Boys' sport round-up - July 2019

Mr Smith summarises half a term of boys' cricket and reports on tennis for the boys and girls:

Tennis:

Although many of the school matches were won very comfortably, the internal competitions created some amazing contests.

In the Junior competition, the boys' semi-finals were definite highlights with Noah Clarke and Raffety Matthews going toe to toe while Jonny Kitchin versus Hugo Ferrier was also a very close contest. Noah was just the more consistent in the final against Jonny.

Penny Clarke won the girls event in tight final with Fleur Baker.

The later stages of the intermediate event included some surprises. Both top seeds, William Ferrier and Rocco Knight were defeated. George Baker was the Year 6 winner but met his match with the Year 5 winner Fergus O’Connell taking the prize. William and Rocco gained revenge winning the doubles against Tommy Osborne and Ollie Wilson.

Daisy Timberlake and Amelie Mazrani won the girls doubles with Daisy also victorious in the singles defeating Caitlin Wilmot the Year 5 champ.

Dill Howell and Leo Mazrani had their most difficult match in the semi-final of the senior event against Rumi Mansoubi and Eden Littlefair while Toby Barton reigned supreme in the singles. Lulu James won a tough match against Phoebe Perry to take the senior girls tournament but was defeated by Gemima Whitehead and Isabella Baird in the doubles.

Cricket report:

The season reached its pinnacle with the 1st XI winning their final match against strong opposition from South Africa. Along with Cornwall Hill from Pretoria, Thomas Moore School were also defeated in a dramatic final ball nail biter. Having missed most of the season through injury it was great to see Ed Timberlake back bowling his excellent leg spin. Dill Howell led the side expertly showing admirable skills with both bat and ball. Toby Barton, another of our county players was outstanding behind the stumps. 

With the Year 8 boys on their post exam programme, it was a chance for U12s to step up to the plate. Two excellent victories against Twyford gives us much to look forward to next year. Fergus Kenyon was the standout player in the A team while Owen Osborne hit an excellent half century in the Bs.

The 2nd XI completed an excellent unbeaten season, in fact over 74% of all cricket matches were won. Arya Jeevathasan led the bowling attack while Dylan Gadsby was a dependable top order batsman. 

A good season for our strong 3rd XI with just one defeat and that was in the final over against Highfield. The team was well led by Barnaby Lawford with regular stand out performances from Finn Sutcliffe, Henry Williams and Rumi Mansoubi. 

The 5th XI have marched on victorious with a very close “one run” victory against Highfield, followed by easier victories against Hurstpierpoint and Seaford College. All of the players made a significant contributions and Tom Howeson has been an excellent captain.

The U10s also had a great season. The batting was spearheaded by the hard hitting Fergus O’Connell and Oliver Norman and the more measured Lachlan Franks. The fielding improved immensely due to coaching sessions on this vital part of the game. The bowling was generally very impressive with Oliver Wilson and Oliver Williams the biggest improvers. 

The U9s won a very exciting final match against Cranleigh to keep their unbeaten record. The game was turned on its head with an outstanding, all bowled, hat trick by Tommy Norman. The future looks bright with the B team also showing great spirit and determination.

The biggest turn around however has to go to the mighty U11B team. Having lost their first four matches, they then won the next five with Seth Oglethorpe and Dominic Lawlor performing well. This team also includes a number our girls that have chosen boys' cricket.

When I am not with the 1st XI, I have the pleasure of taking the U9C team. They also won all their matches and it was really pleasing to see how much more advanced their core skills were compared to other schools.

Athletics:

For the athletics report, please visit Miss Chambers' round-up.