Many congratulations to Imogen Neely, who was awarded Under 11 Surrey Player of the Year on Monday evening. Imogen collected her award on the pitch, during the interval of the Surrey v Glamorgan game at the Oval. Below is a report from Surrey Cricket, which easily shows why Imogen fully deserves the award. Needless to say, Long Ditton is very proud of her!
Under 11 Girls achieve convincing tournament win in sunny Arundel
With the end of July came the climax of the Under 11 Girls’ season – the Capital Kids Arundel tournament. Having lost out narrowly on run rate in 2011, the girls were determined to put up a good fight this year.
Their first match against Sussex came on a surprisingly sunny day and captain Imogen Neely started the day positively by winning the toss and choosing to bat. She led from the front by scoring a solid 30* (retired) and despite some consistent straight bowling from Sussex, Surrey managed to score 138/2 off their 20 overs, with an aggressive 32* (retired) from wicketkeeper batsman Alexandra Travers. Surrey then came into the field with a great team ethos and Jenny Lane and Rhianna Southby led the way with bowling, taking 2 and 3 wickets respectively. Madeleine Blinkhorn-Jones took another 2, and Sussex ended on 40 all out – a 98 run win on day 1!
Day 2 brought much of the same where batting was concerned for Surrey with Imogen Neely and Kiana Patel both scoring 31* (retired) and Rhianna Southby contributing 28* to a 137/3 total. Once again, a fantastic team fielding and bowling performance ensued and Middlesex were all out for 66 off 18 overs.
The girls entered day 3 knowing that a win against Essex secured tournament victory. Once again Surrey chose to bat first, and the decision paid off. Captain Imogen Neely scored her 3rd retired score in as many days, aided and abetted by Alexandra Travers again with some huge shots looking more IPL than Arundel! Kiana Patel and Rhianna Southby bowled some great lines to ensure wickets fell, but the main event of the match was the superb fielding by the whole team. Diving, sliding and some brave stops, notably a catch behind the stumps by Alexandra Travers, and a spectacular boundary dive by Georgie Ellis held Essex to just 54 all out – securing tournament victory; the first Surrey team to lift the Katie Berry trophy since 2007!
Absolutely superb performances from the girls all 3 days, and they should all be very proud of their contributions and achievements. Here’s to defending the title next year!
Laura Pierce
Under 11s Coach