A History of Cricket At St Edward's School

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It has been another impressive season from the St Edward’s 1st XI. In a rain effected summer the team won 15 matches
in total, making them the fourth most successful XI in our history. This was achieved with a team that consisted of four
fifth formers and a fourth former; a precocious season for a young side. We won the John Harvey Cup for the fourth year
in succession - a league competition consisting of Radley, Marlborough, Cheltenham, Bradfield and Winchester, and we
beat Harrow by nine wickets away from home. It was also the first year that the school played at The University Parks,
where we were lucky enough to play a 20/20 versus the 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, the captain, scored 204 not
out, which was the first double hundred in the school’s history, his partner was Ben Charlesworth, 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 is 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. We firstly beat Cheltenham by 96 runs, thanks
to an assured 74 from AJ Woodland, 4 wickets from Jamie Curtis 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 carry straight
on. The rain abated for thirty minutes, and it took St Edward’s twenty nine 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.
Sadly this is AJ Woodlands last year, a boy who has 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 runs, which took his career runs to 2734 and which we can
couple to his career wickets at 76. AJ has been a stalwart of the cricket club and a very good captain in his last year.
Andrew Wyles, the vice-captain, is also leaving and he too played for four years finishing with his 1st XI career with 47
wickets and over 500 runs to his name. The U6th legacy looks pretty secure in the junior’s hands: Jamie Curtis’s masterful
leg breaks earnt him 46 wickets this season, Harrison Ward earnt the best figures of the season with 6 for 38, whilst Ben
Charlesworth scored 744 runs in total. Many of the boys will play county cricket this summer, indeed Ben Charlesworth
was recently 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.
CRICKET REPORT 2016 BRANDON ALLEN (new into Lower 6th) MAKES GLOUCESTERSHIRE 1st
TEAM DEBUT VERSUS GLAMORGAN IN PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY AT
CARDIFF.
BEN CHARLESWORTH (4th Former) SELECTED FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE
2nd XI. A.J. WOODLAND SCORES 105* AGAINST ORATORY.
HARRISON WARD TAKES 6 WICKETS FOR 38 RUNS VERSUS FREE
FORESTERS AND IS AWARDED HIS COLOURS.
BEN CHARLESWORTH SCORES 104* VERSUS MCS.
A.J. WOODLAND SCORES 110* VERSUS DAVID DRAKE-BROCKMAN XI.
A.J. WOODLAND BREAKS SCHOOL HIGHEST INNINGS RECORD WITH
204* VERSUS ABINGDON. BEN CHARLESWORTH SCORES 110 VERSUS
ABINGDON.
A.J. WOODLAND AND BEN CHARLESWORTH PUT ON 310 FOR THE FIRST
WICKET (record) AGAINST ABINGDON SCORING BOTH CENTURIES. TOM
LEESON AND GEORGE WEST (Shells) MAKE 1st XI DEBUTS VERSUS SOA
AND RIFLES.
BEAT RADLEY FOR 4th CONSECUTIVE YEARS (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016).
JAMIE CURTIS TAKES 5 WICKETS FOR 20 RUNS VERSUS RADLEY.
WINNERS OF JOHN HARVEY CUP FOR THE 5th TIME IN SCHOOL’S
HISTORY AND FIRST SCHOOL TO WIN 4 IN SUCCESSION.
JAMIE CURTIS (5th Former) SELECTED FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE 2nd XI -
TAKING 4 WICKETS ON DEBUT VERSUS HAMPSHIRE.
A.J. WOODLAND BREAKS RECORD FOR NUMBER OF CENTURIES IN
SEASON WITH 5.
A.J. WOODLAND BREAKS JOE BARRETT’S SCHOOL RECORD HELD SINCE
2014 FOR NUMBER OF RUNS IN A SEASON WITH 1207 RUNS.
JAMIE CURTIS (5th Former) SELECTED FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE VERSUS
WALES.
BEN CHARLESWORTH SELECTED FOR SOUTH OF ENGLAND U15s AT
THE BANBURY FESTIVAL.
HARRISON WARD SELECTED FOR SUSSEX 2nd XI AGAINST MIDDLESEX
2nd XI.
BEN CHARLESWORTH MAKES DEBUT FOR OXFORDSHIRE AT 15 YEARS
OLD VERSUS DEVON.
A.J. WOODLAND MAKES DEBUT FOR BUCKINGHAMSHIRE VERSUS
BEDFORDSHIRE.
A.J. WOODLAND WITH THE JOHN HARVEY
CUP 2016
A.J. WOODLAND AND B.G. CHARLESWORTH
DURING THEIR RECORD INNINGS AGAINST
ABINGDON SCHOOL.