On Monday night our U13b pairs showed fantastic fighting spirit to earn praise from opposition players, umpire and spectators alike. Ruston having only 6 players at the start of the game were given the choice to bat first. They began with purpose with each pairing contributing, hitting regular boundaries and eventually reaching an impressive 289 for 5.
Pick of the Bowden bowlers were the King siblings. Charlie with figures of 13 for 2 off 3 overs including the chance of a caught & bowled hatrick that he just failed to grasp. Grace with incredible figures of 2 for 1 off 3 overs. Support in the field came from some fine run outs from Matty Girardia and Alex Tugwell-Scott. In reply Bowden never really moved out of second gear. Although the scoring was steady some fine bowling from the opposition’s more senior players soon quelled any real threat to the target. With the chance of victory gone what came next was fantastic to see. In addition to the evident desire to compete at a higher level the sense of teamwork and togetherness from Bowden was impressive. Encouragement and support from teammates when wickets fell and injuries occurred drew far more attention from the crowd than any personal individual performances. Tears, blood and bruises yes, but what shone through was grit and determination that are essential attributes when playing superior opposition. Bowden finished on 229 for 6 however walked off the field with heads held high with applause all round.