Under 17s humbled by County Opposition

A clash with the Scotland under-18s' World Cup qualifiers meant a less experienced side travelled down South to take on first Northumberland and then Leicestershire under-17s. A full day of biblical rain wiped out Day One of the Northumberland match and threatened Day Two. However, the South Northumberland groundstaff worked tirelessly to ensure some play was possible. With 50 overs per side agreed, Scotland lost a crucial toss and were asked to bat. Just as a strong partnership was forming against the openers, Danny Chaudhry had to retire hurt after receiving a nasty blow to his stomach. Batters 3 and 4 failed to cope with the prodigious swing bowling of Mackay, and Chaudhry was soon back at the crease with the score at 21-2. He and skipper Ross McLean continued their promising start until Chaudhry was run out thanks to a superb piece of fielding. Wickets continued to fall steadily, including that of McLean for 30, and Scotland were in deep trouble at 68-9. Some dogged rearguard action from Gavin Main and George Buchanan-Smith nudged the total up to 92 before Smith was eventually run out, but overall, this was an abject batting performance.

Hopes of building pressure with some early wickets were scuppered as Northumberland raced to 58-1 from 14 overs. Two sharp run outs gave Scotland hope, but Northumberland's opening bat, J Clark (70) was solid throughout his innings and steered his side to victory. The rules allowed Northumberland to continue their innings after surpassing Scotland's total, and so the home side continued their assault on the Scottish attack. Despite suffering a heavy defeat, the Scots kept working hard in the field and with the ball, and Northumberland completed their innings at 236-6 from 50 overs, winning by 144 runs. Pick of the bowlers was debutant Rajan Bhopal who picked up 2-47.

The young Scots hoped to get a chance to improve their batting as they ventured down to Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire. A beautiful sunny day, a rock hard wicket and a fast outfield awaited the team as they arrived. Frustratingly, the home side again won the toss and Scotland were asked to bowl. The openers learned very quickly that their margin for error was significantly smaller than up North as the opening batters put on a formidable 193 for the first wicket, including 28 boundaries between them. The spin bowlers fared little better as Leicestershire showed their batting depth with numbers 3 and 5 also scoring 50s in quick time. Only a brief spell of controlled seam bowling before tea halted the run feast with Chris Ashforth and George Buchanan-Smith in particular bowling well to their field. After 92 overs, the home side declared on a mammoth 405-6.

With time for thirteen overs before close of play on Day One, Scotland's openers had to face a hostile spell of fast bowling. Only one wicket fell, leaving McLean and Chaudhry not out overnight with the score on 20-1. After a much needed rest, the Scots looked forward to batting for a whole day and Chaudhry especially began to make an impression as he struck 17 off one over early in the first session. McLean looked good too until an uncharacteristic misjudged stroke sent him back to the pavilion for 29. Chaudhry quickly moved on to 50 and looked to be dominating the attack until he too fell to the wily off-spinner for 69 from 123 balls. The all-too-familiar middle order collapse undermined the good work earlier on and from 121-2, Scotland slumped to a disappointing 173 all out.

Asked to follow-on, the coaching staff looked for some guts and determination to avoid an innings defeat. However, Leicestershire's openers fired in short ball after short ball and the Scots' batters struggled technically to deal with the aggressive onslaught. Five wickets fell for just 21 runs and the visitors were staring ominously at a thumping loss. Ross Patterson and Craig Young stuck in where others failed and soon put together a reasonable partnership. Leicestershire turned to their spinners to get the breakthrough, but both lads kept their focus and refused to give their wicket away. While Young maintained his stubborn approach, Patterson began to play some impressive scoring shots and reached a deserved 50 from 77 balls. Both batters managed to get Scotland to the 44 over mark and thus saved the visitors from an innings defeat. The final score ended on 125-5 with Patterson not out on 66 and Young on 25.

Leicestershire proved to be the better side in all departments, and the Scots will certainly have learned a great deal from the match; in particular, the batters will have to work hard on playing the short-pitched ball and the bowlers will need to hit their areas with much greater consistency. With the two-day league now over, Scotland under-17s will move back to the one-day format; they will take on Ireland in three matches in mid-August.

Alan Patterson

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