Sports Report 10th May

Cricket

Shiplake’s cricketers enjoyed a successful week with 5 victories from 8 fixtures.

1st XI

The Shiplake College 1st XI responded well after a heavy defeat in their first fixture of the season, as they hosted Claires Court. The opposition elected to bat first and amassed a competitive total of 127-7 from their 25 over allocation. Shiplake knew this was an achievable target, but despite keeping wickets in hand, effective bowling restricted Shiplake’s scoring. The scoreboard was ticking over at below the required run rate, and ultimately this proved costly as Shiplake fell 17 runs short of the winning mark.

Claires Court 127-7 Shiplake 110-5 (Lost by 17 runs)

2nd XI

Shiplake’s 2nd XI travelled to Claires Court for their first fixture of the season. The hosts batted first and were bowled out for 104. Despite a couple of scares, Shiplake secured victory in relatively comfortable fashion with 4 wickets remaining.

Claires Court 104 AO Shiplake 105-6 (Won by 4 wickets)

U15A

Shiplake Coach Mr Seccombe kindly provided the following match report:

After a crushing defeat at home to Cokethorpe last week, the U15A were keen to get their season back on track with a win at home to Claires Court. After winning the toss, captain Miles Bridgeman decided to have a bowl and within a few minutes the opening bowlers Henry Atkinson and Christian Miller had both taken wickets to remove the Claires Court openers.

After spells of tight bowling, Claires Court had struggled to 30-5 off 10 overs, with Christian taking 3 wickets and Henry 2. Harry Rees and George Docwra took over and between them dismantled what remained of Claires Court’s lower order. With the opposition dismissed for 49, opening batsmen Henry Atkinson and Matthew Dalrymple made light work of reaching the target. Within 6 overs the opposition’s score was surpassed for the loss of no wickets to complete an emphatic 10 wicket victory. Henry Atkinson was named man of the match for his 2 wickets, 18 not out and an outstanding one handed slip catch to dismiss one of the openers. The U15A face Bloxham at home on Saturday.

Claires Court 49 AO Shiplake 50-0 (Won by 10 wickets)

U14A

The U14A were privileged to play on Maidenhead and Bray’s club ground last Wednesday when they faced Claires Court. Claires Court batted first and scored 160 for 7 off their 25 overs. Shiplake bowled too many extras, giving them the equivalent of another 4 overs to face, but they also had some very strong and experienced batsmen. Shiplake’s best bowling came from Ben Westbrook-Burr who took 1 wicket and only conceded 2.4 runs per over. Hassan Rubbani made a guest appearance and took 2 wickets, as did Oliver Simpson.

With a required run rate of over 6 per over it was always going to be very challenging to chase down the total. Freddie Bowcock capped a solid all round performance as he scored a patient 25 runs. With two wickets down Oliver Brown joined his captain and they both looked very accomplished at the crease but disciplined bowling by Claires Court made it difficult to score. Brown was the only batsmen to stay with the run rate as he scored 25 off 25 balls and his shot selection was impressive. When Brown departed, the total was already realistically out of reach so Hassan (16) and Tim Herbert (9 not out) batted sensibly to gain some valuable time out in the middle. Shiplake finished on 103 for 7, and therefore lost by 57 runs.

Claires Court 160-7 Shiplake 103-7 (Lost by 57 runs)

U14B

Shiplake Coach Mr Millburn kindly provided the following match report:

Shiplake U14Bs headed to Claires Court this past Wednesday to take part in their first match of the season. The opponents posted a solid score of 117 in their 20 overs but consistent bowling from the likes of Justin Janse Van Vuuren, Dhanyal Butt and Jason Fryer kept the total from going any higher. Will Yan made an excellent catch and quality fielding from a number of Shiplake players resulted in a run out. Shiplake then headed out for their 20 overs at the crease. Oscar Fagerstrom Day and Will Yan both scored impressive tallies but a flurry of late wickets meant that Shiplake fell short by just 11 runs. Still, it was a positive start to the season and hope fully the sign of things to come.

