Cricket: Review for 2009
Cricket
Thankfully the bad weather that disrupted the Lent Term’s sporting programme had disappeared come the Summer Term allowing the boys to play an uninterrupted cricket season with hardly any cancellations. The quality of cricket was high and to win 67 % of our matches in what has traditionally been regarded as our weakest major sport is an encouraging achievement.
Seniors
The seniors had an excellent term and the strength in depth has been particularly noticeable this year. The 1st XI led the way winning 6 of their 11 games and they competed admirably in every game they played. Their comprehensive victory against a talented St Bede’s side was one of the highlights of the term as were the 4 catches that Sam Henderson took on the way to victory against Sevenoaks. Duncan Bristow proved to be a fantastic opening bat and wicket keeper, demonstrating great skill when standing up to the quick bowlers. Elsewhere there were contributions from the whole team and it was great to see the Y7 boys proving their worth, one of whom, Dominic Keats, had the honour of representing Sussex on a regular basis. Will Page was awarded the ‘player of the tournament’ at the Bethany 6-a –side competition, helping the team to a creditable third place.
The 2nd XI went one better than the 1st’s winning 7 of their 11 games with a wide variety if boys contributing with bat and ball. Team selection has been very difficult this season with 16 or so boys all finding the 2nd team level to their liking. Ben Payne was dismissed just the once (in the final game) on his way to scoring 190 runs, Nick Slater and Edward Stocker also contributed consistently with the bat. Every member of this team showed that they could bowl effectively but Bruno Cameran and George Forbes-Nixon proved to be the most consistent and potent.
It was ‘so near yet so far’ as the third team sought to complete their second unbeaten term in a row, only to suffer a narrow 6 run defeat against New Beacon when chasing a formidable total of 161; they nearly had an 8 and 8 record! Felix Hammett batted effectively all term and there were many strong performances from a wide variety of boys, again emphasising strength in depth. The 4th XI played four matches, winning three, and all of our senior boys had the opportunity to represent the school.
Middles
The middles continued to show their sporting prowess this summer. It was thought that the U11A team, so successful in the football and rugby seasons, would find the slower pace of cricket more demanding, however they can be delighted with the progress they have made winning 6 of their 11 matches. The highlight of the term had to be the run to the Summers Cup semi-final beating Wellesley House and Kent College on the way before losing out narrowly to New Beacon. Alfie Hoare proved his worth with both bat and ball and Jonathan Smith bludgeoned a significant number of runs. Dan Leroni captained the side intelligently.
The U11B and C sides narrowly missed out on unbeaten seasons with both teams winning 7 out of 8 games. The majority of these games were won comfortably and it was great to see so many boys making important contributions with bat and ball. The only problem caused by this success was selection dilemmas about who should play in the B’s and who should play in the C’s! Any international coach would love to have that problem!
A similar problem can be found with the U10 boys who marched on with an air of invincibility winning match after match and completing more unbeaten seasons; the U10A team completed an amazing treble of unbeaten terms. Jack Prideaux led the way with some potent bowling and, together with the raw pace of Joe Shamash, was impressive if not a little scary at this level! There were other notable contributions from David Wilkinson who hits the ball hard and shared the ‘keeping duties capably with George Wooldridge. Will Higgins opened the bowling for us and could be relied upon to bowl an impressive line and length and ‘Eddy’ Edwards spins the ball prodigiously for a young lad. All the team made valuable contributions and enjoyed costing Mr C a second visit to Pizza Express in two terms! Narrow victories over New Beacon and Hawthorns, games that both came down to the final delivery, will, hopefully, give these talented sportsman food for thought for next season, however, and remind them that there is no substitute for practice and more practice to hone those developing skills!
It goes with out saying that the U10 B team matched the A’s record of 7 wins out of 7 although they were very rarely troubled; their 10 wicket demolition of Holmewood House (16 all out) was indicative of their entire season. Charlie Hobbs proved to be a star with the ball and Spencer Alderton was the most consistent batsmen.
Elsewhere the 10C’s and Ds dominated the majority of their games although both suffered a loss against B teams from other schools. The U10E team was victorious in its only game.
Juniors
If Rugby was the most successful of the three games for the U9s then cricket was definitely the least successful. Greater powers of concentration are required to play cricket and it was evident throughout the term that the Y4 boys did not always find this easy. There were some high points though, as three victories against Holmewood House proved that there is cricketing talent in this yeargroup. Sam Mercer looks like a strong cricketer and Jonathan Shepherdson will be a good bowler if he can find greater consistency. Further down the teams, Ben Wallace demonstrated a good eye for the ball at C team level and it was great to see Charlie Brooks hitting the decisive boundary in the C team’s victory against St Michael’s.
The U8s had a similar win:loss ratio as the U9s as they came to terms with what was a completely new game for most of them, although had four of the matches not followed a night out camping I am sure the number of victories would have been higher! The A team demonstrated a great deal of potential and in Isaac Bepey and Tom Nicholls we have some stars of the future. It was great to see the improvement all of the boys have made throughout the term and they have a great deal to build on for next summer.
Other Seasons: Current Season | Cricket: Review for 2008 | Cricket: Review for 2007 | Cricket: Review for 2006 | Cricket: Review for 2005 | Cricket: Review for 2004