In today's Sports Report, the first edition of the Summer Term, we catch up on the first round of cricket and tennis matches that took place throughout the week. We've been fortunate with the weather (and long may that continue!) and it was wonderful to have so many fixtures taking place! In particular, it was fantastic to have over 80 Lower School pupils playing cricket where for many of them, it would have been their first ever cricket match.
Cricket
Boys’ 1st XI vs Wellington College
A steady opening bowling partnership from E Thomas and D Elliott put pressure on the Wellington batsmen straight away. Some very strong fielding and some consistent bowling from J Hinton, G Blumfield, C Nash- Steer and J Cooper lead to a flurry of wickets with Wellington scoring 116 in 20 overs.
Shiplake started strongly with the bat. E Thomas and Ben Stokes played some very sensible cricket which meant that we stayed above the run rate with the loss of one wicket. Despite a comeback from the Wellington bowling attack, W Forster and Z McConkey managed to get us across the line with the former hitting a six in the last over to win the game.
Coach: Mr Wheeler
Boys’ 1st XI vs Bloxham
Bloxham won the toss and put Shiplake into bat. L Crerar and E Thomas steadied the ship after an early wicket and with pressure on the Shiplake team, these two played smart cricket by being patient and waiting for Bloxham bowlers' bad balls. This led to frustration with the bowling side allowing Shiplake to finish on 94 after 20 overs.
Shiplake had a lot of work to do in the field to defend their 94. After an early wicket in the first over by E Thomas, caught by C Nash-Steer, Shiplake missed a few opportunities with a couple of drop catches. This allowed Bloxham to find a rhythm with their batting and despite Shiplake doing all they could to try and put pressure on Bloxham, the opposition managed to get 94 in the 15th over.
Coach: Mr Wheeler
Girls’ 1st XI vs Wellington College
On Thursday 18 April, the Shiplake Senior Girls played their first cricket match of the season against Wellington College. Shiplake were the first to bat with E Flower and R Acton giving us a great start to the match, hitting over the boundary. A Flower and S Hodges also batted really well during the match. The girls all batted, creating a brilliant score that Wellington had to try and beat.
It was then Shiplake's turn to field and everyone on the team had a go at bowling, putting their pre-season training to the test and really making Shiplake proud. A Flower then hit the wickets twice and caught a ball out, while F Lenthall and A Botterill also did some great bowling and fielding, with additional brilliant efforts from R Acton. All in all, it was a great start to the girls’ cricket season with everyone putting in everything and being positive throughout the match. Our well-deserved Coaches’ Player was A Flower who was also voted for Batter of the Match, with Bowler of the Match going to A Botterill. Thank you to our coaches, Dam, Miss James and Mrs Lovelock.
Report: L Cheek, Girls' Senior Cricket Captain
U15A vs Bloxham
The team showed great resilience after a poor start to stay in the match. L Hilton and F Fisher with a lower order partnership were able to drag the score to 101. Bloxham remained ahead of the run rate for most of their innings, but excellent bowling from S Gibson saw wickets tumble. The result: Bloxham bowled out 10 runs short of victory.
Coach: Mr Bradley
U14A vs Bloxham
Losing the toss, we were invited to bat first. Openers J Andrews and O Spearing laid an excellent platform with both retiring on 30 at around the 12 over mark. However, with two new batters at the crease, the scoring rate slowed a little as Z Miles and J Ellison established a new partnership. A flurry of singles, extras, a few boundaries, and late wickets resulted in Shiplake finished on 113. A strong bowling and fielding performance was needed.
After 8 overs Shiplake had 32 runs on the board. After 8 overs Bloxham were in excess of 50. This difference was to prove crucial as L Moss came on to bowl Shiplake back into the game with 3 wickets. L Moss's line and length proved a fantastic example for those before who strayed too short and too wide too often. With a wicket for off spinner J Ellison, the game was in the balance again. However, it was not to be with the depth and power in Bloxham’s batting proving too much with boundaries and a few sixes clearing the ropes.
Coach: Mr Dix
Lower School Girls vs Eagle House
Shiplake fielded 2 teams, many of the who were new to cricket, and those more experienced were extremely supportive and really helped to coach and guide their teammates.
In our first fixture of the season, we had two teams that played against Eagle House in a softball fixture.
Shiplake Team A finished on 271 (having taken 7 wickets through some excellent bowling and fielding) however Eagle House A won, finishing on 305 runs. Batter of the Match went to A Mertes while Bowler of the Match went to T Lawrence
Eagle House won, finishing on 295 to our 226, however there was some excellent bowling from A Williams and M Budnyk, the latter taking a wicket. Batter of the Match went to A May, while Bowler of the Match went to Francesca Farrell
Coach: Mrs Neill
Boys' Lower School 1st XI
Result: Defeat by 8 wickets.
Coach: Mr Ralph
Boys' Lower School 2nd XI
After a completely washed out first training session, it would be fair to say we went into this match a little under cooked. However, against a tough opposition and despite a defeat, there was much to be pleased with and the signs are encouraging for a positive season. The pick of our bowlers was H Fielder taking three wickets, W Arden picking up two, and W Wackerle also taking a fine wicket. We were set a total of 108 from Eagle House which seemed achievable, but their line and length was just a little more accurate than ours. Our lack of batting practice also told but E Morgan in particular with 12 runs, ably backed up by O Methven, W Wackerle and H Fielder, showed promising signs.
Coach: Mr Crisford
Tennis
The first fixture of the tennis season was blessed by fine weather. It looked like classic British summer time seeing the boys in their whites, slogging a tennis ball back and forth. Shiplake cruised to a 4 match to 1 lead after the first two rounds, and from watching the final round, should have seen a clear victory. But conservative tennis and doubling down paid dividends to the Pangbourne team who stormed through the final round, disappointingly for Shiplake, with three 6-2 victories. The result saw Pangbourne take the win 5-4 in the end!
Coach: Mr Shaw
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