With glorious weather finally hitting the College (and long may that continue!), the latest round of sports fixtures took place in perfect conditions! Included in today's Sports Report are cricket reports for both boys and girls, with matches being played both at a junior and senior level. We also catch up with our Colts tennis team who were looking to make it three wins out of three.
Cricket
Girls’ 1st XI vs Leighton Park
On Wednesday 8 May, Shiplake played Leighton Park in a cricket match for a second time this season. After winning the last match by one run, Shiplake knew it would be a close game. It was another close match and Leighton Park took this win by only 4 runs; however, it was some of the best cricket Shiplake have played this season and the improvement was clear.
Shiplake started batting with O Parkin and E Bell, who both protected the wicket from some very strong balls. There was some great batting seen from everyone, especially A Flower who hit some great shots. When it came to bowling and fielding, the improvement was amazing with significantly less wide balls and A Flower putting her all into keeping the ball from going over the boundary. There was also some amazing bowling from E Morris, who hit two wickets in a row, and bowled the last over with some great balls. Players of the Match and Coach's Players went to A Flower and E Morris. Altogether, it was a great afternoon where we all had lots of fun in the sunshine.
Report: L Cheek, Senior Girls' Cricket Captain
Boys’ 1st XI vs Magdalen College School
The first team lost the toss and were put into field. MCS started strong by scoring 40 runs off the first four over but Shiplake managed to stay in the game with some very consistent bowling from J Cooper and L Crerar. Shiplake performed especially well in the field and the team were rewarded with three quick wickets. O Morris and C Nash-Steer continued to bowl well and MCS were bowled out for 115 in 18 overs. Special mention to J Cooper for his variations used in his spell.
Shiplake then batted and lost a couple of early wickets. MCS’s opening bowlers weren't allowing Shiplake to score and we struggled to get many runs off the bat. Shiplake continued to lose wickets and we were bowled out in the 14th over.
All in all, it was a very good experience for the 1st XI playing against a very strong school and there are lots of positives to take away from our bowling and fielding.
Coach: Mr Wheeler
Boys’ 2nd XI vs Magdalen College School
We made our way down to Oxford on a very hot Wednesday to play a very strong Magdalen side. We bowled first, and quickly realised they had some very confident batsmen who saw out our opening bowlers and began to put a decent partnership together. C Kerrison took the first wicket of the match which heightened the team's spirits. However, their number three batsman scored a very impressive 70 runs, which massively contributed towards their huge overall score of 170 runs for only 5 wickets.
We knew we had a huge mountain to climb to get us back in the match and, despite our best efforts, we only managed 116 runs. However, this was our highest score as a team all season which reflects our continuous hard work in training, and proves we are improving as a squad. Special mentions to C Kerrison who scored 34 runs not out, and B Zacharias who demonstrated a promising debut as wicket keeper. Although the result didn’t go our way, Magdalen was very deserving of the win, and we are one step closer to our first win of the season.
Coach: Mr Heaney
Boys’ U15A vs Claires Court School
Result: Victory by 7 wickets
Coach: Mr Bradley
Boys’ Lower School 1st XI vs Claires Court School
This was another very encouraging performance from the LS 1st XI. Inserted on a green wicket offering movement to the seamers, openers L Waldegrave and W Hargreaves batted circumspectly and sensibly, ticking the scoreboard along. The buffet bowling that one often expects never materialised, so we worked hard for our runs, but keeping wickets in hand meant we could press the accelerator. L Waldegrave scored his second successive 50, playing powerfully through the leg side for a swashbuckling 71 from 49 balls. He was given some good support by L Moss and M Brown, and the boys reached 126 for 6 from their 20.
In reply, there was some high-quality seam bowling from a number of boys, as well as more encouraging leg spin from M Terry. Six bowlers took wickets, with T Jackson bowling very well, alongside some genuinely hostile stuff from L Moss. J Filippetto took two good catches and there was an impressive debut from R Collar behind the sticks. Claires Court mustered 105 for 7 from their 20, Shiplake winning by 21 runs.
Coach: Mr Ralph
Boys’ Lower School 2nd XI vs Claires Court
It was a tough fixture against Claires Court for the 2nd XI but plenty to be encouraged by with the bowling display proving to be our strongest discipline and, in many ways, this matched Claires Court. As always, we shared out the bowling, but the pick of our bowlers was O Laventure with three overs for 17 runs and 2 wickets. We still gave away too many free runs with the extras costing us 33 valuable runs and this is certainly an area to work on.
We started well in the chase of 120 and were at one stage 33/0 and this was very much game on with E Morgan and O Laventure making a great start. However, a mix up with the calls resulted in O Laventure being run out. E Morgan also soon fell with a run out and this is something to work on for our next games. Unfortunately, the wickets from this point tumbled fairly quickly and it was not until O Methven arrived at the crease who steadied the ship. We finished on 77 and a loss, but with more consistency with our bowling and plenty of practice in the nets for our batsman, we remain optimistic for the rest of the season.
Coach: Mr Crisford
Girls’ Lower School vs Sherfield School
For this fixture, the Year 7 girls fielded two softball cricket teams in matches against Sherfield school. Two very close matches commenced with Shiplake girls demonstrating some excellent batting and bowling.
Shiplake A finished on 238 runs and Sherfield A on 239. Batter of the Match went to T Lawrence and Coach’s Player went to L Jones.
Shiplake B finished on 228 runs and Sherfield B on 247. Bowler of the Match went to A Woodward and Batter of the Match went to K Pivonka.
Coaches: Mrs Neill and Mrs Dunn
Tennis
Colts vs Pangbourne
Our Colts team make it three wins out of three so far in this tennis season with the most dominant display yet. Pairs of R O'Boyle & M Crane, Z Fisher & W Smith, and A Crane & R Pathak all managed to win all three of their matches, making for a smooth Saturday fixture.
Shot of the match has to go to R O’Boyle who, after the ball had been lobbed over his head, managed to track back and play a shot through his legs right down the line to win the point.
Coach: Mr Gingell
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