Cricket
Shiplake v Tiffin Boys School
With Shiplake making their debuts in the National Cup competition, the players were eager to show that they belonged in the premier competition for schoolboy cricketers. Having been asked to bowl first by Tiffin, opening bowlers Callum Creighton and Oliver Dorrell produced an excellent opening spell. Creighton picked up two early wickets and Dorrell conceded only three runs from his first three overs. After a run out from Josh Howard, the tight bowling continued with Callum Theodorou (one for nine off four overs) and James Roxburgh-Smith (two for 13 off four overs). Excellent work in the field from wicket keeper Jack Livingstone-Smith and bowler Alex Bartlett (two for six) meant Tiffin ended up 85 for nine off their 20 overs.
However, the Shiplake reply started badly and showed what a tough pitch it was to bat on. After being reduced to 23 for four and 43 for seven, Shiplake needed a partnership. Thankfully, the Year 12 duo of Josh Howard (42 not out) and James Roxburgh-Smith (eight not out) produced the match winning partnership to see Shiplake home with one ball to spare, with Josh Howard hitting two sixes in the final seven balls to win the game. An excellent effort and the boys look forward to a trip to Eton College in the next round.
Tiffin 85 for 9 off 20 overs, Shiplake 86 for 7 off 19.5 overs, Shiplake win by three wickets.
3rd XI v Pangbourne College
There was a great win for the 3rd XI cricket team, away at Pangbourne this week. With Shiplake batting first, Matty Fitzgerald produced a series of good shots to get the team off the mark, with 30 runs. Further down the order, Stan Ingram got 34 runs, with a number of outstanding sixes and fours on the way to his total. After 20 overs, Shiplake finished on 165 for seven. Initially, it looked as though Pangbourne would struggle to achieve, with Shiplake’s bowlers keeping them at eight for three. George Lawrence claimed four wickets, three of which came in a single over. Ingram, Louis Vickers, Will Kayll, Will Mullin and Josh Lewis also claimed wickets. It came down to the last delivery of the game to decide the outcome, with the Pangbourne batsman requiring five off the final ball. Shiplake kept him to a single run, to secure a well-deserved victory.
2nd XI v Cokethorpe School
After the hour and half bus journey, the boys were ready for what they thought was going to a close game.
Shiplake captain Justin Van Vuuren won the toss and decided to have a bowl at the opponents on what looked like a good bowling wicket. Nobody was expecting that in 30 minutes the game would be finished and that the 2nds would be waiting for two hours for the rest of the Shiplake teams for the most comprehensive win and the best starting winning streak for the second team in recent years.
Olly Dorell opened the bowling with a great starting over with just five runs and two wickets scored off the over. Tom Coates then bowled his first over, struggling to get into swing, bowling three wides in concession but then got back into the swing of it and bowled six dot balls. After five overs, Cokethorpe scored 15 runs for five wickets thanks to deputy Joe Booth with two wickets maiden. After 10 overs, Cokethorpe scored 34 runs all out.
The 2nd XI were eager to get started after seeing the match teacart coming over, and set themselves a three over to get the 34 run. Our third win of the season going into a tough match on Saturday against Pangbourne.
Cokethorpe 34 all out. Shiplake 2nd’s 35 for 0 off two overs
U13A v Claire’s Court School
The U13As have made an excellent start to the season with four impressive wins from four matches.
The first game against Thorpe House saw an impressive bowling performance, with nine of the 11 players bowling and keeping the opposition to 72 runs for five wickets from 18 overs. Shiplake chased this total in just 13 overs and for the loss of only one wicket. Will Diver impressed on debut, with Archie Smith and Captain Ollie Lewis playing very well too.
The second game versus Claire’s Court looked unlikely, with heavy rain just minutes before the proposed start time, but the Rev worked his magic and the clouds parted. Charlie Moss was on form and took four wickets and a catch to almost single-handedly rattle out the opposition for 50 runs from 12 overs. Shiplake were confident of a second win when they went into bat but Jamie Macleod was on the receiving end of a stunning first delivery and Claire’s Court’s tails were up. Two more quick wickets meant Shiplake were suddenly 10/3 from three overs and looking shaky. However, Will Diver steadied the ship with 17 not out and Charlie Moss completed his man of the match performance with a quick fire 14 to seal an eight wicket victory.
On to the local derby versus Gillotts and Jamie Macleod recovered from his golden duck, to score a solid 12 runs whilst others were crumbling under pressure around him due to some excellent bowling. Luke Byca, Louis Poundall, Louis Rouse-Roberts, Matt Grundy and Taj Angell all entered the fray and departed again fairly quickly, adding just eight runs between them. Shiplake needed a savior. In came Fin Woods, and he was on fire! The Gillotts fielders were apparently terrified as he hit three booming fours to start the run fest. Will Diver supported with eight not out. Charlie Moss, after his heroics from the week before, was run out in stunning style by the Gillotts captain James. Archie Smith had his eye in though fortunately and smashed two sixes and five fours on his way to 39 crucial runs. Shiplake finished on 107 for seven. The opposition started with the bat well, and Luke Morgan and Danny McAllister looked assured, the latter scoring a well-constructed 35 runs. However, tight and accurate bowling meant the total was not troubled and Gillotts fell 19 runs short by the end.
