28 / 32
28
ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
Cricket
By Simon Roche, Master i/c Cricket
2016 was another impressive season for
the St Edward’s 1st XI. In a rain-affected
summer the team won 15 matches in total,
making them the fourth most successful
XI in our history. This was achieved with
a team which included four Fifth Formers
and a Fourth Former; a precocious season
for a young side. We won the John Harvey
Cup (a league competition against Radley,
Marlborough, Cheltenham, Bradfield
and Winchester) for the fourth year in
succession, and we beat Harrow by nine
wickets away from home. It was also the
first year that the School played in the
University Parks, where we were lucky
enough to play a 20/20 game versus
Oxford MCCU.
It is worth dwelling on the Abingdon
fixture: in 2015 we lost to Abingdon in a
very tight game so we were keen to make
amends this year. We won the toss and
elected to bat and thereafter records fell.
AJ Woodland (
Davenies
), the Captain,
scored 204 not out, which was the first
double hundred in the School’s history; his
partner was Ben Charlesworth (
Our Lady’s
Abingdon
), a Fourth Former, who made
110 (his second century of the season).
Their opening partnership consisted of 310,
which is a record for the School. Abingdon
were bowled out for 72 resulting in a
comprehensive win by 251 runs. Likewise
this year’s fixture with Radley was one to
savour. On the eve of ‘cricket week’ (the
last week of the Summer Term) we knew
that we would have to beat Cheltenham
and then Radley in order to retain the John
Harvey Cup. First, we beat Cheltenham
by 96 runs, thanks to an assured 74 from
AJ Woodland, 4 wickets from Jamie
Curtis
(Cherwell)
and 3 wickets from Ben
Charlesworth. This meant we had to
beat Radley – a draw or the match being
abandoned to rain would not give us enough
points to win and there was lots of rain
forecast. Radley won the toss and elected to
bat. Jamie Curtis was soon in amongst the
wickets and finished with a game-changing
5 for 20: Radley were bowled out for 111.
The clouds were looming, and although St
Edward’s got off to a flyer (67 off the first
6 overs) it began to rain heavily. We were
forced to put the big climate cover down
(a groundsheet that covers the whole
square) and the entire team then set to
clearing the ground water.
It made quite a picture:
groundsman, players, coaches
and even the batsmen in their
pads were all clearing ground
water during the deluge hoping
that the clouds would break.
They did, and full credit to the
umpires and Radley for agreeing
to go straight on. The rain
abated for 30 minutes, and it
took St Edward’s 29 minutes
to knock off the runs and win the John
Harvey (thereafter it rained so heavily that
play would not have resumed). It was a real
team effort with just enough luck thrown in.
AJ Woodland, who left in July, played
for four years in the 1st XI. He broke the
School’s batting record this year for the
most runs in a season with 1207, which took
his career runs to 2734 and which we can
couple to his career wickets of 76. AJ was a
stalwart of the cricket club and a very good
captain in his last year. Andy Wyles
(Dulwich
Prep London)
, the vice-captain, also left in
the summer and he too played
for four years finishing his 1st
XI career with 47 wickets and
over 500 runs to his name. The
Upper Sixth legacy looks pretty
secure in the juniors’ hands:
Jamie Curtis’s masterful leg
breaks earned him 46 wickets
this season, Harrison Ward
(John Mason)
earned the best
figures of the season with 6 for
38, whilst Ben Charlesworth
scored 744 runs in total. Many of the boys
played county cricket this summer and Ben
Charlesworth was picked to represent the
South and West at Bunbury. So there is
certainly strength in depth and a real desire
to come back even stronger next year. My
thanks to Mr Howitt and Dave Simpkins for
their coaching and expertise; and to Bob
Bowerman and his team for their superb
care of Upper 1 and the grounds.
Tom Powell
(St Andrew’s, Pangbourne)
Stop Press:
AJ Woodland was
recently named
as the Wisden
top schoolboy
run scorer in the
country last season;
Jamie Curtis was
named 2nd highest
wicket taker