Claires Court 117-6 Shiplake 106 AO (Lost by 11 runs)

U13A

Shiplake U13A recording a resounding 10 wicket victory away to LVS Ascot. After skittling their opposition out for just 63 runs, the Shiplake openers raced to victory without losing a wicket.

LVS Ascot 63 AO Shiplake 64-0 (Won by 10 wickets)

U13B

Shiplake Coach Mr Duncan kindly provided the following match report:

The U13Bs got their season off to a strong start with victory over a brave LVS side on Tuesday 6th May. Having lost the toss to their tenacious captain and wicket keeper, the home side bowled with accuracy early on. However, Thierry Althorp found his feet with 3 fours in quick succession to calm the nerves of the Shiplake batsmen. Even with a short boundary and loose fielding, his score of 31 retired was well manufactured with shots placed in all areas of the field including one hoist over mid wicket that led to roars of appreciation from the away contingent. After being retired to get more batsmen to the wicket, the run rate did slow up a little but Fitzgerald, Porter and Farrell all added 7 runs each to the total before captain Davies hit 5 from 2 deliveries before being bowled by the impressively Jake from LVS. Hjortland-Marks and Luke Mullin scored 4 apiece before the allocated 15 overs were up. The fairly substantial number of wides boosted the total to 87, which was thought to be defendable.

LVS' opening pair looked confident and survived the first 3 overs but the accuracy of line and length of Lewis, Hjortland-Marks and Luke Mullin kept the score down to 8 from the first 18 balls. The introduction on Will Mullin was a master stroke as he steamed in with a dot ball then wicket. The floodgates then opened as Hjortland-Marks, Althorp, Farrell, O'Hare, Fitzgerald, Davies and Porter all chipped in with further wickets. Jack Underwood bowled beautifully to claim a maiden over but couldn't find the wicket he craved. The Shiplake fielding was a bit disorganised to start with but the confidence and positive chatter improved and a comfortable 48 run victory earned.

An enjoyable afternoon but there will be tougher tests ahead. Overall, a great start to the competitive season and most importantly the team bonded and the boys enjoyed the match. #believe #ontothenext #lowerschool

Shiplake 87 AO LVS Ascot 40 AO

U13C

Shiplake U13Cs hosted Magdalen College earlier in the week, and emerged victorious by 8 wickets. Impressive line and length from the Shiplake bowlers limited Magdalen to just 45-3 from their overs, and in response Shiplake amassed the 46 required runs losing just 2 wickets.

Magdalen College 45-3 Shiplake 46-2 (Won by 8 wickets)

Tennis

Meanwhile, on the tennis courts, Shiplake enjoyed a 100% record for the week with victories over local rivals Reading Bluecoat and the Oratory.

1st VI

On Wednesday afternoon, the Shiplake 1st VI faced up against local rivals the Oratory. Sporting contests against our Oxfordshire neighbours are always eagerly anticipated, with victories savoured against boys often well known to the Shiplake pupils.

As ever, the match proved to be a close affair. The match was comprised of three rounds of doubles fixtures; with seeded pairs from each school each playing three one-set matches. After the first two rounds, Shiplake were 4-2 up and the victory was within grasp. However, there was no room for complacency as the direct seed matches were still to come. Shiplake’s top pair of James Bailey and Suilven Wagner-Piggott overcame a tough fixture against Oratory’s best players to secure the winning point. The Shiplake boys were a break down early in the set but came roaring back to secure an unassailable 5-2 lead. Each school earned one more victory apiece as the fixture finished 6-3 to Shiplake.

U14

Shiplake’s U14 squad battled to a hard-fought 6-4 victory over Reading Bluecoat on Tuesday afternoon. Laurenz Class, Marcus Hillman, Hugh Rutledge, Benjamin Tracey, Sam Lowe and Alexander Sutton all contributed to the victory, teaming up well in the doubles matches to clinch enough matches to edge the overall contest.

Rowing

The Shiplake College Boat Club produced some fantastic performances at Wallingford Regatta, with the J15s emerging victorious in their category. Click here to read a full report.