Sports Report – Cloister Time 2023, Week 8

Tuesday 13th June 2023

Cricket: 1st XI v Canford School (a). National T2o Cup

We won the toss and elected to bat on a warm sunny evening at Canford. It all started very well when Wilf hit the first ball for four, unfortunately he was out in the next over LBW. Seb and Charlie moved the score onto 26 off 4 overs which was a reasonable start on a wicket that offered variable bounce and movement. However, we then lost a cluster of wickets and were 35-5, not recognising how to quite adapt on this type of surface. Henry and Chris took us to 64, with sensible cricket, but once both were out followed by Alex we were 76-8 with just over 4 overs left. Aaron then played fantastically well, hitting two sublime sixes, the one which went straight particularly memorable, clearing a very long boundary! He was very well supported by Will, batting for the first time this season! They added 53 in very quick time which took our score to 129, Aaron run out off the last ball for 44 and Will with two excellent boundaries 12 from 7 balls.

We felt this score might be competitive, but we would have to bowl and field well. Dom set the tone, when in the second over he dived to his left at mid on and took a stunning one handed catch to his left off Callum's bowling. We fielded well from then on; good diving stops, with alert fielding both in the inner ring and in the deep. Another fine piece of fielding from Callum and Ethan which resulted in a run out of Canford's key player which was also very important. Everybody bowled well, although we still bowled more wides than we should have. However the run rate increased with regular wickets taken and Canford finished all out for 80 in the 19th over. Alex 1-10, Callum 1-13, Seb 2-21, Will 2-12, Ethan 3-18 and we progress to the Regional Final where we play the winners of the Bradfield v Teddies match. Won by 49 runs. (PNG)

Cricket v Eton

Jun Colts A (a). Lost by 3 wickets. 182 for 3 against 183 for 7.

Jun Colts B (a). Lost by 83 runs. 47 al against 130 for 80.

Yearlings A (h). Lost by 64 runs. 128 ao against 192 for 5.

Thursday 15th June 2023

Cricket v Eton & Charterhouse

On another wonderful day, Lords lost the toss and unsurprisingly were fielding. We took a good wicket with the score at 15, caught by Dom at Mid Off from Alex, but after that we bowled steadily without being at our absolute best, just not quite finding our lines and lengths.

However a partnership of 56 was broken when Wilf took a good catch off Callum. We then struck a further blow just on lunch, Ethan taking the catch again off Callum. Eton were 95-3 off 30 overs.

After lunch, we manged to take regular wickets which was the key and Eton failed to build any meaningful partnerships, this in part was down to some good control from the spinners, with Seb also returning later to take 3 wickets. Eton were bowled out for 175 after 49 overs.

Will finished with 1-30, Ethan 2-29, Callum 2-37, Seb 3-36, Alex 1-23.

Wilf and Henry started very positively and it was a little surprising when Wilf holed out to deep square leg with the score on 49 in the 10th over. Seb followed quickly and we were wobbling slightly at 52-2. Charlie and Henry both played really well. Henry excellent on everything slightly over pitched, using his feet really well against the spin. Charlie swept really well, plus strong shots particularly over mid wicket. Charlie was caught when he under-hot one to mid wicket, but Chris went in and played intelligently ensuring that we lost no further wickets and won with 3.2 overs to spare, an excellent win. Won by 7 wickets. 178 for 3 against 175 ao. (PNG)

2nd XI v Eton (h). Lost by 3 wickets. 88 ao against 89 for 7.

A sunny day at Eton led to the 3rds winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. Our opening bowlers arrived at the scene with pace and passion which lead to East dismissing their opening batsman early on, however some rusty line and length from Jackson lead to unwanted extras for the Eton batsmen. Thankfully Collison stepped up to calm things down and bowled out with two wickets and a respectable economy. Eton kept the run rate high, despite some great bowling from Bhattacharya (3 wickets) and East (4 wickets) to finish the innings on 175-10 off 25 overs.

Stepping out to bat we knew that we were facing an intimidating 7 runs an over to catch up, and in fiery response our opening batsman provided a brilliant start with Miers (54) and Simpson (33) getting a 100 partnership in quick fashion. After Simpson was bowled, Kitson came in with a quick 19, but his dismissal lead to a prompt middle order collapse. Despite valiant efforts, Winchester came to a tantalising total of 161, just 14 runs short to lose the game. (Ted Miers, V.B).

