For many schools, the school year and with it the cricket season finishes over the next week and with exams over, many schools are playing many different formats of the game this week. From T10 tournaments to two-day games and cricket festivals and cricket weeks, there is plenty going on.
This week sees Sherborne School host its third annual Ruth Strauss Foundation Cricket Week, with a fundraising target of £5,000 for this wonderful charity. Alongside some thirty matches in five days, there will be a prize draw, sales of souvenir brochures and prints, a whole-school non-uniform day, and sponsorships from local businesses – all raising money to support research and bereavement counselling for families affected by cancer.
The National Schools Bous Under 18 T20 and Cricket Paper Girls Under 18 reached their climax this week with Rugby uniquely qualifying for both finals.
In the boys T20, the last remaining state school in the competition, Simon Langton GS were out gunned in the London and South East quarter final. Having bowled out the highly rated Epsom side for just 133, they too were dismissed for just 77. Rugby, winners of the West Midlands region blew away the highly fancied Trent College, winners of the East Midlands and East Anglia in the quarter final on Friday. Having set an imposing total of 180-4 with Warwickshire’s Levi Gekis scoring 78* and Scotland Under 19 batter Rory Grant with 59, Rugby’s bowlers made easy work for the Trent batting. Trent slumped to 66 all out inside 14 overs with Gabe Downes the pick of the bowlers with 4-19.
The following day they chased down the target of 161 set by current champions St. Peter’s, York in just over 14 overs. Wills Bennison top scored with 59 for the Yorkshire side and Sam Mills (47) and Grant (46*) saw Rugby home.
Their opponents, Clifton College, upset the pre-tournament favourites Epsom College in a tense game. Having been bowled out for just 144, the Clifton bowlers restricted the free-scoring Epsom batters to just 122, taking wickets at crucial times. Wicket Keeper Logan Bowden (55) and 32 from Jamie Brooks were the mainstays of the Clifton innings, while Alex Chambers carried his bat for 55 in the Epsom innings.
Barton Peveril, a state sixth form college from Eastleigh, provided the biggest shock of the tournament when they defeated the 2024 winners and favourites, Ipswich. Having set a challenging total of 143-2 (Edie Ayliffe 93*), Barton Peveril lost captain Mia Clark on 4 and then slumped to 85-4 in the 13th set. An unbroken partnership of 59 between Eve O’Neill and Emily Wilson saw their side home with 6 deliveries to spare to become the first state school or college to reach the final of the competition.
Their opponents in the final had a far more straightforward passage against Yorkshire Cricket College, who were also flying the flag for the state sector. Having set a modest target of 128, Rugby restricted the Leeds side with accurate bowling as they subsided from 64-3 to 70 all out. Mariam Khan (52*) top scored for Rugby while India Gooden (3-10) was the pick of the bowlers.
The Cricket Paper Under 17 cup also reached its semi-final stage this week, with Shrewsbury and Hampton completing quarter-final wins at the end of last week over Scarborough and Bede’s respectively. Shrewsbury amassed a mammoth 290-8 at Scarborough and then bowled out the home side for 156 in reply. Hampton’s win over Bede’s was much closer as they were restricted to 135-8 in their 35 overs, before Bede’s were bowled out 10 short of their target.
In the first of the semi-finals, hosts Shrewsbury posted 203-8 with Shrewsbury Town footballer Isaac England top scoring with 55. Rugby easily chased down the total with nearly 5 overs to spare with Sam Mills (67), Arun Kalsi (58) and that man Grant again, topping off a fine week, with 44*. Rugby take their place in the final in September at the old Mitchell and Butlers ground in Birmingham against the winners of Millfield and Hampton who play on Thursday.
Having reached 3 finals this year, Rugby won another national competition this week when they won the Cricket Paper Girls Under 15 100-ball at Merchant Taylor’s Northwood. Having beaten Repton in the semi-final, Rugby faced Kingston GS in the final and with the scores level after each school completed their 100 balls, both schools faced a super set of 5 balls.
Rugby batted first, scoring 11 from their 5 balls, before Kingston lost two quick wickets after scoring 6 from their first two deliveries, leaving Rugby as the winners of what could be the first of four possible national titles this season.
