Cricket

1ST XI There was much promise for the first full season back since the pandemic, with the need for bubbling being relinquished making way for a new young side to show what they can produce. With Mr Briers leading the winter academy sessions throughout the autumn and spring terms, there was much excitement leading into pre season and the first match vs the Old Pauline club, coming out with a victory thanks to tight bowling from Darshy Pandey and Josh Brecker up front and some sensible batting from Anthony Hillman and Will Thomas to see St Paul’s home. This was nicely followed up by victory over Dulwich College, showcasing a very clinical performance and giving a glimpse of what can be achieved when the team executes their skills.

Narrow defeats to Berkhamsted, Cranleigh, Merchant Taylors and Trinity Croydon in the latter fixtures before the half term however showed that although there was much potential, maturity and perseverance still needed to be shown to prove the quality of the side. However, 83 and 57 respectively for Krish Patel and Nikhil Malik vs Cranleigh, along with consistent wickets from Hyder Butt, Arjun Rajkumar and Aaryan Patel showed the team were still able to compete against some very strong cricketing schools – just more time and experience was needed to capitalise on winning positions.

After a few weekends away to concentrate on exams, the team came back against RGS Guildford for one of the most sensational games of cricket many had the pleasure to witness. Batting first, St Paul’s amassed 381 off their 50 overs, with Anthony Hillman scoring 109* (his maiden 1st XI hundred) and Krish Patel scoring 194 off 125 balls. As far as records indicate, in a limited overs match, this is a school record for both the highest team and individual total during post war times. In response, RGS Guildford were bowled out for 158 with wickets shared all around, giving St Paul’s victory by 228 runs (a record once again). This was truly sensational

and showed the level of performance the team can produce when they execute their skills.

The regular season finished against Reed’s school in a tightly fought contest with several A Level students coming back from exams to finish the season. Chasing 202 for victory (with wickets for Hyder, Arjun and 4 for Nikhil), we had a difficult start losing Krish in the early overs. Some counter attacking play from Nikhil Malik (57) and a rear guard fight from Aaryan Patel (50) however brought us back into a winning position, with Rory Walter and Mani Collins bringing us home showing good temperament and patience at the death. With the annual festival and The Leys school and MCC matches to come, there is still time and opportunities for this team to show their potential and build upon many of the successes shown previously.

Overall, there are many successes to be drawn from this season. We came into the season knowing that with such a young side, time and patience would be needed to allow our players the chance to display their talents and push for success. Krish Patel (6th form) leading the way as captain and with the runs (in total), showcasing all the skill and experience he has gained from being with the Surrey academy and regularly setting the tone for the team in the field. Nikhil Malik (5th form) coming in as our regular opener and setting the tone both with bat and ball is an exciting prospect moving forward and the safe hands of Anthony Hillman (6th form) behind the stumps has allowed our bowlers the freedom to play with more confidence. Matthew Smith (U8) provided us with some much needed experience and patience in the middle order (notably including 33 of 92 balls vs Merchant Taylors, nearly bring us to victory) and William Thomas (L8) with some match winning knocks, notably 45* against the old Pauline Club. Rory Walter (6th form), although never not yet fulfilling the potential he’s shown with the bat, has been a reliable option with the ball when required and always putting 100% when out in the field. The spinning combination of Hyder Butt (U8) and Arjun Rajkumar (L8) provided stability in the bowling order, with high levels of pressure often proving fruitful with regular wickets (wickets respectively for the season) and showing what the importance of what bowling in combination can offer to a team. Leading the attack with Aaryan Patel and his leg spin proved successful on many occasions (wickets in total), with seam from Josh Brecker (L8), Jacob Leigh (L8), and Arav Patel (U8) providing the attacking option when the situation required. Contributions from Ned Bowman (6th form), Mani Collins (6th form), Freddie Katzenellenbogen (6th form), Thomas Jensen (U8), and George Livesey (U8) showed our depth as a school and potential available to us in years to come.

Special thanks needs to be given to Nigel Briers for his continued contributions to both the 1st XI and St Paul’s cricket as a whole, with his vast knowledge and experience helping drive our cricketers ➦

to be the best they can be, whilst setting the highest standards possible. Thanks must also be given to the many groundsmen, caterers, and site security officers for their continued support and endless hours put in behind the scenes to ensure the season could run as smoothly as it did. Thanks also needs to be given to the parents and supporters for their continued support, both on match days and everything done with the boys behind the scenes.

