Cricket

Girls’ Cricket

For the girls, the U15 and U13 age group sides also experienced great success in the Surrey County cup competitions. Highlights included the U15 hardball cup side reaching the semi-finals with the 15Bs reaching the quarter finals of their respective softball competition. U13s were competing across both the hard and softball competitions with the hardball side reaching the semi-finals and the softball side at the time of writing hoping to defeat Guildford High School in the final.

In addition to the cup successes of the U15 and U13 age groups, girls’ cricket continues to go from strength to strength with more wins achieved than previous seasons. Interest in the sport continues to thrive and this season saw an increase in the number of senior U17 fixtures enter the girls’ schedule. Highlights included exciting wins against Ibstock and Reeds School.

At U14 the girls enjoyed success against Dunottar, Ibstock and Kingston, with the B-team also competing in a number of fixtures.The U13 age group, like the boys, showed real enthusiasm and progress over the summer with a number of girls representing boys sides.

In the U12 age group, students took part in fixtures from A-D sides in a mix of hard and softball fixtures, with highlights including victories in whole age group blocks with Kingston Grammar and Alleyn’s.

All the students should be commended for their attitude and effort throughout the season at what is an extremely exciting time for Emanuel cricket.

Girls’ U15 Report

The Girls’ U15s had the season that they greatly deserved after the disruption of the pandemic. After two seasons of cancelled fixtures, lockdowns, and team-building through a screen, the girls were ecstatic to be back in a live sporting environment. Overall, the team won six out of ten matches played, including a friendly against our very own boys’ U15B team. Some highlights included wins against sporting renowned schools, Epsom College and St John’s Leatherhead, as well as the team’s success in the Surrey Girls Hardball Cup, advancing through three rounds to reach the semi-final. Despite losing out in the semis, the team did incredibly well throughout the tournament, showing constant support and great competitiveness. Throughout the season, the girls not only showed their love for the sport, but also demonstrated their own abilities. Girl’s Cricket at the school is clearly on the rise, with many of our team playing at club level such as Spencer CC and a select few representing our boys’ teams and county level. The girls showed great enthusiasm. It was not uncommon to see many with their bodies on the line to protect that extra boundary or even a quick single.Whilst many to begin with were hesitant to move into hardball cricket, the girls were quick to embrace the game. With a successful season behind us, the team look forward to playing together next year as a 1st XI squad.

Meg (10RET)

Boys’ 1st XI Season Review, 2021

We were expecting the season to be a tough one as we were beginning with just two senior players, Elliot and myself, thanks to Covid cancelling the season before. Having said that, we did show a promising performance in our first unofficial game against the leavers’ team.

The team showed great passion and grit, and that coupled with a hat-trick from Ben led to our first victory and an encouraging start to the season. This was followed by a very close game against Tiffin where Luke showed his talent with a half century. We couldn’t quite convert to a win, however, due to weak dismissals.

Another close game followed against Ibstock with another partnership from Luke and myself. This was more disappointing, however, as Ibstock is historically a winnable fixture. Even though there were notable wins in the season, like London Oratory and Kingston, the theme of the season was very much growth of the team and developing a good squad for future seasons as opposed to winning every game (as much as that would have been nice).

Showing this growth, we put out some great performances against tough opponents with a close game against Dulwich and a great attempt to beat Hampton in the cup, with Ethan taking 3 for 7 in 4 overs. To our disappointment, this game was abandoned due to rain, but it was still a great effort from the whole team.

The MCC game as always was a lesson learnt and a game played in great spirits. We were delighted to get the young talent Lars involved who won the Spirit of Cricket Award as well. The season ended with a memorable game against Alleyn’s. It was a close game with some great fighting spirit and batting talent from Mathew but he sadly ran out of partners and we could not get across the line. We learned a lot from this season and definitely grew closer as a team. Despite the disappointing results in many cases there were many performances I was proud of. I know they will go onto build on the things we could have done better and become a great team in the coming seasons.

Boys’ Cricket

This was another highly successful cricket season with students representing the school in over 150 fixtures across 32 sides ranging from U11 through to the senior first and second XIs.All students should be congratulated on the progress shown over the term.

In the U15, U14, U13 and U12 age groups, Emanuel A-team sides successfully progressed through to the latter stages of their respective London Schools T20 competitions.The U14s were semi-finalists, and the U15s and U12s finished as runners-up in close finals against Colfe’s and Dulwich College, respectively.The standout performance came from the U13s, who went one step further to claim a brilliant final victory against a strong UCS side.

In addition to the Under 15A cup run, the 15s had good wins against Oratory and UCS with the B-team also successful against London Oratory. Great work came from Captain Lars (10CMB), who made his first XI performance later in the season against the MCC.

In the Under 14-year group had good wins against Ernest Bevin, Kingston and Ibstock. Captain Felix (9PAK) led throughout and was supported by Pranay (9PAK), who scored his maiden 50. Archie (9VCO) and Sid (9FRL) also impressed with the ball. In addition, the 14Bs experienced great wins against Worth, Westminster and Alleyn’s.

The U13 year group were arguably the most successful of the school programme with the 13A winning 9 out of their 10 games. They were led by Kit (8AFH), who captained and batted brilliantly throughout the season, supported by strong squad contributions from the likes of Daisy (8EB) and Fred (8AEM) with the ball. We also enjoyed 6 wins from 10 for the B-team, and some spirited performances from C and D sides.

At U12s the enthusiasm for the game continues to grow with A-E sides representing the school in competitive fixtures.Winning 4 and an exciting tie in the first game of the season showed the potential in the A-team. The 12B fixture against Kingston was arguably one of the most exciting in the calendar, Emanuel coming out eventual winners by just one run! The C and D teams also claimed two victories each within their respective schedules.

The U11s began their cricketing journey at Emanuel with several mixed fixtures against local schools, with key performances against Broomwood Hall, Eaton House and Ibstock. There are definitely players to watch here.