Sports Report – Cloister Time 2023, Week 4

Tuesday 9th May 2023

Cricket: U17A’s v Ryde School with Upper Chine Boys (h).

The weather had not been kind to us with over an inch of rain falling over the previous weekend, but once again Dave and his team had done a great job in managing to keep the square dry which gave us a chance to "dodge" the showers and hopefully complete the game.

We won the toss and sensibly elected to field. We were economical, bowling decent tight lines in the main and although the Ryde openers put on 26 for the first wicket it was at less than 3 an over. Once we made the initial breakthrough through Ethan, we took regular wickets and the run rate never went above 3. Alex again very miserly with his 5 overs only costing 7 runs, Seb 1-10 from his 5 with a couple of quite quick deliveries on a slow pitch! Both Ethan and Charlie bowled well and picked up 2-14 and 3-17 respectively which meant we were chasing 72 for victory from a maximum of 25 overs.

Thankfully we managed to go past the target in the 11th over, just before it rained! Seb was pretty "brutal" with anything slightly over pitched or short and made 51* from 38 balls. Won by 9 wickets. 75 for 1 against 72 for 7. (PNG)

Golf U16A’s v Charterhouse (a). Lost 3-0.

Orca Chuen-Im (F) and Seb Kingsbury (A) - LOST 2-1

Pran Busrapan (D) and Adwit Sharma (I) - LOST 3-2

Yash Sahwney (I) and Kylian Mariani (E) - LOST 5-2

Wednesday 10th May 2023: Cricket v King Edward VI, Southampton (a)

We lost the toss and unsurprisingly with the wicket a little wet we were put into bat. Wilf and Seb played well, making full use of anything that was either over pitched or short and a 57 run opening partnership set us on our way. Seb was first out for 21, Wilf made 44 from 29 balls including two 6's, but all the batters that followed played with good intent and ran well. Charlie 22 from 20, Dom 24 from 15, Chris 14 from 15 all made useful contributions with George and Ethan scoring 12 from 7, Ethan 10 from 7 both not out at the end and we posted a very useful 157-6 from our 20 overs.

King Edward’s found it tough going, especially against our spinners. Callum took 2-3 from 3 overs, Ethan 1-4 from 3 and a great run out where Henry chased the ball and threw in over the top dismissing King Edward’s best player without scoring meant the run rate required soon went over 10. Dom, Charlie, Chris, Zain and Aaron all took a wicket each and King Edwards were dismissed for 45. Won by 112 runs. 157 for 6 against 45 ao. (PNG)

Thursday 11th May 2023

Chess: National Schools Repechage (a) Eton College

Won quarter-final 6-0

Won Semi-final 5-1

Lost Final 2.5-3.5

Cricket

1st XI v Hampshire Cricket College (h).

To conclude the midweek series of games, Lords hosted Hampshire Cricket College in a late afternoon T20 with those not able to join us on Lords able to follow the game via the live stream, which is back up and running. This enabled more people to see Charlie Whitfield and Dom Hall (52) put on 130 for the opening stand before Charlie and Ethan Baker added 51 between themselves to take the score to 181-1. Charlie carried his bat and finished 98*.

Three wickets in the powerplay from Whillock, Morgan and Whitfield steered the game in our favour before Whitehead (3-9) and Hall (2-10) concluded proceedings as HCC were bowled out for 84 in the last over. It was great to see so many players contributing across these two Lords’ T20s as they prepare for their National T20 QF before Leave Out. Won by 97 runs. 181 for 1 against 84 ao. (JMB)

Jun Colts A v Hounsdown School (h), Hampshire Schools Cup

Having looked at the pitch beforehand it was no surprise when James (D) lost the toss we were put in to bat on a typically low and slow Meads wicket. James and Isaac (B) opened the batting and after a fruitful first over yielding 17 runs an excellent second over from their other opening bowler meant that Isaac and Arthur (B) were both dismissed for nought. However Stanley (K) and James went about rebuilding our innings, 45 runs added in just a few overs. This was a partnership built via hard running and various strong shots resulting in boundaries. Stanley was then dismissed bringing Archie (I) to the crease. But a few overs later he was run out in the most unlucky fashion: James nailed a drive straight back at the bowler which then deflected off him onto the stumps as Archie was doing a good job backing up. From there James began to push reaching his second half-century this season before falling caught on 64. Though wickets fell regularly around him, we somewhat strolled to the end of our innings finishing on 135-9.

