20 July 2022
Our Year 8 pupils completed their cricket season by attending the inaugural U13 P4S Challenge Cup “Big Bash” on the first weekend of July. It turned out to be a great weekend that was enjoyed not only by the pupils that took part, but also by the staff and the travelling parents as well.
After a long minibus trip to Cambridge, we arrived at the picturesque Downing College Sports Ground on the Saturday morning in glorious sunshine to receive the colourful personalised playing kit. The opening fixture was against Primrose Hill Yellows, a team from north London, and after a positive start from Justin and Will, we posted a competitive total. Tight bowling from Freddie, Ollie and Zach ensured that we closed out the victory with the best possible start to the tournament.
The match on Saturday afternoon was also played at Downing College and was won comfortably, with Zac and Nathan contributing with the bat and all the bowlers contributing to the victory. On the Saturday evening, we all made our way to the centre of Cambridge to enjoy a team dinner at the Cambridge Hilton.
The mood was buoyant on the Sunday morning having won the first two matches, and the pupils played Newton Prep, also from London, at Fenners Ground on the Sunday. This is Cambridge University’s first team ground and it was a real treat for us to play on it. We posted another excellent total from our 20 overs and ran out winners to secure a place in the final.
The final was against The Hall School, Hampstead, and proved to be the closest game of the tournament. A brilliant game that was constantly in the balance saw us play some of our best cricket. Shortly before the end, Yumi, who had fielded superbly all tournament, was injured in a collision so both sides agreed to share the trophy and were declared joint winners.
It was a fantastic effort from all the boys and a wonderful way to end their sporting careers at Abingdon Prep School before moving on to the Senior School.
Hopefully we will return to defend the title in 2023!
