CRICKET JC3 P6 W4 L2 We opened the season against a weak Cheltenham side. We won the toss and bowled first with Tom Johnston, Ed Newell, Oliver Friend and Giles Elmhirst. The first three overs saw them make three runs. We managed to keep them to 99 runs off 30 overs. We then did not bat to our full potential, but made the runs with ease. After a convincing win over Cheltenham, we hoped to continue our unbeaten run against Eton. The bowling attack was not as strong as the week before but we struggled onwards. Our weak bowling against such good batsmen meant they managed to make a lot of runs. Radley batting was not quite at the level we hoped but with Harry Christopherson keeping the team together we managed to make a few runs but still fell well short of the target. After a heavy defeat to Eton, JC3 were ready to get back on track: Wellington opted to bat which meant we could get them out quickly and be on the road home. After getting two early wickets, it was looking good for us: with Tom Johnston and Ed Newell bowling some good wickets and Ed Newell bowling the first maiden of the season. But they fought back and made a total of 122. We got off to a great start thanks to Will Morgan and James Innes Kerr, who ended up getting 46 before running himself out, the runs then flowed more slowly and they started to pick up wickets. Until it got to the point where five people got ducks. With Elmhirst and Johnston in for the final three overs, the runs were tight. However a nice swift leg side sweep from Elmhirst JC3 won the game with two wickets and an over left. Historically the match has been an easy ride for Radley teams but Bradfield threatened to turn the tables as they found themselves 29-0 from five overs. Ed Newall and Tom Johnston got the crucial wickets of the Bradfield openers. The new batsmen looked un confident and Ollie Friend and Julius de Watteville took advantage, with
Coaches: MCF Brown, GHS May Captain: GC Elmhirst, TPS Johnston
Friend picking up superb figures of three wickets for one run from three overs, and de Watteville doing a fine job at the other end with figures of 2-8 from three overs. With Radley doing well to get Bradfield to 55-4, they crumbled from there, with Tom Lennon and Fergus Wilson picking up wickets as well, as they fell to 61 all out. Radley had a steady start, but the loss of de Watteville and Wilson in the same over left us in a precarious position at 23-2 from seven overs, Despite these losses, Will Morgan steadied the ship and saw Radley home comfortably with an unbeaten 32 (39) to win by eight wickets. Last year Marlborough pushed us all the way so we were expecting another test of our ability. We were put in to bat, and quickly lost Jacob Tregear and Murdo Blythe who fell victim to the tricky bounce on the pitch. Harry Christopherson and Fergus Wilson started the rebuilding process and laid the foundations to push on with a partnership of 36, before Christopherson was caught on 13. After Wilson was out for 29 (28) we were stuttering at 84-4 from 17 overs. Rufus Darwall and Tom Johnston put on a quick 30, but then both got out. Darwall played well for his 32. Manny Berhanu scored a quick few runs before he was out. Artie Diamandis and Harry Fitzpatrick, both on debut, put on 25, helped a lot by extras (which finished on 32; our joint highest scorer) to get our total up to a respectable 144-8 from 25 overs. We had hit 59 off our last seven overs. Still, on a pitch that had lost its initial variation of bounce, and with Radley not being offered a new ball, 144 looked a gettable target for Marlborough. Captain Tom Johnston ripped through their top order with figures 5-10 from four overs, with Ed Newall bowling accurately at the other end and unlucky not to pick up a wicket. Wilson and Berhanu struck in consecutive overs to set them back further. Our spinners finished the job nicely, with Diamandis impressing with a double wicket maiden in his only over and George Seagrave picking up a wicket on debut as well. In the end,
Marlborough lost their last five wickets for two runs as they collapsed to 36 all out, handing Radley a comfortable victory by 108 runs. Last year Harrow was strong and we knew we were in for a tough match. It was hard when we lost Harry Christopherson early on. Archie Valentine and Ben Broughton, both on debut for JC3, consolidated for a while, before Valentine (10) top edged to square leg. Broughton and Fergus Wilson added some runs together, but when Broughton received a beauty from the Harrow seamer to be bowled for 15, we were left stuttering a bit at 54-3 from 12 overs. The tidy knocks laid the foundations for a fantastic partnership of 81 between Wilson and Murdo Blythe. Some powerful hitting from each of them pushed the run rate to over six an over. Blythe was eventually bowled for a superb 34 off 31 balls. Wilson added a few more runs with George Seagrave before he was finally out, nicking an inside edge through to the keeper to depart for a wonderful 57 off just 51 balls. The pressure was on George Seagrave to keep the runs flowing, and he did just that, timing the ball sweetly on his way to 12, before he was caught in the deep attempting to smash one in the last over. After a slow start, we had put on 152-7 from 25 overs. After a quick restart, our opening pair of Tom Johnston and Ed Newall (3-10) once again wreaked havoc in the opposition top order to reduce them to 24-5 from nine overs. With wickets from Valentine, Wilson and Artie Diamandis they were reduced to 54-8, but then they put up a fight. Harrow’s 9th wicket partnership consisted of 46 runs and suddenly they were in a position where they did potentially have a slender chance of winning, needing 52 from five overs. Tom Johnston came back on for his final over and finished them off in three balls, finishing with figures of 4-14. A good all round performance from JC3.
Tom Johnston, d, Giles Elmhirst, h
THE RADLEIAN SPORTS SUPPLEMENT
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