A quick turnaround and we were back out to bowl. James took the first over and we struck instantly: the batter edged one to Stanley at slip who, despite it not carrying, threw down the stumps with the batter well out of his ground. He then took the second over castling their other opener with the ball creeping under his bat. An immediate bowling change bought Archie into the attack, which proved to be a stroke of genius as he took a double wicket maiden. More wickets tumbled to Archie and Arthur who took one with his first ball. Their top five batters were all ducked to leave them 12-6, most of the runs coming from extras. Due to this start we were able to utilise 10 out the 11 bowlers available namely Freddie (I), Aryaveer (K), Hugo (I), Isaac (I) Seb (A) and Rory (H). They fought back somewhat but tight bowling from all left them continually behind the rate, with it creeping up all the time. All in all, a strong, convincing win which means we progress the semi-finals of the county cup. Won by 58 runs. 135 for 9 against 77 for 8. (Stanley Askew, K)

Sailing: U18’s v Sherborne School (h) Won

Arriving at Spinnaker, we despaired of the wind, seeing a flat calm. The club told us there had been wind ten minutes ago, so we held some hope that we were in a brief lull. Fortunately, just as Sherborne arrived, the wind filled in to give an excellent breeze for sailing. We shared the lake with a Bryanston v Milton Abbey match and the club provided an excellent set up for the shared course, allowing us to get through five races in under an hour. There was some close racing, and the outcome was in the balance until the final race, which Winchester managed to clinch, to give a final result of 3-2 to Winchester. We took 8 sailors and the somewhat brutal approach of swapping the reserve crew into the slowest boat each time. That way everyone got at least half the time on the water and we had the opportunity for younger members of the team to shine. (JAAB)

Tennis v Wellington College

The 1st VI adapted well to Littleton's hard courts and completed a comfortable 9-0 victory over Wellington. A dash of jeopardy was added by Lee and Van Every falling 4-1 down in their final match, threatening a first loss since Vth Book. Having pulled it back to 4-4, they then contrived to drop serve again before finding some of their best tennis to clinch the set 7-5 and confirm the 9-0 whitewash. The 2nds played out a tighter affair. The opposition's first pair were somewhat lacking in the Corinthian spirit, so Moghadam and Buccellati's narrow win to seal the fixture 6-3 was particularly pleasing. (RJHM)

The U15A’s gave a tremendous performance against an impressive Wellington side. The Winchester first pair scored an astonishing 6-0 against all three Wellington pairs, with the team winning 6-3 overall. The U15Bs had a tougher match on their hands against a very strong Wellington team. In the end they lost 3-6 but each of the Winchester pairs managed to score a win. The U15Cs had a very enjoyable time on Warden’s Lawn. Games were fast-paced and saw some very good skill demonstrated. Only Wellington’s first pair remained undefeated, so the afternoon concluded with the pleasing score of 6-3.

U14A’s (a) Lost 2 – 7. U14B’s (a) Lost 3 – 6.

The Winchester College Tennis Club demonstrated its impressive strength in depth with some pleasing U14C and U14D results against Wellington College. The C1 pair of Kirin Ranpura and Quincy Wong won all three of their matches as the C team won 7-2. The D1 pair of Prince Gbedawo and Colin Kirk was completely dominant, dropping only one game as they won all three of their matches. This set the tone for a strong 8-1 victory overall. The moment of the afternoon though was the C3 pair of Xander Sharrocks and Deniz Mucen winning their final match on a sudden death, winner takes all, final point. They duly won, to win all three of their matches by some very close scorelines. (LJR)

