Page 24 - The Malvernian - July 2024

THE MALVERNIAN
Sport
Cricket
This year’s cricket term has been extremely enjoyable even though the weather has been against us at times. The First Eleven have been incredibly successful winning 15 out of their 17 matches with notable wins included Bradfield, Wellington College, Bromsgrove and Harrow. Leading the batting has been Joe Harrison (No.5) who scored the most runs in the season (592) scoring two centuries along the way including a match winning 127 against a strong St. Andrews South African Touring side. The other centurions for the season were Henry Hardinges (No.2), Freddie Sharp (No.5) and Ben Clarke (No.9), who all played well in the top of the order throughout the season.
With the ball, playing four left arm spinners paid off this year tying up the opposition on multiple occasions. The most memorable match was against Monmouth School. All 28 overs in the innings were bowled by the quartet of Ben Clarke (No.9), Josh Leach (SH), Toby Newman (No.2) and Harley Pritchard (No.9) bowling Monmouth out for 41 runs and winning by 218 runs! Other bowling performances of note were Toby Cox’s (No.5) five wicket hall against Denstone and Josh Leach’s match winning figures of 11- 106 taking us to victory in the two-day game at Bradfield.
The team spirit throughout the season was one of the main reasons for the success and it was a great start to George Rhodes’ tenure as our new Cricket Professional.
The Second Eleven were limited in matches this season due to the weather, but a big thank you to outgoing captain Daniel Bailey (SH) for all that he has done for the cricket.
The Third Eleven continued to have fun and more than 30 players represented the team throughout the season, which is a credit to the manager and all the staff involved.
For the Junior boys, the under 15’s won the county cup against Bromsgrove and this was a huge result for a team that have improved a great deal from last year. Edward Taylor (SH) captained the side well and performed with both bat and ball. His brother Charlie (SH) also played the majority of the season, even though he is in the FY, leading the side in runs and wickets. Other players of note were Zachary Bailey (SH), Hugo Hardinges (No.2) and Oliver Bouston (SH) who were ever present in the team throughout the season.
The Under 14 A boys team played 10 and won seven, which was an exceptional performance considering for most matches half the team were playing for the under 15’s! The batting was led by Rufus Lapsley (No.5) who scored a magnificent T20 hundred vs Denstone College. He was supported well by Charlie Warburton (No.5), Jaso-Keenan Jordan (No.5) and Oliver Daw (No.9) who all scored runs at crucial times in the season. Seb Hilliard (No.1) led the bowling with 12 wickets with Thomas Champkins (No.2) closely following with eight. Although they narrowly lost to Bromsgrove in the county cup final, there is a great deal of promise shown within the team
The U14 B and C teams were also competitive this year and for the first time in a few years they were playing regular games.
The girls cricket teams had their most successful season to date playing almost twenty matches during the summer term.
The Senior girls won half their matches with Isabella Kennedy (No.8), Evie Graff (No.3), Lottie Beer (No.3) and Grace Tomlin (No.4) leading the way with the batting and the bowling in particular Evie’s 5-16 versus Worcester University and Bella’s 62 no versus Malvern St. James, showing a great deal of skill and ability, which will help them next year when they all return in September.
The Junior girls were led well by Lauren Atkinson (No.6) who scored the only girls hundred of the season, which was in a close game against Bromsgrove School. Other contributions during the season came from Sophie Postles (No.6), Chloe Bourne (EH), Nell Thorpe (No.6), Georgia Clements (No.3) and Kitty Bartholomew (No.6), showing that there is a great deal of potential with both bat and ball, which will help the girls go from strength to strength.
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THE MALVERNIAN