As mentioned last week, requests for Wisden reports and averages have gone out in the last week. I will be sending one more reminder at the end of next week. Please note that schools not meeting the deadline of 15th August will not be chased for their reports.
Next week’s blog will be published on Thursday morning rather than Wednesday to take in the various festivals taking place.
National Boys Under 18 T20
National Quarter Finals
Bolton 101, St Peter’s York 102-7
Clifton 164-8, Wellington 134
Epsom 133, Simon Langton GS 77
Rugby 180-4, Trent 66
National Semi-Final
Clifton 144, Epsom 122-5
St. Peter’s 160-5, Rugby 161-3
National Final (at Lord’s 1st July)
Clifton v Rugby
NE Plate Finals Day
Yarm 171-2 , Ampleforth 142-6
Mount St Mary’s 86-3 (8 ), Ampleforth 81-4
Yarm 227-5 , Mount St Mary 171-0
Yarm win NE plate
Cricket Paper Under 17 Cup
Quarter Finals
Millfield 218-6, Haileybury 98
Bedford 86, Rugby 87-2
Hampton 135-8, Bede’s 125
Shrewsbury 289-7, Scarborough 156
Semi-final
Shrewsbury 203-8, Rugby 205-3
Millfield v Hampton (26th June)
Final 9th September
Tuesday 17th June (20 Overs unless otherwise stated)
King’s Ely 173-4 , Culford 176-3
Merchiston Castle 144-7 , Dollar Academy 44
Queen Elizabeth’s , Barnet 133-8 , Aldenham 139-3
Skinners’ 106-5 , Simon Langton Grammar for Boys 108-3
Wednesday 18th June (20 Overs unless otherwise stated)
Rugby 191 & 85-4, Clifton 299-5 dec.
Scarborough 224-6 (40), Bradford Grammar 143-7
Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar 126-8 , Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mamatical 127-5
Brighton 127, Seaford 128-2 Langdale Cup Final
Solihull 2nd XI 165-3 , Queen Mary’s Grammar 170-2
Solihull 205-6 , Cokethorpe 172-7
St Benedict’s 119-7 , Gordon’s 123-4
Langley Park for Boys 157-5 , Wilson’s 117-6
King’s , Chester 209-5 (18 ), St Anselm’s , Birkenhead 88-7
Alleyn’s 150-6 , Colfe’s 152-7
MCC 221-5 dec., Caterham 189
Thursday 19th June (20 Overs unless otherwise stated)
Edinburgh Academy 202-6 , Loretto 96
King’s Bruton 127-7 , Downside 113
Westonbirt 170-4 , Wycliffe 2nd XI 142-5
Bryanston 150-7 , Warminster 144-6
Harrow 191 (55 ), Charterhouse 130
Judd 171-9 (30 ), Eltham 123
Friday 20th June (20 Overs unless otherwise stated)
Wilson’s 154-8 , Alleyn’s 109-9
Cadral , Llandaff 193-3 , Hereford Cadral 169-4
Brentwood 153-6 , Forest 154-3
Saturday 21st June (50 Overs unless otherwise stated)
Shrewsbury 302, Sedbergh 289
Haileybury 148 , Uppingham 152-9
St Paul’s 232-9 (50 ), Reed’s 187
Royal Hospital 110 (40) , Ipswich 112-3
Hurstpierpoint 142 (38 ), Charterhouse 143-2
Cranleigh 260-7 , Whitgift 181
Trinity , Croydon 163), Dulwich 166-4
Repton 292-5 (45) (G Pocklington 163*, D Chapman 112) , Bromsgrove 191-3
Oakham 319-7 (40 ), Kimbolton 93
Berkhamsted 152, Stowe 153-7
Judd 144-9 (30 ), Sutton Valence 148-5
Caterham 217-9 (40 ), Eltham 138
Bolton 138-6 (30 ), Birkenhead 139-9
Manchester Grammar 180-8 , Cheadle Hulme 67
UCS 166 (40 ), Watford Grammar for Boys 126
Reigate Grammar 180-2 (25 ), Churcher’s 147-9
Forest 322-5 (40 ) (J Kathuria 136), St Albans 143