Saturday 13th May 2023

Athletics: Canford meet v Canford, Sherborne, Clayesmore, Bryanston

A full team in all three age groups made the journey across to Canford on the warmest fixture afternoon of the term. Victories in the sprint hurdles for Gus Bowden (SB), August Deeming (IB) and Felix Coleman (JB) set the tone for the afternoon. There were other first places for Kaito Kawada-Williams in the senior 200m and 400m, Jack Pascoe in the senior 800m, Harry Draper Barr in the senior shot, Issa Duggan in the Inter Boys 800m, Jeffrey Chan in the Inter Boys long and triple jump, Jad Garlick in the inter boys shot, Ferran Maithya-Garcia in the Junior boys long and triple jump, Edwards Fangzhou in the junior boys discus, Gio Santagati in the junior boys 800m and a first lace finish for the junior boys sprint relay team. With multiple 2nd and 3rd place finishes too it was very pleasing to see a 1st place finish for the Junior and Senior Team, a 2nd place for the Inter Team and a comprehensive overall victory in the Boys team competition. (MSB)

Athletics: Hampshire AA County Champs (Sat & Sun)

Gus Bowden and Ivor Martin competed at the Hampshire County AA Championships in Portsmouth on Sunday. Gus took joint 1st place in the U20 boys high jump with a new pb and also took a bronze medal in the 400m Hurdles. Ivor claimed the silver in the U15 boys 1500m with a new pb too.

Cricket v Marlborough College

The 1st XI encounter was a really good game, played by two good sides and in the right spirit, which we managed to win by 4 wickets with 4 overs to spare.

We lost the toss and were in the field first. Both Seb and Alex started their spells impressively, regularly beating the edge of the bat and it was exciting cricket to watch. Wilf set some good, attacking fields and we were rewarded with two early wickets; Seb forcing their opener into a mistimed pull shot and Alex had the other opener well caught by Henry at first slip. Once we changed the bowling, the spinners bowled well and economically, Will picking up two wickets and Charlie another just before lunch. At the stoppage, Marlborough were 83-5 off 29.2 overs, a good morning's work!

Marlborough began to increase the scoring rate, as often happens after the lunchbreak, scoring at nearly 6 an over for the first 6 overs. The Marlborough number 4 played a well organised and structured innings and it was very important that Ethan secured his wicket, caught and bowled for 71. Dom's wicket of the number 9 was also important as he had made 28 from 30 balls including 2 x 6's. We eventually bowled Marlborough out for 178 off 49 of their 50 overs.

This was potentially going to be an awkward run chase as the wicket (unbelievably very dry!) was not straightforward if the bowling was disciplined. We lost Wilf early LBW to Marlborough's best bowler, but Henry and Charlie scored freely and at 56-1 in the 12th, batting looked comfortable. However Charlie was then dismissed. Seb and Henry put on 27 and once again at 83-2 in the 19th over we were very much in the ascendancy. Unfortunately we then had a mid innings wobble and were soon 95-5. However both Chris and Ethan then played extremely well, playing with their “heads"; excellent rotation of the strike and good running being the key, mixed with good stroke play too. It was the same when Chris was out with 6 needed as he deserved to carry his bat, having made a polished 39. Ethan did so, finishing on 32 and we won with 4 overs remaining. Won by 4 wickets. 179 for 6 against 178 ao. (PNG)

2nd XI (a) Won by 26 runs. 182 for 9 against 156 ao.

The 3s rocked up to Doggers on a sunny day and elected to bat first. We struggled initially losing early wickets but thanks to an anchoring 24 (52) from Fisher (B), a swashbuckling 50 from 30 from Harker (I), and some wagging from the tail we posted 145/9 from our 30.

Brooke (A) and East (C) took early wickets, along with McCreery (A) to leave Marlborough 36/6! However, a bit too much confidence led to a large partnership from numbers 7 and 9 which brought them within 50 with 10 overs to go. To the fore stepped up Harry Pressland (I) who took a breath-taking 5-13 from 4, making batsman pay by sending their off-stump cartwheeling to third man. One key moment came from Rudra Patel (I) who took an unbelievable catch at point off Pressland to seal the game, as the 3rds smiled victorious under the beating sun on Doggers. Won by 37 runs. 145 for 9 against 108 ao. (Gus Brooke, A, Capt)

4th XI (h) Lost by 1 run. 110 for 6 against 111 for 6.

