The last week saw a huge amount of cricket played despite the cold and wet conditions. In mid-week fixtures, the U14As and U15As won their first round matches in the Surrey cup competitions, the School having moved its affiliation from Middlesex to Surrey this season. The U14As beat holders St John’s Leatherhead by 8 wickets, with impressive performances from Dhasmana and Burch, while the U15As beat Ibstock Place by 52 runs with Sornalingam scoring 57, Raaj 42 and A. Shukla taking 5-3. The 3rd XI also beat Fulham Boys’ School in a friendly on Wednesday with Magalhaes scoring 48 not out. On Saturday, we had a new block fixture against Brighton College. The 1st XI struggled against a very strong Brighton team, which included several sports scholars, losing by 115 runs, although captain Malik impressed scored 47 runs and taking 3 wickets. The 2nd XI fixture was abandoned on the south coast in the first innings due to rain, while the 3rd XI lost by only 12 runs in a thrilling match with Coondapoor scoring 35. We were much more successful at age group level. All three U15s sides won. In the U15As Balaguru and Hughes each took 3 wickets while Rohan de Silva scored 34 not out and took 2 wickets. In the U15Bs Bonomini scored 32, while in the U15Cs Younis scored 40, Okada 33 and Cortas took 3 wickets. The U14As had an impressive win with Dhasmana again impressing scoring 76 run. The two remaining U14 matches were abandoned due to rain, but undoubtedly the highlight of the week was Bhalodia (66) and Mahajan (50 not out) sharing a century opening partnership for the U14Cs. The seniors have mid-week fixtures against Tiffin School on Wednesday, and then we have a tough block fixture against Cranleigh School on Saturday.
Written by Alex Langley, Head of Cricket, Teacher of Biology