Colts Head For District Trials

Under 11s – William Ladbury 

Will Ladbury carried out most of the keeping duties for the under 11s in their hugely successful 2011 season. Keeping to what was arguably one of the best bowling attacks in the league with the likes of Sam Carley, Lewie Fay, Tom Knight-Owen, Sam Copley, Sam Fenton and even Tom Jones would be a test for any young keeper. Will took all of this in his stride and became an important part of the team. The development over the season has seen him become more and more confident with his positioning and his taking of the ball. He has taken a few knocks along the way with a nasty ball that hit him on the arm at Lymington and a ball to the shoulder in a training session. These knocks have not deterred Will and he will surely be an even better player for the start of the 2012 campaign. Whilst his batting average would suggest that he has not performed to the best of his potential he has played his role in important games, notably in the cup. A quarter Final partnership of 28 with Tom Knight-Owen before which Hythe were struggling and a semi-final performance with him seeing Hythe home with 5 not out.

Under 12s – Sam Carley, Lewie Fay, Tom Knight-Owen

Sam Carley moved to the club from Beaulieu for the 2011 season and made an instant impact. Sam played in all 7 league games and the 4 cup games in what was a long season. His batting average for the under 11s was 11.36, could have been much higher if it wasn’t for the number of outs. Strong of the front foot Sam has played some excellent drives and his batting has really shone in the Cup games, 53 of his runs coming from these 4 games. Sam’s bowling has also been a real asset to the Under 11s, with 15 wickets at 10.07 apiece. Highlight from his bowling has to be the bouncer he bowled at Lymington that hit the batsman in the grill; this was after the batsman drove the ball beforehand. He also managed to get himself onto the leading colts section for the club with 4 for 13 against New Milton in the cup semi-final. He also managed to play one senior game against Great Houghton with limiting success, bad captaincy in one view.

Lewie Fay came into the 2011 season with the reputation as a bowler; he was picked for the district side but decided against it because of a lack of inclusion. Lewie quickly established himself as an all-rounder and showed that his batting was as good as his bowling with some cracking shots in the season opener at Mudeford. He Finished the season as leading runs scorer, 144, but did not top the averages due to the number of outs. However, Lewie finished top of the bowling averages with 18 wickets at 7.17 apiece, all of which were clean bowled.  He picked up wickets consistently throughout the season and showed that his bowling was only getting better. Lewie went on to play 2 senior games for Hythe the first being against a very strong Langley Manor side where Lewie was the only one to return with less than 4 runs per over from his spell, he also took a catch in the second over to calm his nerves. After this he earned a call up to the Tony Woodhouse cup for the Sunday 2^ndXI senior side and bowled 4 overs for 12 runs in a win that secured the cup for Hythe and Dibden.

 Tom Knight-Owen was named as the captain for the under 11s side for the 2011 season and much of the success can be attributed to him. Never short of ideas Tom would have planned his bowling and batting before the game. His nature on the field was also noticed by many parents and opposition teams as he would encourage other players and clearly could get the best out of them. He also showed that he was no mug with bat or ball. He topped the batting averages with 17.60 and it is also important to note the 25 not out he scored in the Bashley 6 aside competition with pin point accuracy through the legside. He also contributed with the ball with 13 wickets at 12.46 in what was a bumper year of wickets for the under 11s, 70 wickets in total. Tom played a number of Senior games, the first of which was for an opposition side who were short. He was brought on to bowl against Sean Tongs, who has some 14,000 runs for the club, and Tom Richards, first team batsman, and managed to keep them very quiet even forcing chances for both. This lead to a number of games for the Sunday first team where he picked up 2 wickets.

Under 13s – Jacob Mould

Jacob Mould came into the 2011 season after a successful 2010 season top scoring in a number of under 11s games. In what was always going to be a tougher year because of being the younger age Jacob did well to score 79 runs at 8.78 throughout the under 13s season. He managed to score 31 not out in the Phil Pick trophy to help Hythe to a 66 run win over Langley Manor. Being used as a specialist batsman meant no bowling for Jacob. Next year as he moves into the older years as an under 13 Jacob could be pushing for a shed full of runs.

Under 14s – Archie Gilbert, Ali Bryers, Sam Kelly, Jake Larkin

Archie Gilbert after a difficult 2010 season Archie bounced back for the 2011 season for the under 13s  Archie lead all the batting statistics for the under 13s 2011 season, 185 runs with an average of 23.13 and a top score of 38 not out. With confidence to play his shots and look to score runs he has been able to get 3 scores of 30 or more this year. This is coupled together with his wicket keeping that has progressed enormously this season. Archie also played 7 games for the 3^rd XI and 10games for the Senior Friendly side. With a Sunday average of 12.84 and a top score of 27 he is one to watch with the bat next year. He also took 3 catches as wicket keeper for senior sides.

Ali Bryers continues to go from strength to strength as he captains this years under 13s side. He has a can do attitude that means his side has faith to go out and perform even against the big clubs. With bat and ball Ali shows he is more than capable. His batting statistics show he scored 169 runs at 21.13 with one score of 30 or more. His bowling figures are where he really excels, 22 wickets at 9.05 apiece and best figures of 3-8 shows that batsman struggle to play his pace. In senior cricket Ali has played most games for the 3^rd XI. His League batting average was 11.25 and bowling average was 23.20, picking up 10 league wickets.

Jake Larkin was new to competitive cricket this year but has taken to getting wickets very well. Jake has been a consistent player for the under 13s picking up wickets throughout the season. He managed to finish second in the bowling averages with 14 wickets at just 10.50 apiece. This consistency has fitted in well for the under 13s bowling attack. With the bat Jake got 22 runs at 7.33. He only batted the 6 times and on 3 of these occasions he finished not out. His top score for the season was 15* and there is certainly promise for this young player in the future as he moves into the under 15s next year.

Sam Kelly is a good all-round cricketer who can take sides apart with his batting. He has shown that he is able to play against the best in the New forest with his score in the cup final against Lymington. He finished third in the batting averages for the under 13s with 138 runs at 17.25. With the ball Sam managed to pick up 9 wickets at 17.67 apiece. He shows good presence in the field and has plenty of potential. Another player to watch for the 2012 season as he hopefully begins to make the transition in the Senior sides at Hythe.

Good Luck to all the lads going forward for their trials over the next month or so.