Sen Colts A (a) Lost by 40 runs. 106 ao against 146 for 9.

On a beautiful May afternoon in the Wiltshire countryside, captain Miers’ faith in his Sen Colts B bowlers was well rewarded by a fierce opening spell by Bhagobati (1-26) and particularly Jackson (3-17). With Hoffman taking 3 catches behind the stumps, Marlborough were reduced to 14-3 and then 32-5 as Bhattacharya (2-28) and Collison (1-13) chipped in valuable wickets. Their middle order mounted a considerable fightback but Hairy (3-9) terminated the innings in fine fashion. Morale was high as SCB set off in pursuit, but despite some brave blows from Ingram (6), Hoffman (10), Cotterell (7) and Jackson (9) the Marlborough attack proved too strong. Nevertheless “Coach” Douglas and the team look forward confidently to next week’s home game. Lost by 79 runs. 51 ao against 130 ao. (JJLD)

The JCA team faced Marlborough on Meads on their first home Saturday of the term, looking for a first win in the John Harvey cup. We lost the toss and were put into bowl. Stanley Askew (K) started the bowling really strongly, and picked up two key wickets. Arthur Hampel (B) and Archie Lawson (I) both held ends very nicely. Arthur took 3 wickets with some nice variation. Isaac Claisse (B) bowled very tightly, creating a lot of chances and eventually taking a well-deserved wicket to break a dangerous 6th wicket partnership. We then took 4 wickets for 9 runs. Freddy Spearing (I) and James Kennedy (D) finished them off. Marlborough all out for 110, a very chaseable total.

We went into bat with some positive intent from James and Arthur. However, James fell early, and a small batting collapse started. Arthur kept going playing positive shots and respecting bad balls, but he fell as well. From there it was quite disappointing as we were bowled out for 72. A disappointing end to a close game. Thank you to Mr. Smith for umpiring and Mr. Taylor for coaching. – Lost by 38 runs. 72 ao against 110 ao. (James Kennedy, D)

Put in to bat, Winchester Jun Colts B had a slow start, losing a wicket and only scoring 2 runs from the bat in the first 3 overs. Thanks to some wayward bowling from Marlborough though we were still on 15-1! With the arrival of Tom Gordon at the crease the run rate increased and after a quick fire 33 runs from 24 balls we were sitting more comfortably on 85-3 after 12 overs. Rory McGregor, who had started slowly coming in at 3, started to find his rhythm and ended up with an important 68 off 75, which, combined with 20 off 15 from Seb Wells meant we were on a healthy 176-5, with 6 overs left. With our number 7 falling for a duck the mantle fell on Oli Street, our number 6, to take us to a strong total and he duly delivered scoring 49 off 32 balls losing his wicket hitting out on the last ball of the innings. Fielding to come we were happy with out first half performance but wary that while 223 was a good score, runs on Gater can be scored quickly - the job was only half done.

Marlborough started quickly with the bat, taking advantage of some nerves, and they were on 22-0 after 2 overs. We slowly grew into the game though and by the end of the 12th over had restricted them to 73-4. We continued to squeeze Marlborough with the required run rate climbing to 12 after 23 overs, but having dropped 6 catches and made some costly unforced errors in the field, Marlborough were still in it. Needing 13 off the last over with 6 wickets in hand Oli Street took on the dubious honour of bowling the last over. He had bowled the only maiden of the innings and whilst he took a wicket and restricted them to needing 9 off the last 2 balls it was not meant to be with the Marlborough captain taking them to victory hitting a 4 and a 6 off the last 2 balls.

A game we maybe could have and should have won but it was a great game with plenty to be positive about and build on. Lost by 5 wickets. 30 overs: 223 for 7 against 225 for 5 (GEM)

Jun Colts C (h) Lost by 131 runs. 82 ao against 213 for 6.

Winchester Yearlings A won the toss and elected to bat. The loss of Skipper Tom Howard had Winchester 12-1, but a partnership of 49 between Ayush Shah and Vedant Shah, created a solid base for the team. Unfortunately, a steady loss of wickets Winchester finished on 95 all out.

