Bablakesport Boys’ Sport Cricket All Bablake cricket teams enjoyed success throughout a relatively short school cricket season. All junior sides (U12, U13, U14 & U15) reached the Coventry Cup Final. The U12s defeated Woodlands and King Henry VIII in previous rounds and met Coundon Court School in the final. Batting first, Bablake made the best of a good wicket, with Ross Parnell scoring an impressive 72 and Nick Payne achieving his maiden half century, finishing on 59 not out. Greg Checklin and Karam Bhathal both scored 15 in the final few overs to push the total up to 182-2. This impressive score proved too much for Coundon Court who managed 115-6 in their allotted overs. The pick of the bowlers was Owen McGlinchey who finished with figures of 3 for 7. This was a fitting end to the season for the U12s who performed consistently throughout the season, winning 8 out of 11 matches. The U13s also achieved success in the Coventry Cup, beating President Kennedy and Finham Park (Simran Bansal 42, Bradley Pinkham 28) to secure their place in the final to face Woodlands. Unfortunately, Woodlands were unable to field a side and therefore forfeited the game. Despite this unsatisfactory climax to the competition, Bablake U13s were crowned Coventry Cup champions. The U14s had another very successful season which culminated in reaching the Coventry Cup Final. Records were smashed as cousins Matthew Clements and Dominic Rae put on an unbeaten stand of 322 in their allotted 30 overs against local rivals King Henry VIII. Mathew Clements is the Warwickshire County U14 Captain and has already hit three centuries this summer but his 202 not out was a truly remarkable knock containing 12 sixes and 22 fours. Dominic Rae ably supported him, scoring a career best of 90 not out which included 14 fours. KHVIII posted a spirited reply with 180 for 8 but still surrendered the Harold Suddens Bowl to Bablake by 142 runs. The U15 cricket team had an excellent season with highlights including a fine victory over Warwick and progression into the final of the
Coventry Cup. Highlights with the bat included innings from Ryan Parnell, Hugh Kenney-Herbert, Emile Pokoj and Jake Basra. Dhyan Patel, Ryan Parnell and Jake Basra have also excelled with the ball. It is worth noting that Mark Best has also been representing the 1st XI this year and has produced some excellent innings, including a fine century against the MCC. The 1st XI had an inconsistent season, showing signs of brilliance which was interspersed with periods of complacency. The team did show great resilience against Bishop Vesey’s in freezing conditions to emerge victorious (Walters 51, Patel 2-16). The highlight for the 2nd XI was an impressive victory against Solihull School, which saw Ben Cooper score 141. Once again Bablake hosted the annual Twenty20 competition which was blessed with good weather. Bablake 1st XI recorded victories against Warwick, Lawrence Sheriff and KE Aston to tie for 2nd place on points going into the final round, but lost out narrowly on net run rate to finish 4th overall. Cricket at Bablake is going from strength to strength and Steve Perryman, our professional coach, has been an excellent addition this year. In conjunction with Mr Phillips, master in charge of cricket, a 3 year development plan has been put into action. This will include a comprehensive programme of winter training starting in January, which will focus on core skills, technique development and fitness work. Professional contractors have undertaken major work on the main cricket square and our ground staff are developing pitch 2 and levelling areas of the outfield. We have set ambitious performance targets for each of the ‘A’ teams and it is our
aim to increase the number of ‘B’ team fixtures at all age groups so that more boys are given an opportunity to represent the school at a competitive level. hockey Boys’ hockey has had a successful start to the season with the 1st XI winning their two fixtures against Camp Hill and Lawrence Sheriff School in comprehensive fashion, 5-0 and 11-0 respectively. Congratulations to Declan Jones who has been named as 1st XI captain and William KenneyHerbert as vice-captain. The 2nd XI also recorded a win in their first game of the season against Camp Hill, emerging 3-0 victors. The junior teams have been training hard under the guidance of Phil Gooderham, our professional coach (Wales U21, Birmingham University 1st XI coach). We have welcomed Mr Benfield (CNWHC 1st XI) from the Junior School as a boys’ hockey coach. He will be managing and coaching the U14 team this season. rugby The tour to South Africa has underpinned an outstanding start to the season. At the time of writing the 1st XV have a 100% record with wins over KES Aston, Wellingborough, Nottingham High School, Leicester Grammar and Solihull School. Henry Chamberlain, Will Thornhill, Kilian Kleine, Adam King, Sam Jack and Chuka Ogbuneke have all represented Warwickshire U18s. The U14s and U15s have also enjoyed superb starts with wins against the same opposition. The U15s had a narrow 12-10 victory over Polesworth in the first round of the Daily Mail Cup. Andrew Judge, Edward Cooper, Liam Moore, Andrew Haughian, Hugh Edwards, Jack Webber, Harry Smith, Robert Faulkner, James Faulkner, Lewis Marshall, Tom Ball and William Kirkman have all been selected for Coventry District U15s. The U13s have suffered two early losses but still show excellent promise, as do the U12s. bablake school
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