Abingdonian 2018

60 The Abingdonian Cricket The Easter holiday saw two squads from the U15 and U17 age groups visit Barbados on a pre-season tour of this wonderful island. It was an amazing opportunity to visit and play cricket on the island that has produced some of the West Indies’ - and the world’s - most revered cricketers. There was some very exciting cricket on display throughout the 10 days, and although our opponents attacked every match, the Abingdon sides were always in every game, with the squads returning a strong 80% win percentage. There was also plenty of opportunity to experience and explore the culture and natural beauty of the island. The boys got to enjoy a tour of the iconic Kensington Oval; a jeep safari tour of the island including a visit to the surfing mecca of Bathsheba; a lively ‘Friday Night Fish Fry’ at Oistins, and the entertaining Harbour Lights Beach Extravaganza. The tour finished with a catamaran cruise along the west coast of the island with a traditional bajan lunch and the opportunity to snorkel in the clear Caribbean waters with sea turtles – a great finale to an amazing experience. It has been an unusually hot and dry summer for the cricket season and the ground staff must be congratulated for the fantastic work they have done to keep the school grounds and cricket wickets looking and playing at the fantastic standard that they have. The season started positively with a match against Reading Blue Coat School, a new fixture for us in 2017, in which there were plenty of runs from all age- groups on some well-prepared pitches. Following their achievements as County Champions in 2017, the U15s hosted a very strong Stowe side early on in the season in the regional stages of the National Cup. While unfortunately losing to their opponents, this year group produced some scintillating cricket during the 2018 season, with the U15C matching the U14B side in achieving near-unblemished records. The 1st XI struggled to set competitive totals throughout the 2018 season, owing to some inconsistency with the bat. When the side batted freely, however, they proved an exciting side, with plenty of young cricketers showing lots of potential for future seasons. Within the senior side, Harvey Jupp continues to represent Gloucestershire as a member of their Academy, whilst Hector Chambers is representing Berkshire and Freddie Smith has broken into the Oxfordshire 2nd XI side as an U15. In 2018, across all age groups, the School boasted cricketers representing Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire and Sussex, as well as boys playing in the Cherwell League and Home Counties Divisions. In addition, the sanme year saw Old Abingdonians Callum Russell, James Fitzjohn, Leo Bethell and Max Mannering (all 2015 OAs) represent Oxfordshire 1st XI in the

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