ball are being shared around amongst not only the U17s, but also the U16s in the squad. I'm even more delighted that the fielding intensity of the whole squad is improving and how well the leadership team is doing. The players are showing their resilience. They have been called on in both the friendlies and in competition to take responsibility when they didn't expect it. An example is the gutsy 9th wicket partnership of 123 between Dan Clark and Dharmesh Mistry to secure a friendly win against Bedford School, Prashant Patel, assistant coach, and I, in consultation with the players prior to winter training, agreed a policy to devolve as much decision-making to the squad as possible. They have defined their own ethos and goals and this is bearing fruit. The team have the ability to quickly adapt to adverse scenarios. I know the whole squad is looking forward to our next matches versus Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, two strong Counties, which will undoubtedly test the squad in different and unexpected ways."
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