1st XI Cricket
SPORT AND GAMES
1st XI Cricket Mr V Wells, Head of Cricket
H
aving lost a number of key Upper Sixth players from last year’s XI, the start of the 2018 season was going to be interesting to see how this young side would cope. The winter training programme went well, with the February tour to Cape Town being the focal point. On paper, the 1st XI had a strong bowling attack with pace bowlers Tom Aiken and Matt Webb remaining, plus leg spinner Rishi RoyMukherjee being the main bowlers. The big question was going to be in the run scoring department and whether a young batting order was able to back up Rishi Roy-Mukherjee again, following his successful 2017 season. The tour to South Africa was a great success. Despite having a mixed group of ability and age groups, it was good to get some cricket outdoors, and enjoy the sunshine. As always, the opposition was strong, but it was a good test to prepare the boys for the season ahead. The team was capable of having a decent summer, but they needed to continue to work hard and remain focused throughout the season. In full credit to this group of boys, they were a dedicated bunch and despite the mix of year groups, they very quickly became a team and enjoyed each other’s company. Much of this credit must go to the Upper Sixth boys and in particular the captain Mikey Law. The first game of the season resulted in a fine 76-run victory against The Forty Club. Batting first, SVS scored 225-7 in their 35 overs with last year’s top run scorer Rishi Roy-Mukherjee
Page 162 - The Suttonian 2018
Record: Played 16, Won 5, Tied 1, Lost 9
scoring a fine 97 and being well supported by Fifth Former Jack Stanton-Gleaves, scoring 62 not out. In reply, the Forty Club were soon behind the rate, eventually finishing on 149-8. This was an important start and set the team up nicely for the rest of the season. Our second fixture was against Reigate Grammar. School. This was the first league match, with Sevenoaks School, The Judd, Eltham College, Reigate and now The King’s School, Canterbury involved. Batting first, SVS posted 138 in our 30 overs, which was well below par. In reply, Reigate got off to a decent start. However, at 80-3 things changed. A brilliant run out and some fine bowling put the Reigate batters under pressure and eventually they were dismissed for 122, with Matt Webb 3-21 and Tom Saltmarsh 2-11 the pick of the bowlers. The following week we travelled to play our second league match at Sevenoaks School. With all the other age group fixtures cancelled due to rain, the 1st XI match was just about playable. With more rain predicted, it was agreed that we would play a Twenty20 game to try to get a result. Some fine bowling and fielding by the boys resulted in Sevenoaks scoring 83-7 with Fifth Former Max Savage taking 3-11. This was not going to be an easy target on a bowlerfriendly pitch and a slow outfield. However, a fine 52 not out from Rishi meant that we reached our target for the loss of just three wickets and an over to spare. Unfortunately, our next three games against the MCC, Worth School and the Old Suttonians were cancelled due to the rain. It