Finally, our thanks go to Alex Wilson for all the time and effort put in during the first two terms in organising many of the pivotal aspects for this season. Having been within the school for many years and running the 1st XI for the last six, the time, passion, and dedication needed to organise an entire cricket seasons fixtures, teams, coaches, transport, umpires, kit, balls, and catering (just to name a few) is no small task and ones that are pivotal to ensure a successful season can operate. Thank you for everything you have done for St Paul’s cricket Alex, both this year and previously and we wish you a very happy and relaxing retirement.

Exciting times for the years to come: thank you to all who made it possible. ❚ SXR

2ND XI What a season we had in the second XI, with some classic performances. With 3 wins and 5 loses some might say it has not been the most successful of seasons for the 2nd XI, but off the back of Coronavirus forcing us to perform cricket within years groups, the 2nd XI united across three year groups and developed an excellent team spirit. Close losses against Berkhamsted and Dulwich were not an ideal start to the season, but our performances showed plenty of promise and the prospect of future victories. As players found their rhythm and grew accustomed to the demand set by our opposition, great performances started to appear. Yusuf Kundgol was an excellent addition to the team, constantly threatening both edges. Rahul de Silva developed nicely, his ability to turn the ball round corners inspiring fear in the most confident batter. Euan Beattie’s 50 against RGS Guildford was a masterpiece that saw us over the line in a tight encounter (with the background of an animated scoreboard!). Ned’s bowling constantly improved, and his performance against RGS was a fierce display of pace.

One of our finest moments was squeezing a 1 run victory against Trinity. Under the pressure of some tight spinners, Freddie Katz was masterful and despite a belligerent knock of 70-odd from a Quins rugby player (hitting sixes reminiscent of Julius Turley in the U17As), we managed to hold our nerve and finish the job in memorable fashion.

A highlight of the season has to be Sam Monro-Davies’ classic 46, in which he rescued a sinking ship at 50-5 against Reeds, steering the team to a famous win – a metaphor which can be applied generally to Sam all season. The second half of the term was much more indicative of the raw talent and ability of our players. With so many Sixth Form and Lower Eighths in our team, the 2nd XI’s future looks promising. We finished the season strong with 3 wins in 4 games, ending the season with high spirits, as we look forward to Mr Taylor taking a spritely bowling attack to a spectacular season next year – here’s to an unbeaten 2023 & 2024! ❚ Thomas Jensen, Sam Monro-Davies and Mr Taylor

3RD XI The 3rd XI enjoyed a successful year, winning 5 games and suffering just the single loss, the best record of any St Paul’s team across the summer. A large range of players made appearances for the third XI, which was captained by Yusuf Kundgol, Vir Kapur, and Eddie Jones for 2 games each.

In the opening game of the season against Berkhamsted we batted first and quickly began to take the game away from them. Many of the team contributed, but it was Niko Dahl and Danyal Nanci who each scored quick 40s to put us in a commanding position. From there the team put together an outstanding performance with the ball and in the field, with Yusuf Kundgol taking 5 wickets, leaving us with a comfortable win in our first game of the season.

Our second game, at home to Dulwich, was played on the infamous Hammersmith ‘dustbowl’. Bowling first we took early wickets courtesy of the consistent George Livesey before soon turning to spin, with Yusuf once again claiming a 5-fer. This proved to be a poor decision on his part as he soon was moved up into the 2nd XI. After bowling them out for just 60, tea was taken with us cruising at 20-0, but things soon turned awry. A massive collapse saw us needing the final wicket to provide the final 10 runs, but cool heads and calm batting from the tail gave us back to back victories.

The third fixture of the season was home again, versus Cranleigh, and was our single loss of the season. In a 30 over game they racked up 160 with some impressive batting from their middle order, although we dragged the game back slightly with some impressive death bowling. Our response started positively but a middle order collapse led to our only defeat of the season.

Next up we played Merchant Taylor’s away, one of the most important fixtures of the season. Batting first Luke Magalhaes anchored the innings with a brilliant 76 which propelled us to an above par score. A team bowling effort put us in a great position with 5 overs left to go, and despite a few late blows from Merchant Taylor’s we brought home a narrow victory.

