Abingdonian 2017

68 The Abingdonian Cricket Sri Lanka was the destination for the second year running for two Abingdon squads who spent 13 days training, playing cricket and taking in the cultural wonders of this magnificent country. The U15 and U18 squads faced some challenging opposition at some wonderful venues and learnt a lot about their games in the unique cricketing environment that the sub-continent provides. The grounds and opposition we played were fantastic, but the opportunity for all of the boys to play at two international venues, in Dambulla and the iconic Galle Cricket Ground, is something that they will cherish in their memories for a long time to come. Of course, it is not all about the cricket - the opportunity to feed orphaned elephants and watch them bath and play in the river, releasing baby turtles into the ocean, visiting the sacred Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, climbing Sigiriya Rock and the special time spent socialising and playing with the children at the SOS Children’s Orphanage in Galle contributed to some truly unforgettable and humbling memories. After two successful tours to Sri Lanka, next year will see the squads travel to Barbados to sample cricket in the Caribbean, another wonderful, cricket- loving environment. The season of 2017 started very positively with a new block fixture against Reading Blue Coat School, in which there were runs aplenty in unseasonably warm and dry conditions. Unfortunately, the senior side’s form with the bat could not be maintained throughout the season. Lack of runs in the 1st XI cost them dear as they were unable to apply consistent pressure with the ball in the confidence of a good score on the board. Despite this, there were glimpses of real fluency with the bat from Jamie Lawson, Samuel Warren and Max Mortimer who carried the attack with the new ball, and Harvey Jupp and Hector Chambers who provided some exciting wrist spin bowling in the middle overs. However, the inconsistency of availability across the season meant that we were unable to put the same side out consecutively, which was a drawback. The 2nd XI, very ably led by captain Alexander Sayeed and senior players Hamish Garland, Bertie Thomas, Rory Finch and Jonathan Hurrell had another strong season. A good number of younger players forced themselves into the 1st XI through their weight of runs and wickets. This included Oli Honeyman, Fergus Fishburn, Charles Goulder, William Webb, Benjamin Ling, Daniel Bacon and Andrew Russell, who all made valuable contributions at 1st XI level. The previous year’s U15A and B sides made up the majority of the 3rd XI and U16A sides this year, and with the experience of a number of boys in the year above, the 3rd XI in particular proved a formidable force when at full-strength. Josh Washington and Joshua Valentine proved their abilities with both bat and ball, dominating a number of games early in the season before rightfully claiming their places in the 2nd XI. The U15 and U14 squads provided some of the highlights of the season, with both the U15A and U14A teams being crowned as County Champions in their respective competitions this year. The U15s went on to beat Stowe in the regional semi-final before losing to a very strong Wellington side in the final. The U14s enjoyed a comprehensive ten