S. ALFAS XI 190-8 – AEC JUNIORS 178-7
An AEC Junior XI showed just how much progress has been made this season by putting up a spirited display in a narrow defeat to a strong Sporting Alfas Sunday side.
The Junior XI, captained by Christian Munoz and under the guidance of Neil Brook, the Director of Spanish Junior Cricket took to the field first and restricted Alfas to 190-8, with only an innings by Matthews of fifty-five and a late flurry of runs by A. Fletcher and Hall enabling the home side to post a competetive score.
The Junior XI utilized eight bowlers during the Alfas innings, showing the versatility of the team, with the most successful being Dan Togher, who claimed 2-8 and Matt Winter 2-31. The reply by the Juniors started well with Joel Brook and Brad Seekings occupying the crease until the twenty-fourth over in an opening stand of eighty-three.
After the loss of Joel Brook there were a couple of quick wickets claimed by Alfas including that of Seekings for forty-four before a brisk innings by Neil Brook,scoring eighteen from just nine deliveries gave his side a chance of victory. Unfortunately, for the Juniors the overs ran out leaving them stranded on 178-7 just thirteen runs shy of what would have been a fantastic victory.
The afternoon proved to be a huge success and a highly useful experience in run chasing for the AEC Junior XI, a number of which will be hoping to represent their country in the ECC European tournament to be held next year, and with several of the players continuing to play regularly in adult cricket with local clubs, spectators can expect to see continued improvement next season.