Following the half term we returned to face Hampton, and brought with us our best team performance of the season. After losing the toss and being told to bowl we were put under some early pressure, before Jamie Grimstone took 4 wickets in 9 balls to turn the tide of the innings. We too started well with the bat as Euan Beattie scored 30, and though wickets fell through the middle overs we kept the run rate above what was required for the entire innings, meaning that despite a few late wickets Varen was able to blast us across the line with 24 from just 10 deliveries.

Finally we rounded the season off with a fantastic batting display at Reeds, led by Henry Harrison. With short boundaries we got off to a flyer, before Henry came to the middle to smash 80 from just 50 balls, blasting us up to a massive 210 from 25 overs. Early wickets perhaps brought a fraction of complacency into our game, allowing Reeds to bring the required rate down to under 10 with 10 overs left to play, but we held our nerve as a team and were helped by an excellent spell from Rufus to end the season with another win.

We ended the season as the ‘winningest’ team of the season, as Mr Stewart enjoyed telling us often. ❚ Eddie Jones

U15A

U15 Middlesex County Cup Champions

Never has the term “a season of two halves” been more appropriate than for this U15A cricket team. We began the year by welcoming Berkhamsted on a windy Saturday in April and, despite admirable efforts with the bat from the tail, it was clear we were still a little rusty in all three departments as we lost comfortably to a strong side. One loss soon became two as the following week we fell agonisingly short in the run chase against Dulwich, a game we really should have won. Soon the losses began to pile up: a heavy defeat at the hands of Merchant Taylor’s (bear this in mind for later), two more narrow losses against Cranleigh, which saw a fantastic spell of bowling from Alexander Hogben, and Trinity, where Sebastian Jones scored a battling 50, and another bruising loss at the hands of Hampton (remember this one for later as well…).

Despite losing our first six games, there was still a glimmer of hope in the dressing room. This was the knowledge of something bigger and better than just Saturday friendlies: the Middlesex County Cup – the crème de la crème of U15 cricket. After a couple of bye rounds, we found ourselves in a quarter final against Latymer Grammar at home on the 1st XI pitch, where a captain’s knock of 61 not out from Sai Bhatia steered us from trouble to 147 from our 20 overs. Despite a wobbly start with the ball, we got the job done and secured our first win as we marched into our semi-final tie away at Merchant Taylor’s. After being put into bat and with the wounds still fresh from the defeat on the same square a few weeks prior, Nikhil Malik anchored the innings with a superb 86 not out as we posted 147. A fantastic all round team bowling and fielding performance then followed. Aneesh Chaudhary was metronomic with the new ball and Nicholas Weeks and Sameer Shukla were equally impressive as we proceeded to restrict the opposition to just 113 in their 20 overs, giving us a stunning victory and one that set up a cup final against Hampton.

Before the final however, we faced a strong Reed’s side in our final Saturday game of the season. The bowling was led by Weeks who took 3-8 off 5 overs and this was backed up by an excellent team fielding performance as we bowled them out for 145. The chase was anchored by Rishi Shukla’s 69 not out as we cruised to an 8 wicket win. For the first time in the season, we had found some momentum and we had a further boost when we discovered the cup final would be at home on the 1st XI pitch. We sensed an opportunity to erase the hurt of the earlier defeats by clinching silverware. With no powerplays and big boundaries it was always going to be a low scorer. Malik and Sam Francombe (from the U14s) dug in and ground out a somewhat solid start. However, both openers fell in quick succession to leave us in a bit of a hole. R. Shukla, Jones and Amar Ali (also from the U14s) all hit priceless 20s, as we limped to 117 in our 20 overs. As the team ventured out with a rapidly increasing crowd with lessons finished for the day, the task of defending seemed mammoth. Switched-on S. Shukla starred with the new ball as we squeezed them early on. Weeks found movement, Malik found turn and Amaan Mathur and Chaudhary found pace. With the whole year and half the common room watching, including the High Master, and Dr Langley’s nerves shredded on the boundary, S. Shukla closed it out in style. This was followed by a pitch invasion which showed just how much this win means to our school. The cup final win was followed by a win at Tiffin the following day, securing our fourth win in a row –a great way to end the term. Thank you to Dr Langley and Mr Slaney for coaching us this season. ❚ Sai Singh Bhatia