In the Marlborough innings Winchester manged to keep their run rate down with good tight bowling and the scores were level at the halfway point ( 57-1 off 15). Stand out figures from Tom Howard (6 overs – 3 Maidens – 9 runs – 1 Wickets) could not prevent Marlborough holding onto their wickets and reached their target total with 6 overs remaining. Lost by 8 wickets. 94 ao against 96 for 2. (THW)

Yearlings B (a) Lost by 2 wickets. 51 ao against 52 for 8.

We batted. Badly. 51 all out. We fielded and they reached 31 without loss. And then came one of the most extraordinary sessions I've ever seen in cricket. Ned Reeve (who had bowled his first two bowls as in-your-face beamers) switched ends and the carnage began. He steamed in like a Tyrannosaurus Rex (but with longer arms) sighting unwary mammals in a Cretacean forest. He bowled four batsmen and had another lbw in three overs. Combined with a run out and two wickets from the probing Hector McIvor, the Bs took an astonishing 8 wickets for 7 runs. At 38-8, shell-shocked Marlborough still needed another 14 runs to win the match. But then our Tyrannosaurus, as dinosaurs are apt to do, ran out of his permitted overs. Reality was resumed and we succumbed to a heroic loss by 2 wkts. Goodbye Ned and good luck in the As. (PAH)

The Yearlings C started off the game batting with Oskar and Charles in at 1 and 2. Charles started us off nicely, picking up a few runs, before Oskar unfortunately was bowled clean. Charlie Mavor stepped in next, looking to start off a good partnership with Charles however this did not go to plan, as Charles, after playing a couple of superb shots, was caught near the boundary after trying to play for a 6. Aaron then came in as captain ready to hit a few sixes but was shortly dismissed from a yorker at middle stump and before the 6th over we down to our No. 5 batsman - one of our best batters, Charlie Perks. Both the Charlies were now in and hoping to slow down the wickets to stop the pace of Marlborough. After this the runs started to seemingly pick up however Charlie Mavor was out to a dodgy ball as it bounced in the crack of the Sahara Desert of a pitch we were playing on. Marlborough were not stopped after this and the wickets simply kept on rolling and before we knew it Johnnie Bailey stepped in as a last-ditch hope, but his run was shortly ended, and we were all out by the 14th over for a grand total of 73 runs.

The Marlborough innings started, and the team knew we still had everything to play for. Aaron opened the bowling and got off to a good start, managing to pick up the early wicket we were looking for. Charles McIntyre was next into bowl and delivered a good over, but we still needed to slow down the run rate. Aaron and Charles then alternated in bowling for the next 10 overs but although the run rate slowed we couldn’t pick up a wicket. To change up the bowling Ollie Robinson was put in and had a great start to the over picking up one wicket, but the scoreboard still looked ominous, and we would need a lot more wickets to secure the win. Charlie Mavor was put into bowl but by the end of the 15th over they were at 67 and we lost the game by the 16th over. Lost by 8 wickets. 73 for 10 against 74 for 2. (JM)

The Yearling Ds put in a stirring effort but sadly fell short against a technically superior Marlborough side. An impressive partnership of 60 between John Moulds (18) and Thomas Brabyn (19) proved insufficient to take Winchester to their required total of 126. The Ds finished 97 all out, with the final wicket coming off the last ball of the match. There were plenty of positives to emerge from this 29-run loss. (JL)

Rowing: Bristol Avon Regatta

Winchester College Boat Club took a large contingent of athletes to Avon Regatta. All year groups were represented, with seven boats racing throughout the day. Some of the boats were looking to gain race sharpness ahead of the National Schools' regatta, whilst others were enjoying another chance at competition, early on in their rowing careers.

There were wins for the J14 Quad, J16 Four, Girls Quad and Senior Eight, as well as a strong J15 performance. The Senior Eight won both the Open Eight and J18 Eight category, winning the 'Jamaica Cup' in the process. It was a brilliant day overall, with excellent performances across the board and a great atmosphere, helped by the great parental support, who provided strong encouragement and fantastic nutritional replenishment. We look forward to further racing this term with a lot of optimism. (SJL)

Sailing BSDRA Western Area Championships (n)

After the long drive to Chew Valley Lake, we arrived to perfect sailing conditions. The wind held throughout the day, until the semi-finals and finals, with the sun making an appearance in the afternoon to lift everyone's spirits. We entered two teams, one in the Firefly Division and one in the Feva division. The team had a long conference on the bus to determine who would sail with who, and the result of this enabled Luke Edwards to get some good experience sailing against very strong teams in the Firefly team, while Alex Parkinson got his first chance to helm in an event in the Feva team.

