On an eventful night at Till Carr Lane, it was captain Theo who won the toss and elected to bat meaning he was first out to the crease alongside Harrison. It was a slow but steady opening couple of overs before the innings was interrupted by the wickets.

First Theo then Ethan then Seth which left the score at 38-3 and a rebuilding process needed. Dom was next in, although it would be two overs before he’d face a ball as Harrison retired not out reaching his 28 with a four bringing Henry to the crease.

The U11 pair worked well together, running sensibly and hitting boundaries. It took just 12 balls, including 4x4s for Dom to reach 26, the retired not out score being reached with an impressive six that soared over the boundary.

Jonty was next man in and the scoring rate slowed as the pair got used to the partnership, brought to a premature end with a great caught and bowled from King Cross’s Ameen.

It was Nico next in and it would take another few overs, with a nervy Mr Powe at the boundary watching on, for Henry to reach his 25 – but reach his 25 he did meaning he also retired not out for the first time.

That brought the ever-impressive George to the crease and the pair closed out the innings with 107 scored from the 20 overs for the fall of 4 wickets.

The innings break verdict was it was a strong score, but beatable. And King Cross B came out determined to beat it. For a while it looked like they could.

Special mention has to go to Jack, always a brilliant player to have as part of any team, who made his U13 debut – a fact the Till Carr Lane wasps seemed determine to ensure he remembered as they ganged up to brutally attack him as he was running in for his last ball. It was a dot, which will have perhaps stung King Cross more than the pain of the sting he bravely endured.

Ollie, who came into bowl next amidst the chaos and with a fielder down, also deserves credit for keeping his head and only going for 7 in the next.

The worm (the run variety, I’ve not become obsessed with small creatures) shows that the visitors were ahead of the run rate all the way through until a couple of quick wickets fell to Henry in the 12th over, building on Jonty and Harrison’s wickets earlier in the innings.

With their strongest batter retired not out and some strong bowlers coming in for Lightcliffe, the run rate dropped, the tempo of the match changed.

Dominic yet again miserly (0-5), Ethan similarly so (1-5), as was Theo (0-7). And with the trio closing out the game, supported throughout with some excellent keeping from Nico, it was a case of job done.

King Cross B ultimately fell 17 runs short securing a victory for Lightcliffe’s young U13s.

Huge thanks to James for running the game, Rich for running the bar and a collection of coaches, parents and players from both teams for the antihistamine.