U15B The U15B team improved significantly throughout the season, ending with a respectable record of 5 wins, 3 losses and a tie from our 9 matches. We started against Berkhamsted and made a brilliant start with the ball, with Mikael Khan taking 3-19 from his 5 overs, before some wayward bowling meant we were set 139 for victory. Aditya Coondapoor and Mayur Apte put on 78 for the first wicket but when their wickets fell in quick succession, it instigated a flurry of soft dismissals that would cost us the game.

We turned in another impressive bowling performance against Dulwich, and restricted them to 105. However, we soon found ourselves 22/4 after a cluster of top order wickets, and required a quickfire 25 from Alex Pelling and some last wicket heroics from Noah Horne and Billy Grimstone to escape with a tie.

We then had our first away fixture: against Cranleigh. Batting first, regular wickets prevented us from accelerating, but we still made 126/6 after 25 overs. Unfortunately, our bowling and fielding display was sloppy, resulting in a deserved six wicket defeat.

After a tough team talk from Mr Harris in midweek, we were better in the field against Merchant Taylor’s, reducing them to 61/6 thanks to a fantastic spell of 3/9 from Khan, before being set 136 to win. Our batting unit finally came together, with Coondapoor anchoring the innings from the top of the order, leaving Chiran Perera and Daniel Taylor to finish with a flourish and claim our first win of the season.

We continued this momentum into a T20 against Trinity’s with some good bowling by the spinners and an excellent fielding display that included 3 run outs and a fantastic diving catch by Khan, restricting Trinity to 131/7. A 10 ball 18 from Pelling set the stage for a match winning partnership between Kanishk Srivastava (40) and Perera (40*).

After half-term, we faced Hampton, widely known to be the best U15B side on the circuit, with a formidable record of 18 wins from their last 19 games. Batting first, we stuttered against their skillful opening bowlers, before throwing away our wickets to their loopy off spinner. Thankfully, Aarush came to the rescue at no.8, with a fluent 26 that helped us to 105 all out. Without Perera and Khan, we knew that defending such a low score would be a tough task but Srivastava took the new ball with his leg spin and soon had 3 crucial top order wickets for just 5 runs between them. However, their number 3 batsmen remained, steadily accumulating runs while Armaan Malhotra took regular wickets and Ranjan backed up his batting with a remarkably economical spell. With the pressure rising, Horne trapped the dangerous number 3 lbw for 30, leaving just their tail to score the remaining 44 runs. From there, we held our nerve, bowling Hampton out for 83, claiming a memorable victory against one of the most reputable cricket schools in London.

Unfortunately, an Ancient History trip and some vacancies in the As depleted us of half of our first choice team and most of our batsmen against RGS Guildford. Despite a battling 22 from Shiven Sahoo, we were bowled out for just 78 and suffered a comprehensive eight wicket defeat.

We were back to full strength against Reed’s, but struggled batting first on a difficult Hammersmith wicket, and were bowled out for 107. Despite some accurate bowling, the Reed’s top order held firm, and they reached 63-1. With the game slipping, stand-in-captain Aidan Malhotra rallied the troops, brought himself on and broke the partnership with a crucial wicket. We then pounced on the opening, Perera claiming 2 wickets in an over and Armaan Malhotra taking a game-changing hat trick, and we bowled them out for 99, claiming a second comeback victory of the season, sparking jubilous celebrations across Big-side.

We finished the season with a T20 against Tiffin, making 161/3 batting first on a sticky wicket, Coondapoor setting the foundation with 46 before Perera made hay with an excellent 59*, and Tom Abrahams finished well. Armaan Malhotra bowled an excellent spell of 1/10 of 5 overs, Apte took a stunning catch behind the wicket, and we emerged comfortable winners by 26 runs.

