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Cricket in Barbados
By Jonny Nelmes
After countless hours in the winter nets, fundraising
dinners, fundraising runs, and a day of travelling, the
St Edward’s tour party finally felt the bounce of the
Caribbean runway, and an excitable mass of blue, yellow
and red spilled out onto a refreshingly warm tarmac.
As statistically one of the strongest 1st
XIs in the country over the last five years,
and with a squad boasting several county
academy players, St Edward’s came to
Barbados looking for a serious test of
their credentials ahead of the summer, and
were not to be disappointed. An exacting
schedule of six games in eight days included
fixtures against Barbados U19s – a serious
outfit – and Combermere, reputed to be
the finest cricketing school in the Caribbean,
and amongst their opposition were recently-
returned members of the victorious West
Indies U19 World Cup side.
Even against such stern opposition,
the boys more than held their own on the
field, and learnt plenty in the process. On
pitches that often favoured slow bowling,
the performances of the three-pronged spin
attack of James Woodcock, Harrison Ward
and James Curtis (the latter two still in the
Fifth Form) consistently gave St Edward’s a
level of control in the field that augurs well
for the 2016 season and beyond. Brandon
Allen’s 97*, and AJ Woodland’s 41* and 4/47,
were highlights of the win over Wanderers,
and Ben Charlesworth’s 62* helped carry
the boys to victory over Lodge School – Ben
would later impress on tour with the ball,
taking 3 wickets against Combermere. Also
worthy of note were Will Deasy’s maiden
1st XI half-century – 63 against St Leonard’s
– and a series of venomous spells with the
ball from (Fifth Former!) Rory Hipwell,
described by one opposition coach as
the quickest English schoolboy bowler
he had seen tour Barbados.
Throughout the tour the boys
had the privilege of playing and
training at some iconic venues –
from the Franklyn Stephenson
Academy, home of the West
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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
Brandon Allen in action