14 April - Two Tough Games and One Century

We ventured to Windsor to play Eton. We did have some concern about getting there as the roads were jammed after a couple of serious crashes including a fatality. But we got there fine and were then taken on a tour of the school. The boys and parents saw a school built in 1440, a rock-like quad, the oldest school room in the world, a bizarre game called the Eton wall game. It was a great tour of a school that has produced 18 British Prime Ministers.

Full tour group including parents in the Eton Quad

The oldest classroom in the world

Walking from the school to the grounds

The 1st XI game was a good tough encounter which College lost by 13 runs. Our bowling has been found out to a degree in the three English games and the same thing happened today. After an initial sound maiden we found ourselves struggling as 50 was recorded after just 7 overs. The 100 was reached in the 20th over but we had taken a couple of wickets to Chamberlain and McKellar. These two in combination with Kerr, Murray and Freeman-Greene were able to hold the batsmen and restrict to where the run rate dropped to a more manageable 4.5 per over. Two great run outs were executed by Beckett and Chamberlain and in the end we were able to restrict Eton to 245/7. Considering the pitch was a quality batting surface and there was one small boundary of maybe 40 metres, the team had given themselves a real chance of winning the match. Leggat took a couple more catches in this game, while Chamberlain and Heselwood saved many runs in the field.

View from the pavilion to the 1st XI match

College's top order was asked to provide more for the team, but at 6/2 a winning score was a long way away. Thatcher entered and immediately stamped his authority on the innings. His driving and clipping of the ball off his pads was exceptional and by tea, at 25 overs he was on 70+ out of a total of 104. Heselwood (30) was offering good support. Soon after tea Heselwood was dismissed (120 partnership), but Thatcher was able to continue his domination and reached his century with a sweetly struck boundary through mid wicket. The challenge was now to see whether the team could support Thatcher and go on and win the game. Beckett continued his command of the crease and scored 33 runs very easily; he was especially strong hitting straight and pulling short balls. 71 runs were required from 66 balls, but Beckett then fell to a boundary catch. Unfortunately when wickets are lost the runs slow and this builds more pressure. The inevitable happened as wickets then tumbled and crucially Thatcher was dismissed attempting to target the small boundary. Over 48 saw 10 runs hit and 10 more from the first two balls of the 49th over. However, a wicket was then followed by 5 further runs before Kerr (16) top edged a full toss that he tried to hit for six to the short boundary. Game over ... a shame as 8 from the final six balls would have meant the game was again there for the taking.

Thatcher on reaching his century

It was a great game, one we should have won from the position we were in, but one which again shows that the game is never over till the final wicket is taken, or run achieved.

Scoreboard:
Thomson     6-2-28-0
Tempero      5-0-44-0
Kerr             8-1-36-0
Chamberlain 10-1-42-3
McKellar     10-0-47-1
Murray         5-0-17-0
Freeman-Greene  6-0-26-0

Catches: Leggat 2, Heselwood

Williamson   1
Heselwood    30
Chamberlain  0
Thatcher        115
Beckett          33
Freeman-Greene  7
Kerr               16
Murray          1
Leggat           3
Thomson       15
Tempero        1no

The Development XI suffered their first defeat of the tour as they lost by 9 wickets. College batted first and again Will Macfarlane (52) and George Blake (44) opened with a century partnership. Small partnerships then followed with J Bird (18), Dickie (28) and I Bird (40). Unfortunately these partnerships were not able to accelerate the run rate after the great start as too many dots were incurred. Thatcher did hit out at the end with Simpson. The score of 267/7 was very sound, but realistically the coaching staff thought the boys should have scored 300. Eton then replied very strongly. Two boys on the fringe of the 1st XI then both scored unbeaten centuries to ensure Eton not only won by 9 wickets, but won with the comfort of over 5 overs. This was a real wake up call for the bowlers who were short, while the fielding was not as accurate as expected. Almost all bowled, while sickness continues to affect the group as players were swapped from teams at the last minute to accommodate people suddenly feeling unwell.

Tomorrow we are off to Oxford and Radley School in next on the agenda. This is another top cricketing school.

Scorebaords:

Macfarlane  52
Blake           44
J Bird           18
Dickie          28
I Bird           40
Abbot           7
Thatcher       28
Simpson       11no
Whyte           2no

Macfarlane    4-1-25-0
Simpson        8-0-34-0
Whyte           8-0-42-1
Jones             3-0-28-0
Abbot            4-1-22-0
Macfarlane    3-0-19-0
Aitken           6.3-0-29-0
Thatcher        3-0-20-0
I Bird            2-0-32-0
J Bird            1-0-11-0

Players of the Day were Bailen Thatcher and Will Macfarlane. They were recognised by Eton and they received our Player of the Day bats.