Brentwoodian 2019

73 DUBAI CRICKET TOUR In the Easter of 2019, 26 keen First and Second Year cricketers went on a pre-season, residential trip to the UAE. We played 10 games, with each team playing lots of different oppositions, across areas in the UAE. The U13 team started the tour nicely with a competitive opening match against Al Ain cricket club. The side proved to be a tough opponent as we unfortunately lost. There were many positives as William Howard, brought up his first half- century of the tour in quick time, whilst crucial bowling from Freddie Thorn and Freddie Wren kept Al Ain’s batting tight. Overall, the first day of cricket was enjoyable and a great learning curve for us. The U12 team also played against Al Ain cricket club. The Al Ain boys were a few years older than us but our team were more than up for the challenge. Unfortunately we lost the game going right down to the wire, the last ball in fact. Two Man of the Match medals were given from Al Ain’s manager, the bowling medal going to Archie Stronach for his figures of 2-12 of 4 overs and the batting medal going to Daniel Green, a quick cameo, 18 runs off 12 balls. It was a great start to the tour. The next day came quickly around as we had our first rest day of the trip, where we got to enjoy an exciting visit to the Wild Wadi waterpark. It was a great day overall, a highlight of the tour, and everyone enjoyed it; especially Mr Wright and Mr Mickleburgh who could be found on the Lazy River! The following day we play at the Abu Dhabi national stadium, the Sheikh Zayed International stadium. It was a great experience for all the players, getting the opportunity to play at such an amazing venue. We played against a very good Zayed Academy side. Our U13 side won the toss and elected to bowl in HOT conditions. It started well for us with highly skilled bowling from Harry Douris and Finlay Stronach. We managed to keep the side to a 125 off of their 25 overs. This total was then set for our batters to chase down. The opening batters, Tom Arnold and Evan Ackerman, had a big task ahead of them. Tom played nicely getting 20 of just a few overs, although his innings ended from a sharp catch at mid-wicket. This then brought Finlay to the crease. He made a quick fire 15 but was then trapped LBW. Evan and Jed kept fighting through, trying to keep the run rate even. Jed made a great cameo putting our score closer to their total. Despite the loss of wickets, Evan Ackerman and Ollie Maltby saw the game out with 3 overs to spare, with Evan getting his first 50 of the tour. It was an excellent display of batting from these two. This proved to be a great chase for the 13s and our first win of the tour and Evan was rightly voted Man of the Match. The U12 also got to play at this stadium, a few hours before the 13s. This game was thoroughly enjoyed not just for the wonderful experience in the stadium but the game was very exciting. Brentwood batted first, top scorers being Nathan Killilea 19 and Daniel Green 19. We ended our innings 136 all out, a more than adequate score and with Zayed getting off to a flying start 55-1 after 12 overs. Zayed then needed 21 off 24 balls. At this stage they were favourites to win, but due to tight bowling and some brilliant fielding they only scored 4 runs of the next 2 two overs. We therefore now needed 17 off 2 overs. The last 2 overs were bowled by Daniel Green and Ben Rowbury, a wicket in Daniel’s over with an outstanding catch by Nathan Killilea, the next 5 balls going for 6 balls. Now it was up to Ben; could he handle the pressure. One off the first ball, a wicket off the