Falcons Prep were welcomed on our only Saturday fixture this year. This 20-20 match was very entertaining. Falcons batted first and reached 81/6 with Jack McPhillips playing very well and Sam Owen and Oliver Taylor supporting well, hitting good boundaries. Once again, the home team’s bowling was excellent with Taj Angell bowling two overs for one run and one wicket and Joe Biggin bowling two overs for three runs and a wicket. However, the star man was Fin Woods, taking three great catches to pile on the pressure. Ollie Lewis and Charlie Moss, keen to join the U14s team for their away fixture, hit 29 and 27 respectively from the 1st VIII overs and were retired. Both Louis and Joe Biggin came in, followed by Archie Smith. With eight runs to his name, he finished the match in style with a huge six. 14 runs from three balls! Another victory and we march on to Abingdon.
U15A v Lord William’s School
Lord William’s School were Shiplake’s opponents in the semi-final of the U15 Oxfordshire Cup. The visiting side won the toss and elected to bat on greenish pitch bathed in sunshine. For many of our U15 players this was their first opportunity to play on the main square and they were hopeful of a win.
Jake Shortland and Alex Bartlett opened the bowling in excellent style, with Shortland beating the bat on a number of occasions. The opening bowling was extremely tight and those good spells were followed by some aggressive and accurate bowling by Joe Durcan.
After 10 overs Lord Williams were scoring at just above 2 runs per over but their openers were remained at the crease. Joe Durcan captured the important wicket of Lord Williams key batsman, Monument, with a short ball that was fended back to the bowler. Shiplake’s talented wicketkeeper, Jack Livingstone-Smith was struggling with a finger injury and so Luke Theodorou took the gloves and did a solid job for the first half of the innings.
Wickets began to fall with regularity in the second half with bowlers Durcan, Theodorou, Redding and Bartlett all adding to their tallies for the season. The visiting side closed on 78, a figure Shiplake were confident of chasing.
Jai Angell and Jack Livingstone-Smith opened the batting against a combination of medium pace and unorthodox leg spin and from the start ran well between the wickets and scored quickly. Angell started to push the accelerator in the third over with a classical cover drive, soon followed by a powerful pull for 6 which ended up close to the New Field tennis courts! More boundaries from Angell were to follow as Shiplake closed in on an impressive victory.
Livingstone-Smith departed shortly before the target was reached which gave the opportunity for vice captain Alex Bartlett to push his average for the season to 40. Angell finished on 63 not out, an excellent follow up to his maiden half century for the 1st XI at Pangbourne on Saturday.
Rounders
U18A v Gillotts
Last Wednesday, the U18As made their way to Gillotts School to play their second match of the season. With Shiplake starting off batting, the girls knew they had to set the bench mark high in order to make it harder for Gillotts. However, Gillotts’ fielding technique was proving strong which meant that a few Shiplake girls were caught out on their first bat. The pressure was on for the rest of the girls to get as many rounders as possible. Some great batting from Brooke, who scored an excellent rounder for the team who hit the ball deep out into the field.
Next, it was Shiplake’s turn to field, and our girls knew they had to be quick at stumping out the players because there were some strong batters on their team. Some great fielding came from Lauren and Jem who were working well together at getting girls out at 2nd post. However, Gillotts’ performance proved too strong. The final score was 5 to 12 rounders to Gillotts. Man of the match goes to Brooke for batting and Ella for fielding. Well done to everyone who played.
U18B v Gillotts
Last Wednesday, the B team played an away game at Gillotts School. Our girls started batting first, which meant they needed to secure some rounders. Gillotts had a strong fielding team, which meant some of the girls were caught out. However, they didn’t let this destroy their confidence, and they continued to make some strong bats with excellent rounders from Lulu, Jessie and Hannah Webb. After batting, the Shiplake girls were confident but knew they had to step up the mark with their fielding. Shiplake had a team of 12 and Gillotts had only eight players, which meant our girls couldn’t all go out to field. Gillotts also had some very strong and consistent batters, which were matched by some brilliant fielding from Katie and Mary. It was a tough first game of the season for the B’s with a final score of 7 and half to 10 and half to Gillotts, player of the match went to Mary Keswick.
Tennis
v Churchers College
The Shiplake 1st, 2nd and Colts tennis teams all went on a long journey to Churchers College on Saturday. The 1st VI dominated the opposition with some superb percentage tennis, winning some long rallies and some tight games on their way to an 8-1 victory. The 2nd VI had a tighter match winning 6-3 and a special mention goes to Harry Clark and Sam O’Brien from Year 10 who made their Senior debut, stepping up at the last minute as replacements. The Colts VI played singles rather than doubles and despite some excellent tennis on show, they lost 3-6. Overall, it was a very successful weekend of tennis and it was great to see the dedication of both Junior and Senior players representing the College. This week, we face Abingdon and Bloxham.
1st Singles Tournament
On Wednesday 9th May at Leighton Park, the Shiplake tennis 1st team competed in a singles tournament involving Pangbourne, Oratory, Bluecoat and Leighton Park. Jamie Gibbs and Alex Coles both played at a high intensity throughout the afternoon, in temperatures of up to 25 degrees and they managed to win all of their matches. Joe Christie and Alex Sutton battled for games against some brilliant opposition and although they didn’t win any matches they were able to pick up some points with the overall amount of games won. It was a great afternoon of tennis, with all players from all sides enjoying the experience and we were happy with our 2nd place overall. Good luck to the juniors who will play the equivalent tournament soon.
