11 June 2019
It was a particularly busy week following half term, with a block of mid-week fixtures against Bloxham, and an U14 cup match verses Cherwell School plus Saturday's fixtures against Portsmouth Grammar School.
All of the U15 sides had impressive wins against Bloxham, with the As completing a resounding 150 run victory. Notable performances across the sides came from Freddy Selby-Lowndes (58), Rory King (51), Eddie Good (44), Max Sheppard (32no), Theo Mara (3 for 3) and Matthew Fowler (4 for 2). Ethan Tully made 30 in the B team fixture, whilst Alasdair Emmett (42) and Ted Smethurst (32) stood out with the bat for the C team.
The U14As struggled a little in their pursuit of 129, falling 11 short despite Jamie Firth's 38 at the top of the order. The U14Bs, however, chased successfully, reaching their target of 123 for the loss of 6 wickets and the U14C team impressed greatly, winning by 101 runs. Ollie Sutton (48 and 4 for 7) and Shreyanshu Mohanty (41) being stand-out performers on the day.
Despite the heavy overnight rain, Saturday's home fixtures remained unaffected with just the U14A match at Portsmouth succumbing to the weather. A delayed start to the 1st XI match meant a reduction to 35 overs per innings. Batting first, Abingdon made 201 in the allotted overs, with most making contributions with the bat. Defending this, some tight bowling in the middle overs by spinners Harvey Jupp (4 for 24) and Hector Chambers (3 for 28) restricted Portsmouth Grammar to 125 all out.
At Cox's Field, the U15s posted a challenging 188 on a damp and very windy afternoon. Caspar Mannix (53) and Matthew Fowler (33no) making good contributions with the bat. In reply, PGS stuttered to 134 for 8 with Ethan Tully returning figures of 4 for 16. On adjacent pitches, the U14B and C sides made light work of their opponents. The Bs restricting PGS to 96 before chasing it down for the loss of just 1 wicket. Jacob Lamsdale making 58no. The U14Cs made 137 for 5, before bowling their opponents out for 94, with Arthur Warwick returning an excellent all-round performance (37 runs and 3 for 7 with the ball).
A strong PGS U13 side posted a very challenging 188 in the only fixture played at Portsmouth. Despite a valiant chase, Abingdon fell 40 short as we lost regular wickets, with Sam Ferguson (38) and Elliot Broadbent (26) making good contributions. On Upper Field, the U12As batted first and set their opponents an unlikely 160 to win, with Jack Veal making 42no. In reply, the wickets were shared as PGS was restricted to 58 for 8, to complete a 101 run win for the Abingdon side.
