Cricket match report: August 2013 Under 11 home match vs Corsham Girls

The first alert was the glint of sunshine falling on a burnished helmet. Then a rumbling was heard in the valley, and soon up the hill they came on their gleaming chariots - the feared warrior-maidens of Corsham. Under an overcast sky the brave defenders of Bathford shivered. Was the cold wind a premonition of their demise? How could they face such fierce beauty and live? They steeled themselves for the onslaught.

Corsham then to bat first. The first blows were traded evenly. An early wicket fell to Ben Kirby-Woollett's bowling, but this only seemed to anger the would-be conquerors. With a toss of their fiery manes they set about Bathford, crashing boundary after boundary to the rope. It was women against boys*. The slaughter was awful. And yet the courage among these boys of Bathford was most manly. They stood tall (still a few inches shorter than the opposition) and bowled straight. They fielded tidily. They did not disgrace themselves. Though they fell to the sword, they did so as men. After 20 long overs it was done. The pick of the bowlers, Ben KW and Luca Press had taken three wickets between them, Corsham had amassed an incredible 328 points.

After a lull, our batsmen took to the crease. Sol Faragher and Jamie Hulin blocked resolutely. Jamie crashed a rousing boundary. As they came off Sol was heard to mutter: "It's scary out there." It was. The young women of Corsham had pace and guile. Some began their run-ups in the next postcode and sent sown thunderbolts, others took one or two paces and unleashed turning, spitting monsters. But the courage of Bathford remained undimmed and its young warriors showed their steel. The double Olliage of Philips and Bobrowski stood firm, and scored more memorable boundaries, Luca Press and Gabriel Faragher battled bravely though they looked half the height of their tormentors. Ben KW and George Waters faced them last. All eyes were on Ben to repeat his batting master-class of last week but it was George who scored the most memorable blow. A fluid, straight drive that saw the ball race across the ground to the boundary. Ben scored three fours and got the home crowd cheering, but with their last ball Corsham smashed down the wicket. It was a fitting end. A respectable 255 points left Bathford some way short, Corsham were victorious.

Their coach was generous: "You've got some really promising young players there", he said as he left. "You should play our under 11s, that would be a more even match."

*Literally, as it turns out. Girls are allowed to 'play down' two years in this league - so our 8- and 9-year-olds were playing a team of 13-year-old girls.