It's a new year, new season, and there are many new faces for the U13s cup side. However, the rain is still the same, and so are the overly long match reports. It's been seven months since my last report, and it's probably taken that long to finish reading it! This season I will endeavour to make them much more succinct and manageable to read without having to dedicate a whole afternoon to write and read.

With that out of the way, it's over to the kids. It's been a brilliant winter, with a whole new cohort of U12s moving up from the U11s, and they have been outstanding. A credit to the U11 coaches it hasn't taken them long to get up to speed with how we do things with the U13s and have quickly adapted to the step up. We have few 13/Year 8 boys this year, but the ones we do have are excellent cricketers and have already taken on the responsibility of leading from the front extremely well. With most of the surrounding leagues in disarray, and junior cricket not escaping the hindrance that these rainy months have caused, the fact that we have had an U13 game on Friday (The only one played in all of the SMJCL as far as I can tell) and following that Monday's cup game vs Ramsbottom, it is a credit to hard work of Barbs and Andy to get cricket on at DCC. We are so fortunate to have them working on our ground. For Ramsbottom, they couldn't believe we were able to get a game on, and they thanked us profusely for being able to do so and provide cricket for their players. They were a nice team, respectful and had some good players in there including a Lancashire bowler. They were well supported too, a good band of parents cheering them on. For us, our side was strong, and for the coaches it had been extremely hard to decide who would play, and who would sadly miss out this time. With Didsbury looking splendid, especially considering most grounds are still unusable and unfit, we would be sent into bat by Ramsbottom.

An interesting start. Fairly slow and keeping low, it was a typical April wicket. Our batters, having trained a lot indoors, on fast and bouncy surfaces, would quickly find the transition onto grass to be quite tough. In what was a series of unfortunate events; Krishav, Abu, and Milan would all find a way of chopping the ball onto their own stumps from deliveries that were in different postcodes to the stumps. Obviously it was partly bad luck, but also a lesson to be learnt from those elder statesmen of the game.. don't go chasing the ball in April! A couple more wickets would fall, and our last top four batter, Ibby, who had opened the innings was being left stranded as we sank to 36-5 after nine overs. A truly outstanding innings from Ibby to steady the ship and calm the nerves of his younger teammates, showing that if you had patience the easier it was out there. His 30* retiring off 26 balls was a great performance and truly got us out of the mud. Nate, having seen Ibby retire, took on the mantle and counterattacked. A destructive 31* retired off 24 balls including four fours as he powered along. He was joined by Albert, who has his cricket brain well and truly screwed in, as he farmed easy singles to the ring fielders, ticking along nicely to a 22* as the pair built a fantastic partnership. With Nate retired, Isaac would come in and support Albert well, scoring two fours in a late flourish of runs that saw us catapult up to 123/5 from our 20. A brilliant recovery, with the four boys scoring 87 runs between them without losing a wicket, at a touch under eight an over. Hopefully this highlights just how much depth there is in the age group (again!) and should hopefully keep the nerves in check should they find themselves in a similar situation.

With the first innings complete and half a job done, there was some excellent reflection from the players at the halfway point. It was good to see them analysing the game and conditions. What could they learn, and take into the second innings? It was a clinical and highly skilled bowling and fielding effort. Harry and Milan opened the bowling and immediately their class was on show, with both picking up two wickets each and going for 4 and 8 runs respectively from their three overs each. With good pace and swing, they were more than a step above the Ramsbottom batters. Having seen how much the pitch was turning in the first innings, the Didsbury team quickly turned to their arsenal of spin bowling. Nate, Abu, and Albert all bowling well and taking advantage of the conditions. Often bowling balls that were simply too good for the opposition, it was a steady collapse of wickets. Nate picking up one, a peach to bowl the batter, and Albert also picking up a wicket, equally uprooting the stumps. Two fantastic runouts, from Abu and Krishav, the letter a direct hit off a no ball showing great awareness of the game, was a great highlight and reflects the hard work of the players over the winter and is the pay off for the coaches of the emphasis we put on our fielding skills at DCC. Dylan and Isaac both provided pace to support their spinners, the former picking up a wicket to finish the game and seal the win. Ramsbottom all out for 37.

A great first showing, and perhaps importantly the strength and depth of the squad, and the age group as a whole, was shown. It is incredible to think of who wasn't required to bowl, or bat, on this occasion. Or those that didn't score as many runs as they are more than capable of doing. An outstanding effort from the players, whose attitude and teamwork were without fault. Thanks to all the parents that supported, and especially to those that got involved in scoring or helping around the ground. A high bar has been set, and those standards have to now be maintained. Round two may be a little way off, as clubs continue to struggle to get cricket on. All three of our teams have games this week, with the Bears at home at DCC on Thursday, the Bulls away at Heaton Mersey Village on Friday, and the Buffs have the job of entertaining the first DCC BBQ of 2024!