Amongst the bowlers, Armaan Malhotra finished as the leading wicket taker with 12 (average of 11.8), his spin twin Khan took 9 wickets, Horne found movement with the new ball, and Ranjan went from an expensive wicket taker in April to an economic and reliable bowler by July. With the bat, opener Coondapoor made 131 runs and provided solid platforms, Pelling had an incredible strike rate of 136 and Abrahams played positively in the middle order. However, the player of the season was Perera, who made 165 runs at 41.3 and took 9 wickets at

12.6. The presence of an all-rounder who could bat at 4 and take the new ball was vital, and only a freak wrist injury prevented him from getting a deserved debut for the A team.

Special thanks must go to Aidan Malhotra, who was a trusty vice-captain and filled in excellently for Coondapoor against Reeds and Guildford, and Mr Harris for converting us from a talented but raw group of players to the far more balanced and accomplished outfit that won 5 out of our last 6 games. ❚ Aditya Coondapoor U15C Courage. Capability. Cooperation. These three words accurately summarise the U15C team for cricket in 2022, even if the results did not all go our way. We finished the season with three wins and five losses, which is brilliant considering we fielded a staggering 30 players throughout the season.

To open our season, we had a home fixture against Berkhamsted. Despite some heroic batting from Henry Smith (0* from 17) and Rohan George (25* from 36), our bowling attack was simply not up to scratch, and after giving 30 runs in extras, we succumbed to an 8 wicket loss. We then went out onto the tiniest pitch St Paul’s School has to offer, and our batting line-up truly took advantage. 60s were hit by Tom Abrahams and Rohan, while Tom Monro steadied us with a solid 40. Arvin Sahota returned with figures of 4-3 from three overs before he had to quickly dash to a wedding (not his). The mighty Cs cruised to an 88 run win.

Unfortunately, our top order decided to collapse in our first away game at Cranleigh and we were left 0-2 after the first over. Nevertheless, Rohan decided to build an innings, with a score of 51 and a partnership of 90 with Lucas Nahal, with the two of them leading the team to a total of 139. Unfortunately, they had a very large golf player, and ➦

combined with some woeful fielding, we lost by six wickets in the last over. We then suffered an unfortunate drubbing by Merchant Taylor’s, losing by six wickets after we faltered to 57. Likewise, in our first week back after exams, Hampton away would always prove tough, and after an initially positive start, we ended up losing by 148 runs. The next week, after three stalwarts of the C team got moved up to the Bs, it was always going to be tough, but with 6 non-cricket imports coming in, we fought hard and brought the game to the last couple of overs before losing by six wickets.

For our last home match against Reeds, we pulled off an immense bowling performance to limit them to a mere 119 runs from 30 overs, before the inevitable top order collapse took place. It was up to number 10, Jamie Gill to steer the ship home, which he did successfully. For our final match, away at Tiffin, it was going to be a tough one as half the team was missing. Nevertheless, sub-captain Arvin Sahota led us to a thrilling final ball win, with débutante Raph G-D getting the last wicket with a run out. While this team may not have had the most success on the pitch, we have brought people from many other sports in, tried our hardest and, most of all, had fun. Special thanks to Mr Wishart, Mr Elway and Mr Harrison, who had to deal with us in training. ❚ U14A Our season started off well with a win at Berkhamsted, after a shaky batting start, Sam Francombe stepped up and scored a crucial 100 to take us to a competitive total against a decent Berkhamsted team. Then with some excellent bowling, especially by Tom Ritchie and some inventive keeping by Shrivishnu Datla, we managed to contain Berkhamsted to a low score on a good wicket and kick start our season off with a good win away.

Then we beat Isleworth and Syon school comfortably in the first round of the Middlesex Cup and again beat Dulwich by 10 wickets with two fifties from the openers Sam and Amar Ali. Then came our biggest test so far against Cranleigh, in which our usually quite reliable top order struggled, and we laboured to a score of around 110. So, we knew we had a big job on our hands to defend this low total against a strong Cranleigh batting line-up, but up stepped our bowlers to bowl magnificently and bowl Cranleigh out for a modest score under 100.

Next, we travelled away to Hampton for the Middlesex County Cup second round, where we batted first against a very strong Hampton side. We started well with only one wicket falling in the first 10 overs. It was an unusually slow start for us, but then Vishnu and Sam picked up the pace, taking a particular liking to Hampton’s key bowler, and taking us to an above par score which gave Hampton a sizeable chase. Our bowling started well, keeping Hampton to a low run rate but few wickets fell so we knew we needed a strong few middle overs and that was what we did, taking a few quick wickets with special mention to Freddie Hammond Giles with an excellent run out to get rid of their key batsman. We kept the late overs tight and took home a good victory by 12 runs.

