9 May 2019
The second week of cricket fixtures started with a mid-week block against Stowe School. Batting first on War Memorial, the 1st XI made a very respectable 162 from their 20 overs, with Jamie Lawson (52) and Freddie Smith (37) making notable contributions in a strong total. A sublime innings from Stowe's opening batsman, scoring an incredible and chance less 112 from just 60 balls took the game away from the hosts. You are not likely to see a better school boy innings all year.
The 3rd XI, again batting first, reached a respectable 133 for 7 from their 20 overs, with Ludo Wilson making 37. Despite Will Wakelam's 3 for 25, Stowe reached the total for the loss of 4 wickets. A thriller in the U15A match led to a tied match. Chasing 175, after Nathan May made a fluent 37, Stowe still had plenty to do in the final overs, after Max Sheppard took 4 for 40. A late flurry of runs took the game right to the wire, with the visitors finishing on 175 with just the 1 wicket remaining!
On adjacent pitches, the U15B team managed to defend 162, after good knocks by Matthew Fowler (55no) and Josh Jackson (31no), with Stowe falling 5 runs short in another close encounter. The U15C match was more comprehensive – Abingdon, batting first, scoring 124 for 4 (Leo Vine 32), before bowling the opposition out for 66, with Yuhao Liu and Jack Lambert starring with the ball with 3 wickets a-piece.
The U14 sides all had a successful day. The U14As defending 143 (Jamie Firth, 70 and Max Siriwardene, 45), limiting their opponents to 133 for 4. The U14B side, also batting first, made 118 thanks largely to Toim Sherwood's 69 with the bat. Stowe never got close, finishing 30 runs short on 88 for 5. And finally, a good chase for the U14C side, winning by 6 wickets as they successfully chased 66 for the loss of 4 wickets.
Sadly, 2 matches were lost to the weather with the 2nd XI and 4th XI matches abandoned in the middle of the games, not before Liam Hilditch and Nathan Hudson had both made half centuries for the 2nd XI.
Our weekend fixtures saw matches against Warwick School, which has been a well-fought block in recent years. Sadly, the U13 matches had to be abandoned due to the heavy overnight rain, but we managed to start each of the remaining fixtures.
Trialling a 2-innings format this year in some of the games to enable more boys greater opportunities to participate, this was to be the first experience of this format for our Lower School. The U12B team lost by 22 runs across their two innings, however there were some excellent performances from Harrison Cruikshank (5 for 6) and Harry Wildgoose (27 runs). The U12A side experienced a winning margin of 73 across their two-innings game, with Jack Veal (50 ret'd), Oliver Veal (40) and Ethan Barksfield (30) making some major contributions. This proved to be a very successful first outing for this format.
The U14s had two great wins at B and C team levels against Warwick, with Clem Davies taking 3 for 5 in the B team game, to win by a margin of 54 runs. The U14As struggled to defend 131, after Alastair Gray made 38 in the Abingdon innings. Despite Ben Desmond and Alex McPherson taking 3 wickets a-piece, Warwick finished a tight chase with just 2 wickets remaining.
The U15A and B teams had emphatic wins away at Warwick, with the highlight being a quick-fire century from Caspar Mannix in the U15A game. Whilst on the 1st XI at Warwick, a thriller unfolded in the 2nd XI game. Chasing 183, which could have been significantly less had we held our catches(!), the 2nd XI were always second favourites, despite keeping themselves in the game in their chase. That was until Sam Collins played an incredible cameo with the bat, making 68 from 36 balls and bringing up the victory with a 6 from the penultimate ball of the innings – an incredible innings and victory!
Finally, the 1st XI fixture at War Memorial, which was a fine and clinical performance by the senior side. Batting first, Abingdon scored an impressive 238 for 4 from 40 overs, with Freddie Smith making an excellent 139no. Will Ginks' wicket with the first ball of the Warwick innings could not have been a worse start for the visitors and some excellent bowling throughout meant that our visitors fell 96 runs short, bowled out for 142. Harvey Jupp (4 for 32) and Hector Chambers once again bowling with great skill and control in the middle overs.
A fantastic week for the Cricket Club with 17 fixtures completed and plenty of great cricket on show! Well done to all of the boys who represented the School this week.