At the end of the day, we didn't bring home any silverware, but all had had a challenging set of close races. The Firefly team finished 9th out of 12: some of the races were very close though and we had a relatively tough draw in the round robin. The Feva team finished 4th out of 6, again with some very close races and some good team racing. (JAAB)

Tennis v Harrow

1st VI Harrow’s tennis has a strong reputation but our two schools have not played each other for over 10 years so the match was very much an unknown quantity. It turned out to be a closely fought contest. After round 1, Winchester 1st VI had managed to win 2 of the 3 matches, exploiting well the freshly laid acrylic surface. In Round 2 matters improved with an impressive win by our 2nd pair, Lukas Brunner and Xingchen Cao, against their 1st pair, 7-5. With our 1st pair also winning, this put Winchester 4-2 up. This meant it all came down to the final round in which the pairs took on their equivalent opposition. 3rd pair, Tom Howman and Paul Apostolides, soon found themselves 4-1 and then 5-2 down. However, they then started to reverse the tide, eventually claiming a vital win to seal the victory for the whole team. A few minutes later the 2nd pair also managed to take their match 7-6, making the aggregate score, 6-3. Overall, this was a good day out. (TERC)

Our 2nd team found themselves up against an usually strong opposition. There were tight matches with Hugh Williamson-Jones and Ivo Sawbridge being involved in two, of which they won one. Huw Jang and Miles Park also managed a good win. However, ultimately the overall fixture tally went to Harrow. (TERC)

U16A’s (a) Lost 3 – 6. U16B’s (a) Lost 2 – 7.

On Saturday, 12 MP pupils got on the coach to go to Harrow. You could hear worried whispers about Eton’s overwhelming defeat against the Harrovians, but we were not discouraged! We arrived in the wind and under a thick layer of clouds, perfect for this ominous fixture. After about 30 minutes, the first matches results were in, and our brave Wykehamists were not able to win more than one or two games in each match. The only exception: Will Hammerson-Jones (A) and Max Jackson (A). After nearly an hour of intense volley, relentless back-and-forth and a climactic tiebreak, they brought Winchester its first win. The rest of the afternoon unfolded very similarly. Jason Chiang (F) and Rocket Boon-Long (C) were the only other pair who managed to snatch a victory against their counterparts. The fixture concluded with a score of 1-8 for both As and Bs. The boys took stock of the defeat and are looking forward to facing Eton next Saturday. As we did so much better than them, this promises to be an interesting face-off! Lost 1 – 8 (KF)

The U14 As and Bs played some excellent tennis in the lovely sunshine at the Palmer courts. The U14 As won 5-4 against a tough Harrow squad. Although all three pairs could not get a single game off the Harrow A1 pair, our depth saw the team through to a win, with a particularly impressive performance put in by Greg Dolgopolov and Freddie Matthews in their final match against their opposite number, beating them 6-0. The Bs were also impressive winning all but one of their matches. Harry Lund and Gabriel Oluwabusola were particularly steel-nerved winning all their sets including the only tie breaker in their second match. (LJR)

U14C’s (n) Won 6 – 3. U14D’s (n) Lost 3 – 6.

Sunday 14th May 2023 Chess v Stowe Congress

Holly Wang (I) won the U14 with 6 wins from 6.

Zayan Ahmad (D) 2nd place in the U18

Barack Jin (College) also did well with a 4.5/6 score.

Approximately 120 participants.

All fixtures details can be found on: https://sportsfixtures.winchestercollege.org/

Sporting quote for the week:

“Champions don’t become champions when they win an event but in the hours, weeks, months and years preparing for it.” (Author, Alan Armstrong)

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

15th May 2023

Twitter: @WinCollSports