SKIPPER Andrew Sutton heaped praise on his youthful Barnt Green outfit after they made it back-to-back wins in the Birmingham League Premier Division with a 101-run victory over Kenilworth Wardens.
Teenage openers Jamie Harrison and Tom Banton lay the foundations for the victory which ensured the Cherry Hill Road side sit at the top of the table after two games.
Harrison, who joined from Walmley and is in Warwickshire’s under-19s age group squad, and 17-year-old Banton, who is on the books at Somerset’s academy, showed their credentials by putting on 140 runs for the first wicket.
Banton (99) was unfortunate to not claim a century while Harrison hit a quick-fire 67.
Overseas player James Psarakis struck 94 before Sutton himself got in on the act with 47 as the Green reached a mammoth score of 356-4 from their allocated 50 overs.
Sixteen-year-old bowler Adam Hines then took two wickets at the cost of 31 runs from his seven overs for Green as Wardens were left restricted to 255-8.
“It has been a very good start especially with the amount of players we have had missing and there’s now a good buzz going round the club,” said Sutton, who took three wickets for 47 runs on Saturday.
“We worked out the average age of the squad on Saturday was just 19 and that included a 31-year-old in myself so it shows just how young this side is.
“Age is just a number though and a lot of the young lads have learned to take responsibility for themselves rather than focusing on what others are doing and who we are playing.
“The youngsters want to learn and have aspirations of playing cricket at a higher standard so hopefully they will continue to push on.”
Green will be hoping to make it three wins out of three on Saturday when they entertain Knowle & Dorridge.
Warwickshire’s Josh Poysden and Matt Lamb will be unavailable while seam bowlers Ben Lad-Gibbon, Simon Jackson and Alex Wood are expected to return to the fold.
“We may have had a good start but we are not going to get too ahead of ourselves because K&D will be a tough test,” Sutton said.
“It’s always a bit of a gritty contest with them but hopefully the weather stays good and we can pick up a third win on the spin.”
Then on Sunday the Green entertain Pershore in the Birmingham League T20 Challenge Cup (2pm start).
