Cricket: Review for 2011
Cricket
Played 110 Won 54 Drew 2 Lost 54
In terms of overall results this was a slightly disappointing cricket season as we failed to build on the 66% win ratio of last year. However there was a lot of good cricket played by boys at all levels.
SENIORS
T he seniors produced some notable achievements. The 4th XI were unbeaten and on two occasions, against Junior King’s Canterbury and Dulwich Prep, we recorded five wins out of five. There was also the success of the U12 side who reached the County Cup Final beating four competitive sides comfortably before losing to a very strong Judd team. Will Edwards starred with the ball proving unplayable at times and there were several useful contributions with the bat throughout the season.
The 1st XI enjoyed a good season with a number of strong performances beating Dulwich, Junior King’s Canterbury and Hawthorns. There were also two draws against Marlborough House and Ashdown House. Will Donald led the way with the bat and was unlucky not to reach 50 on a couple of occasions.
George Howard won the bowling prize, a reward for consistently putting the ball in the right place. He was pushed for the bowling award by Will Edwards who won the fielding prize as a consolation. Jonathan Smith captained the side effectively, made important contributions with bat and ball, and was rewarded with his full colours.
The 2nd XI enjoyed a strong season winning five of their six matches. Edward Gray produced the Champagne Sporting Moment of the year taking four wickets in an over against Hilden Grange 1st XI and he bowled effectively all season ably assisted by Dan Leroni among others. Several boys contributed with the bat and Max Rossiter and Louis McKeeve both notched up half centuries. The highlight of the season though was Paul Lewis’ 97 to help beat Junior King’s. The 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th XIs put out a variety of teams to ensure that all boys played at least four fixtures. In all they won 12 out of their 16 matches. The 4th XI and 6th XI remained unbeaten and it was great to see the 4th XI beating Solefield 1st XI in a close match. There were several individual performances of note including Macsen Lambert scoring a 50 against Hawthorns in the last game of the season for the 4th XI. George Ankjaer and Jack Moffat performed consistently for the 3rd XI and Harry Green was hugely impressive at 5th XI level starring with bat and ball.
MIDDLES
There was a mixed set of results in the middles section of the school. Several sides showed evidence of improvement and both U10A and U11A teams should be pleased with their seasons.
The U11A team won five and lost five including excellent victories over Wellesley House and New Beacon. They also won the Woolmer Cup beating Holmewood House by 62 runs. Ben Morley, who bowled outstandingly all season, produced a wonderful spell of bowling to decimate the HH top order in this fixture. Elsewhere Jake Brinton and Ollie Brinton both scored 50’s during the season and Jonathan Sheperdson captained and contributed in all areas of the game. Sam Mercer also proved himself to be a capable wicket keeper. The U11A team also reached the semi-finals of the Tonbridge School six-a-side tournament only to be thwarted by a thunderstorm that cancelled proceedings.
The U11B team had an excellent season winning five of their seven matches. Ben Wallace, Freddy Brewer and Jack Delaney proved very effective with ball in hand. Ben Pettitt was the B team player of the season for some sensible batting and his all-round contribution to the team. The C and D teams found victories harder to come by but again there were some notable achievements as the C team beat Junior King’s Canterbury and Cumnor House with Hugo Toppin showing developing skill as a bowler. The D team managed a victory over Hilden Grange, a match in which Michael Hall performed very well.
The U10 results were disappointing this term although there were a number of times when these boys were playing older boys in order to get everyone regular fixtures. The U10A team led the way well, winning the Sutton Valence six-a-side tournament in style, with captain Tom Nicholls to the fore as he was throughout the season. Tom also scored a couple of 50’s in normal fixtures. He was supported with the bat by Ollie Paisley who made a lot of runs including a quick fire 50 against Dulwich. Isaac Bepey proved to be a very effective opening bowler.
Elsewhere in the U10s, Oliver Woodmansee showed great progress with the bat and Oscar Davies scored a 50 against Dulwich. There is a great deal of potential in this year group but the batting needs to improve for next year. Remember boys, play straight to the straight deliveries!
JUNIORS
The cricket season proved to be a difficult one at Junior level. The U9s in particular struggled to build on a good first season. The difficulties again came with the batting and at A team level a lack of boundaries and too many lost wickets resulted in the majority of losses. The bowling was excellent and James Wharrier was the player of the season ably supported by Oscar Norris and Alex Cowen.
There were some notable performances outside of the A team. Matthew Rackliffe showed good promise and will do well next year. Teddy Wallace bowled and batted with solid technique and Siyan Patel showed a good eye for the ball when batting. Despite the poor results, there is good talent in this year group and we expect them to do well when they move up to hard ball cricket next year.
The U8s enjoyed their first real taste of cricket and it was great to see that by the end of the season the majority of the boys could bowl with a straight arm and stand correctly when batting. Adam Pinnell, Archie Yorke and Will Tyler, amongst others, proved to be very strong all-round cricketers. Unfortunately some cancellations limited the boys to a couple of games each but they all enjoyed the experience and they can look forward to a successful season next summer.
Other Seasons: Current Season | Cricket: Review for 2010 | Cricket: Review for 2009 | Cricket: Review for 2008 | Cricket: Review for 2007 | Cricket: Review for 2006 | Cricket: Review for 2005 | Cricket: Review for 2004