CRICKET TOUR TO GUERNSEY
During the Half Term break, the U14 cricket team travelled to Guernsey for a cricket tour hosted by Elizabeth College. The tour, consisting of three matches over the course of three days, was an incredible experience for all involved.
In the first match, Elizabeth College won the toss and elected to field. After a tough start, we were reduced to 26-2, however Greig and Will managed to pull us back into the game with a fine 45-run partnership and further good contributions from Ollie and Sid saw the team close on 163-6.
In the field, we got off to a flying start with Harry taking a wicket with his first ball and solid bowling throughout saw runs hard to come by for the hosts who lost wickets regularly leading to a 59-run win for the tourists. Man of the Match was Ollie.
In the second match, we played a different format which most of us had not experienced before: a declaration match. After winning the toss, we chose to bat first, however another poor start saw us fall to 13-2 with both the openers out early. Ollie then batted and won a solid 33, but after his dismissal the runs slowed down, and wickets fell regularly with our team reduced to 92-6. However, we battled back thanks to an amazing partnership of 101 runs from Parin (58 not out) and Rajiv (40) which saw us set a challenging total of 212-7.
Despite another good start in the bowling, with Harry again taking an early wicket, Elizabeth College batted with skill and determination and despite taking wickets regularly we were unable to force the win and with one wicket left at the end of play the match ended in a draw. Man of the match was Parin.
In the final match, after winning the toss and electing to bat, we finally got off to a good start with Greig (53) and Callum (51) accumulated a partnership of over 130 with both retired not out. Thanks to this start and further good batting form the middle to late order we were able to set another big total of 202-2.
With consistent efforts from all our bowlers Elizabeth college were unable to match the runs, resulting in another win for the team, ending the tour on a 2-0 win for St Albans School.
After all matches were played awards were handed out!‘Best Batsmen’ was awarded to Greig for multiple good innings, especially in the third game;‘Best Bowler’ awarded to Harry for his wickets and great economy;‘Best Fielder’ awarded to Daniel for his efforts behind the stumps noticeably improving in each match;‘Best Tourist’ awarded to Josh for his consistent ability to make everyone laugh and generally have a good time, and finally;‘Best Cricketer’ awarded to Parin for his consistent ability to perform with both the bat and the ball, especially in the second game where he scored 58, not out.
Daniel - Third Form