Next came our biggest challenge of the season against an extremely strong Merchant Taylor’s team, we bowled first and restricted them to a low total with some excellent bowling and fielding all round. The total was just below par, but the pitch was not the best for batting as we found out in our innings as our top and middle order failed, so we had to rely on our lower order which took us close to Merchant Taylor’s total but not close enough and we took our first loss of the season. Next came a comfortable victory against Trinity School with our opening bowlers, Fergus De Mestre and Saahil Gani, bowling extremely tight lines and putting the Trinity Batsmen under immense pressure. We then chased their total down with room to spare and moved onto our County Cup Semi Final. This was against Highgate in which we took a very comfortable a decent batting performance and an excellent bowling performance to bowl them out for very few runs.

Then, we played Hampton for the second time, this time around taking a more comfortable victory with an excellent bowling performance and a calculated chase. Then we played RGS Guildford, in which we took another comfortable win. Next came our County Cup Final against Merchant Taylors’, in which a poor fielding display allowed one of their Batsman score 150 and take them to a very competitive score. In our chase, we lost a few early wickets which meant we were constantly chasing the game and, unfortunately, we lost narrowly. Next, we had our last Saturday fixture against Reed’s School: we batted first on a bowling pitch, with an extremely fast outfield, and set a competitive total with yet another magnificent hundred from Sam Francombe and a good cameo at the back end of the innings by Dev Patel. In our defence of the total, we bowled tight and got rid of a blossoming partnership by the Reed’s middle order to take home another victory.

Then came our last game of the season against Tiffin and we took home another comfortable victory to round off an excellent season in which there were many standout performances but some great team performances as well. ❚ Daniel Jansen

U14C The U14Cs had a slightly unsuccessful season, but one nevertheless filled with many memorable moments. While we may not have many results to show for our work, we can pride ourselves on the fact that we never gave up – even when it seemed that we were going to lose matches, we managed to make them close encounters, with many outstanding individual performances.

We began our season with early success against Berkhamsted, restricting them to under 100 runs with tight bowling. After this, a solid performance from our batting unit steered us to our first win of the season in our opening game.

Our season continued with a tough series of encounters against Cranleigh, Merchant Taylors’ and Hampton – all of them formidable sides. Against Cranleigh, we put up a defendable total, after contributions from Luca Tresigne and Francesco Verri. And while it seemed that their batsmen would chase down the target easily, our bowlers managed to stretch the game into the final overs –taking 6 wickets and making the loss narrow. Our next encounters against Merchant Taylors’ and Hampton were our closest matches of the season. Substantial scores in both games – including a fifty from Vyom Chamaria, and two quick-fire innings by Luca Tresigne – brought us to exhilarating last over finishes. We took the game to the last ball against Merchant Taylors’ losing by only 4 runs, and almost chased a seemingly impossible 75 off 5 overs against Hampton. It was made clear to us that we needed to improve our fielding, as we would have won both matches if not for costly errors in the field. These two games, especially the latter, were remarkable as we were determined to win even in the most unlikely scenarios.

In our following encounter with RGS, we were bowled out for a paltry total of 98 and the odds were stacked against us. We did not let the game slip from our grasp though, as good spells of bowling from Hari Dattani, Rohan Pillai, and Neel Narayanan meant we had a chance for the majority of the contest. Next, against West London Free School – one of our last games of the season – we were determined to pick up a win after a string of losses. Most of our bowlers picked up at least one wicket, resulting in us bowling them out for a small total of 66. Our top three batters then ensured that the chase was dealt with ease, leading us to a victory in which all members of the team contributed.

While the season of the U14Cs may not have been as successful as we had hoped, there are many positives to take from it into the future: the most important is our ability to never give up in difficult situations. We would like to thank our coaches Mr Jones and Dr McDonnell; this season would not have been possible without them. Furthermore, we would also like to thank James Shi, Wenjia Huang and especially Max Wiseman, who stepped in for us when we were short of players. ❚ Neel Narayanan and Rohan Pillai