Girls’ Cricket

It has been a season of firsts for girls’ cricket at Clifton: the first season of a full fixture list on a Saturday, regularly fielding three teams, with all girls representing the College during the term; the first time the girls have played on the Close; the first time the girls have qualified for the National Indoor Finals; the first time the girls have played at Lord’s; the first girl - Bea Willis - to hit 100+ at the College in the U15 cup competition; and the first time we have entered all three cups and progressed to at least the fourth round. However, it is the second time the U15s have qualified for the final stages of the National Schools Cup.

Sarah Johnson

1st XI

The 1st XI had a busy season with a full set of fixtures, the U18 National Schools Cup and the 100 competition. The season began with the traditional trip to Marlborough College, this time sporting a brand new first team kit. The Clifton team came out attacking and batted with great intent. The top scorer was Bea Willis with 44, but the girls ran well between the wickets and dominated the game throughout, scoring a total of 138. This performance was matched well with impressive wickets caught and bowled by Taylor Hodgson, Megan Cook catching their opener from a far-too-tempting delivery by Issy Maloney. Megan went on to claim two wickets and caught their number two from

Georgie Simpson’s delivery. There were further wickets for Grace Harwood and Jemima Smith. Blundell’s was another match highlight, playing a livestreamed game on their first team pitch, the Clifton girls again proved a force to be reckoned with, scoring an impressive 151 from 20 overs, with Josie Wong as top scorer with 60 runs. A strong bowling performance saw wickets for Taylor Hodgson and Jemima Thefaut, with agile and fearless fielding by Tilly Edwards, which kept Blundell’s to 103 runs.

The girls then began their cup campaign: The Hundred and T20. Facing BGS away in the first round of The Hundred, Katie Dolman and Emily Murray made an excellent partnership of 94, both just shy of claiming their

50s. Clinical bowling and agile fielding meant that BGS were reduced to scoring 58. Katie went on to claim 53 not out against Wellington College in the next round, with a strong partnership with Bea Willis, who scored 73. Wickets for Greer Barnes and a superb instinctive run out by Grace Harwood saw another win for Clifton. The Close beckoned, history in the making, and the first game played by the girls on this majestic pitch, but this was not quite the fairytale ending for which we had hoped. Fielding first, there were wickets for Emily Murray and Bea Willis, but this left Clifton chasing a tough 149 runs. After an early wicket, the partnerships of Bea Willis and Josie Wong notched up some important runs, followed by Taylor Hodgson who was top scorer, which included five boundaries, but sadly this was not quite enough to match the tough runs total laid out.

The T20 Cup proved to have some impressive match-winning highlights. The dangerous duo of Bea Willis and Katie Dolman demonstrated great prowess with the bat, notching up 130 between them, with Bea 74 not out. This skill level was continued with the ball, Georgie Simpson taking three wickets, Jemima Smith two and Taylor Hodgson an impressive ‘caught and bowled’. Onto the next round and a long hot trip to St Helen and St Katharine in Oxford saw Clifton batting first, scoring 148-3, with Bea Willis scoring 71 not out. Stepping up again with the ball, Jemima Smith and Taylor Hodgson scored three wickets each, along with Issy Maloney, Greer Barnes, Georgie Simpson and Katie Dolman, who restricted them to 67 all out, and a place in the next round. Bradfield’s damaging spinners in the fourth round meant that we lost some early wickets. Jemima Smith and Emily Murray did their best to improve the run rate, scoring 30 and 24 respectively, but there was far too much to do with the ball. Unable to break up the partnership of their openers for too many overs meant that Bradfield claimed the victory.

A hugely memorable season, nonetheless, and great testament to the players, nine of whom were also managing an intense GCSE and A Level exam timetable. There were some impressive personal highlights, but also for the team as a whole; their spirit and energy was evident throughout the matches, and there will be many exciting seasons ahead. We look forward to seeing Katie Dolman back on the Close as an Old Cliftonian and, in the near future, another first for Clifton - heading up the first all-female Old Cliftonian team!