Warminster 195-9 (30 ), Monkton Combe 198-6
Epsom 66, Brighton 67-4
Perse 203, Norwich 207-3
City of London Freemen’s 146 (35 ), Christ’s Hospital 147-9
Sevenoaks 92 (40 ), Skinners’ 93-7
Wells Cadral 249-0 (40 ), Exeter 228-8
Harrow 182, Merchant Taylors’ , Northwood 127
Sir Thomas Rich’s 175-5 (35 ), King’s , Gloucester 176-2
Latymer Upper 173-7 (30 ), John Lyon 160-9
Kent 165 (40 ), King’s Canterbury 168-3
Clifton 310-5 (J Benkenstein 143*), Cheltenham 295-8
Marlborough 272-9 (50 ), St Edward’s Oxford 219 (
Bedford 184, Stamford 187-3
Dauntsey’s 230 (45 ), King Edward VI, Southampton 213
Felsted 150 (40 ), Brentwood 153-3
Framlingham 219-7 (40 ), Leys 223-7
Winchester 154 , Radley 157-8
Sherborne 157 (F O’Connell 100), Blundell’s 159-2
Eton 179-9 (55), Wellington 180-8
Sunday 22nd June
Cathedrals Festival (20 Overs)
King’s Rochester 66, Wells Cathedral 57-2 (DLS – Wells win)
Llandaff Cathedral 122-8, Wells Cathedral 127-1
King’s , Gloucester 136-8 , Llandaff Cathedral 31
Sherborne 261-6 (50) (J Graham 106), Sherborne Pilgrims 129
Monday 23rd June
Cathedrals Festival (20 Overs unless otherwise stated)
Wells Cathedral 119-6, King’s Gloucester 121-3
King’s Gloucester 120-8, Wells Cathedral 112-9
Llandaff Cathedral 197-8 (35 ), King’s Rochester 156
Elizabeth 194-9 (40 ), Victoria 135
Huddersfield New College 159 (40), Manchester GS 120
Girls
Cricket Paper Girls Under 18 100-ball
Semi-finals
Ipswich 143-2, Barton Peveril 144-4
Rugby 127-2, Yorkshire Cricket 70
Final
Barton Peveril v Rugby at Lord’s 1st July 11am
Sports Magazine Under 18 T20
Quarter Finals
Denstone 61, Scarborough 62-1
King’s Worcester v Ipswich (playing June 24)
Alleyn’s 88, Epsom 89-1
Bradfield 170-3, Canford 108-9
Finals Day Thursday July 3rd at King Edward VI , Southampton
Other results (20 Overs unless otherwise stated)
Tuesday 17th June
Gordon’s 129-5 , Dunottar 114-6
Wednesday 18th June
Tudor Hall 90-6, Cokethorpe 93-4
Solihull 126-4 , Shrewsbury 128-1
Ellesmere 158-4, Wrekin 106-6
Hymers 114-9 , Pocklington 112-4
St George’s Weybridge 125-6 , Emanuel 127-5
Thursday 19th June
King Edward’s , Bath 126-8 , King’s Bruton 128-4
Haileybury 182-1, Norwich High for Girls 88-5
Loretto 99-8 (16 ), Edinburgh Academy 52
Friday 20th June
Cathedral , Llandaff 184-2 , Hereford Cathedral 106-8
Saturday 21st June
Shrewsbury 133-4 (15 ), Sedbergh 73-7
Taunton 46, King’s , Taunton 47-0
Durham 107-4 , St Peter’s , York 94-5
Kimbolton 155-8 , Oakham 160-7
Stamford 192-3 , Bishop’s Stortford 123-6
New Hall 149-5 , Woodbridge 147-3
Norwich 141-4 , Perse 130-8
Berkhamsted 93 , Bedford Modern 94-2
Charterhouse 123-6 , Caterham 115-8
Framlingham 86-9 , Leys 88-2
Charterhouse 150-6 , Hurstpierpoint 151-4
Oundle 118-6 , Rugby 119-3
Marlborough 133 , St Edward’s , Oxford 116-6
Bromsgrove 89, Repton 92-0
Monkton Combe 153 , King’s Bruton 120
Ipswich 156-4 , Royal Hospital 126-5
Cheltenham 150-6 , Bristol Grammar 127-7
Monday 23rd June
Bradfield 90-7, Shrewsbury 91-7
Framlingham 94-8 , Eastbourne 95-2
Denstone 61 , Scarborough 62-1
Stamford 116, Framlingham 100-8