Skylark 2009 Sport
4th and 5th XI The 4th XI won two of its three games while the 5th XI enjoyed victory in its only outing against St Albans. Such is the strength in depth of senior cricket at HABS, at least before the examination season commences, that we were able to field five sides all on the same afternoon!
U15A
season. Another successful run-chase came against the Fraser Bird XI, led by Michael Yeabsley and featuring three first class cricketers, as we reached our target of 254, this time with 5 balls to spare. In a tense finish against Queen Elizabeth’s, Barnet, HABS defended a total of 161 to win by 22 runs, a much closer game than it sounds with the result in doubt until the final overs. The majority of the other victories were won by comprehensive margins, including games against Mill Hill, John Lyon, RGS High Wycombe, Aldenham and Old Haberdashers CC whilst the games against Bedford Modern and Doug Yeabsley’s XI ended in draws, the latter after heavy rain, thunder and lightning interrupted play. This year’s Devon tour produced three more wins in the three games played against Exeter CC, Exeter School and Devon U16s, although in the final two games HABS struggled at times and had to dig deep for victory. Our success this season is due to a fine allround team performance in which each player made significant contributions. In fact, all eleven of the first choice team achieved the Wisden qualification of 150 runs or 10 wickets, some in both categories. Lewis Jenkins (693 runs at an average of 43.31, including 5 half centuries) led from the front, captaining the side superbly, as well as being the highest and most consistent run scorer.
1st XI Colours Full:
Lewis Jenkins (captain) Tom Edrichre-award Hemal Malde Neel Malde Amish Parekh re-award Kushal Patel re-award Seb Schusman Nishanth Selvakumar
Half:
Basil Letts Jonathan Miller Keshal Patel
2nd XI
The 2nd XI, led by Luke Tullo for most of the season and by Akhil Raithatha in the final three 124
games, was victorious on ten occasions, notably against Mill Hill, Berkhamsted, Bedford Modern, QEB and Bancroft’s, and lost only twice to a strong Merchant Taylors’ side and Brighton GS from Melbourne. Tullo was the most consistent batsman, but all the other players contributed at one stage or another, including Alex Watts, Arjun Sofat, Athman Sivakumar, Hamza Zahid and, particularly towards the end of the season, Kishan Alahendra. Zahid and Alahendra, along with Jaidev Devlia, Shanil Patel, Akhil Raithatha, Aadarsh Gautam and Kishan Patel, formed a bowling attack, which was usually too strong for the opposition. The success of this side in recent years is further evidence of the strength of HABS Cricket.
3rd XI The 3rd XI, under the captaincy of Joe McCormick, also performed well, despite losing a game for the first time in several years. The whole squad played its part, namely Kishan Alahendra (before his promotion to the 2nd XI), as five games were won, notably against QEB and Berkhamsted, before the disappointing defeat at Merchant Taylors’. Unfortunately, the season was curtailed due to the inability of Bedford Modern to raise a third team and the cancellation of the block fixture with St Albans after heavy rain.
The U15A’s had a remarkable season, winning fourteen games overall, including the County Cup (for a third year in succession), and reaching the quarter-finals of the national Lord’s Taverners Trophy Competition. After a disappointing loss at Berkhamsted, the team gelled under the captaincy of Tej Malde and proceeded to put in the performance of the season in beating Harrow in the Lord’s Taverners Trophy by 97 runs. Representing Hertfordshire in this national competition, we stunned our hosts, one of the top cricket schools in the country, thanks to a fine undefeated century from Nishanth Selvakumar (131*) in a total of 262 for 5 in 35 overs. In the next round, we defeated the Buckinghamshire champions, Dr Challoners GS, thanks to a fine all-round performance from Sahil Agarwal, before losing to a very strong Brentwood side in the Regional Final. To reach the last eight of this prestigious competition, however, is a significant achievement and congratulations go to all concerned.
U15B The U15B’s also enjoyed an outstanding season, winning six of their seven games and confirming that this is a very strong year group. The first game was against UCS, whose bowling was not good enough to challenge our batting line-up. Daniel Paul (108*) had the honour of scoring the first century of the season in a comfortable victory. However, our next game against Berkhamsted was a much closer affair. Having lost to them at U14B level last year, the boys were determined to