Sarah Johnson & Lydia Hawkins

2nd XI

It was a top-class season for the 2nd XI. Due to the structure of the cricket this year, the 2nd XI were made up with our new U14s and a couple of senior pupils. From the start of the season they gelled superbly, and though their first two games resulted in a loss against Marlborough College and BGS (by only nine runs), they quickly learnt from their errors and didn’t look back. With strong allround performances from Emilia Puddicombe, Harri Taylor and Jemima Windows, who acted as the driving force, it was a full team effort in every match to achieve the results. Tara Madan showed grit and determination in the field and Matilda Mortimore picked up the gloves for the first time and showed she is a real talent behind the stumps. Polly Lloyd, Tilly Alkin, Meg Titcomb, Mitzeeé Taylor and Izzy Hambley performed brilliantly throughout the season. It was extremely exciting to see all players progress, and for some it was their first season of hard ball cricket. They were a super team to coach and I have no doubt that we will be seeing them play brilliantly on the Close again next year.

Charlie Graveney & James Evans

3rd XI

It has been a great season for the 3rd XI, with every single player improving week on week. The energy and positivity levels were always high, and the girls were a joy to coach. A special mention to Olivia Grewcock and Isabel Snowden, who have made great improvements to their all-round game and are the most enthusiastic players to have in a team. They never fail to make their teammates feel included and opposition teams feel welcomed. Kei Ki Chau captained the girls tremendously well, always offering words of encouragement and support. Kei Ki’s batting partnership with Franny Wu always got the team off to a strong, confident start and helped secure wins against Cheltenham College and Queen’s College. Throughout the season there were also some great individual performances, including Llywela Kenyon scoring high runs in every game, meaning she had to retire in each of them. Lucy Greene also impressed with her speed and accuracy when bowling. Well done all.

Chantelle Wopara

U15 Indoor Cricket

Winter training and tireless practices saw the development of a great group of players, many of whom were new to the indoor game.

Having knocked Redmaids’ High out of the preliminary round, next came the county round and the girls played what proved to be their most competitive match first: Pate’s Grammar School. Taylor Hodgson and Josie Wong opened the batting solidly, both retiring at 15 in the first few overs. The girls lost only one wicket in the innings with solid batting performances, scoring a total of 86. Pate’s started hitting more big-scoring shots and getting lots of singles, resulting in them needing 10 from the last over; tight bowling and slick fielding ensured the Clifton girls claimed a nail-biter of a win. Having learnt valuable lessons from the first game, the ensuing two matches against Castle School and Denmark Road were not as close. The girls played with great confidence and energy and Harriet Taylor and Jemima Smith were forced to retire. There was strong bowling from Taylor Hodgson, Matilda Mortimore and Harriet Taylor, accompanied by moments of genius like the great run out from Mitzeeé Taylor and instinctive catches by Tilly Alkin and Polly Lloyd.

The stakes were raised in the regional finals, but so too was the determination and skill level of the whole team. The girls were clinical throughout, and impressive with bat and ball. They did not drop a game out of the five matches played and there were strong performances from the many-matches-retired Bea Willis, Taylor Hodgson and Jemima Smith. There were also great spells of bowling from Jemima Windows (with a fourwicket over), Taylor Hodgson and Emilia Puddicombe; and ruthless wicket keeping by Josie Wong, with a superb catch off the back wall. Some superb fielding and bowling, coupled with intelligent running between the wickets by the squad as a whole showed absolute depth and class throughout; they just got better and better!

They batted, bowled and fielded their way to secure a place in ‘the home of cricket’, the majestic Lord’s! Nine hundred teams had taken part in the competition, with five qualifying for the final, so just getting to this point was a tremendous achievement. The girls settled their nerves by securing two wins against Repton and Ipswich. The St Helen and St Katharine game is where Taylor Hodgson claimed the catch of the tournament, diving and catching the ball three centimetres from the floor after her own delivery. However, it was not enough to secure the win. In fact, this was the first game the girls had lost throughout their whole journey to Lord’s. Sixes scored by Bea Willis, Josie Wong and Taylor Hodgson helped to claim victory over Ipswich. The scores were extremely tight throughout but the girls knew they needed to beat the eventual winners, Ashford. After a more tentative batting performance, the Clifton team stepped up in the field, Mitzeeé Taylor claiming an impressive catch. But alas, after initial hope, Ashford’s tailenders held their nerve. The girls finished in a three-way tie on points and, going on runs scored, we claimed third place, with only three runs determining the second and third position! Third in the country and another first for Clifton College. Well done to everyone involved in this momentous achievement.