12 June 2019
The Under 11A XI set off for Taunton, the venue of their first match at 12:30pm on Friday, adorned in their tour hoodies and caps ready for the first cricket match of the tour versus Taunton Preparatory School.
On arrival we were all surprised that the match was still on after the amount of rain we had witnessed on the way down to the game. The team changed into their whites and went into a 30 minute warm-up to get the journey out of their legs.
Ned, the Under 11 A XI captain won the toss and elected to bat. Ollie opened the batting and hit a quickfire 9 runs before being caught at mid-wicket. Ned and Iestyn settled the innings and were on 25 – 1 after just four overs. Unfortunately the heavens opened and after 20 minutes we decided to abandon the game. However, we did manage to play two six-a-side matches indoors which was a great experience for all of the boys.
vs. Taunton Preparatory School
Abingdon Prep 25 for 1 (4 Overs)
Match Abandoned
Although on a Cricket Tour, the highlight of the weekend for the boys was certainly the surfing at Polzeath Beach on Saturday! The surf was a clean 2-3 ft. swell, perfect for many of the beginners in the group. By the end of the 2 hour lesson, almost all of the boys had stood up on their boards. The most outstanding surfers were Ollie, Gabriele and Iestyn. Lunch on the beach followed by a some souvenir shopping completed a fantastic afternoon. We returned to the hotel on ‘the crest of a wave’ and keen to return again in the not too distant future. That evening we all went tenpin bowling which concluded an exhausting day!
Following a full English breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and made our way to the Yelverton Bohemians Cricket Club. We received a warm welcome from out hosts and proceeded to lose the toss prior to this 20 over match.
Yelverton Bohemians CC elected to bat. The Yelverton batsman adopted a very cavalier approach, scoring very quickly but were the victims of four run outs (Ollie 2, Ned and Fintan). They completed their innings on 136 for 7.
We got off to a great start but lost key wickets during the middle of the game and the run rate went down significantly. However, a quick flurry of runs towards the end of the game made it very exciting to spectate. At the end Abingdon Prep. fell 7 runs short of the Yelverton total.
vs. Yelverton Bohemians CC
Yelverton Bohemians CC 136 for 7 (Benji 1 for 6 and Gabriele 1 for 10)
Abingdon Prep 129 for 4 (Ollie 20, Ned 17 and Gabriele 14)
Lost by 7 runs
The Year 6s were great ambassadors for the School and received many positive comments from a number of people. Both Sam and I would like to personally thank all the tourists for their great company and we look forward to touring with you again in the future!
