The summer season got under way with a return to tennis, cricket and rounders; students have donned their whites and returned to the grass for an action-packed term of sporting successes.
The tennis season kicked off with a match against pupils from Lord Wandsworth. Year 10 students Marcus Hillman provided the following report on the opening match of the season:
‘With high spirits, the Shiplake boys went into the match looking to start the season with a victory. All three pairs had a close first game, with the firsts scraping a 6-4 win and the third pairs narrowly defeated. With the majority of the points being won at the net, Will Tompkins, Miles Firth, Matthieu Guize and Ben Tracey showed skill and precision to return some tough shots- but the opposition was stronger. The following two matches were closely contested, and Marcus Hillman and Alex Sutton managed to win both of their matches. Shiplake showed promising technique, but the team need to strengthen and build confidence in the coming weeks. The final score was Shiplake 3- Lord Wandsworth 6.’
The cricket season has also started this term, with some difficult games against local rivals. Director of Sport Mr James Gaunt offered the following report from the Shiplake U15 A XI’s first game:
‘This was a fantastic game of 20/20 cricket, which went down to the last over of the match. Shiplake fielded first and started brightly with Freddie Bowcock bowling a very impressive opening spell, getting four overs, fifteen runs and two wickets. However, Shiplake lacked shape in the field, and granted Oratory too many easy singles and boundaries. This would eventually prove costly. The usually tight Ollie Simpson bowled with a little more inaccuracy than normal, and two heavy hitters from Oratory added a significant amount of runs in the middle and latter overs of their innings. Ben Westbrook Burr bowled nicely, conceding only 19 runs from 4 over’s. Oratory finished on 144-6, leaving much work to be done by Shiplake at the half way point.
The Shiplake innings did not start well with Freddie Bowcock, scorer of a well-crafted 47 the previous Saturday, being bowled for nought. However, Ollie Brown stepped up and smashed a very impressive 51 runs from only 37 balls. Ollie was well support by Lewis Bishop, who grafted for 11 runs off 19 balls, but once he was dismissed, wickets fell too regularly. That was- until Ollie Simpson and Darius Braun came to the crease. These two showed the rest of the Shiplake team how to run between the wickets and that, coupled with Simpson’s ability to hook the bad ball to the boundary, meant that it was game on again. Unfortunately, his dismissal for 25 was probably the turning point. Despite an admirable effort from Jacob Bowley and the staunch Braun who finished on 19 not out, Shiplake were to pull up just three runs short, having needed eight from the last over.’
The girls enjoyed an intense match to return to rounders; the 1st IX fought a well-matched game against Bearwood College, that saw them walk away having been narrowly defeated by just half a rounder.
The summer season continues with more action-packed fixtures this Wednesday 6 May.
For more photos from the event, please click here.