After being robbed of victory in their last game, the Senior Colts travelled to Eton hoping to get just reward against their U16Bs for their work and improvement in the past few weeks. Winchester won the toss and opted to bat in the 25 over match. Then disaster: Malik, who has been the team's most dependable batsman, was out first ball of the match! The old Sen Colts might have wobbled, but not any more; Alexander stayed calm and was scoring at a run a ball until an unfortunate run out finished his innings. The tone had been set though. Bristow's masterful innings took the wind out of the Etonians, accompanied by Hay who maintained the mature batting approach he showed vs Harrow. After Hay, came a bustling and aggressive Bowder who moved the field around with quick singles, while Humphreys despatched any ball that was less than perfect. Humphreys 53no and Bristow 36 topped the scorecard, but this was a team batting display of maturity, confidence and discipline that was not obvious in May. Winchester 157-5. Game on.

Eton came out showing that they meant business and got off to a decent start, aided by some uncharacteristic SCA fielding errors and Eton exploiting gaps in the field. Extras were piling up too and the pressure was rising, but the bowlers stuck to their task, tightened up and wickets started to fall. Both openers went to good catches as Eton tried to break free and it was clear that 'strangling' the batsmen of runs was key: the field was changed and the bowlers got more accurate still. Bowder and Lloyd-Owen bowled 10-47-3 between them, but they could not dislodge Eton's no3. Alexander bowled 4 tight overs nipping out their 6 and 7 who were looking aggressive, before taking a catch off a Humphreys spinner to remove their no3 for 52. A run-out and two smart stumpings by Husband kept Winchester on top, allowing Davies to return with pace and accuracy to finish off the innings Eton 151-9.

The improvement in this team is well-deserved; they always had the skill, practised hard and supported each other, but they have now added the confidence, discipline and game-sense to allow them to get the results that their talent deserves and set themselves up for success in the sixth form. Won by 6 wickets. 158 for 4 against 151 for 7. (LNT)

Jun Colts A v Charterhouse (h). Lost by 7 wickets. 143 ao against 144 for 3.

Jun Colts B v Charterhouse (h). Lost by 3 wickets. 152 ao against 153 for 7.

The JC C’s took on Charterhouse, coming off a rough loss against Eton. Winning the toss, the C’s elected to bat first, and it paid dividends. The openers Hagger and Oliver got off to a good start securing us a 40-run partnership. Charterhouse managed to pull back the game after drinks with three quick wickets leaving Sawhney and Callaghan at the crease yet again. Another cheeky 80-run partnership earned Sawhney a half century and Callaghan a 34*. Winkley came in the final few overs to secure the C’s a grand total of 154-5, as he hit 9 off his 4 balls.

The bowling attack started out a bit rough, with the Charterhouse openers scoring double digits within the first over, but the pacers Winkley and LeCourt managed to put up a good effort, conceding little in the following overs. But the openers resisted and punished an off-spin attack, racking up a 130-run partnership. But, when all hope was lost, the wicketkeeper Grange took a tough take as well as a stumping to "pile the Pascals" on the middle order. An unfortunate no-ball to stop Sawhney from claiming a fifer and a few missed runouts ended up costing Winchester the game as they put up a fight but were unable to stop Charterhouse as they scored 155-4. Lost by 6 wickets. (JOC)

Yearlings A v Charterhouse (a). Lost by 29 runs. 92 ao against 121 for 9.

In sweltering conditions, the YBs finally broke our run of narrow losses and beat Charterhouse for the sixth year in a row. Most of our batters contributed although no one managed to get a big score but it was encouraging to see them play attacking shots without being wildly swinging muppets. Thai top scored with 24 not out and Greg was most impressive on debut before he was caught at cow corner. Archie clubbed 16 from 11 balls.

Our bowling started with two encouraging wickets, also with Ziao being unlucky to bowl a batter on a no-ball. Then Charterhouse rallied and a partnership was looking ominous until Archie, Hector and Mayin took control and wickets. From that point everything was kept tight to stifle the opposition and we won reasonably comfortably. The raucous away crowd got us over the line. Won by 25 runs. 130 for 8 against 105 ao. (PAH)

The Yearling Cs won the toss against Charterhouse and chose to bat first. The pairing of McIntyre and Browning opened the batting and got into a good rhythm early on. We started off our innings and hit several fours until Browning tried to hit a six which didn’t carry and was caught deep on the boundary. Our Captain, Mann, was unfortunately out for a duck. By this point it seemed like we had lost our rhythm and were just trying to slog at anything. We made a few brave runs but Robinson was caught and then Perks and Mavor created a semi-successful partnership hitting a total of 36 runs. From this point on the bails fell in quick succession with O’Carroll, Weaver and Barclay all only scoring a handful of runs. We were all out for just 93 runs. We tried to react to the situation and bowl aggressively and take wickets early on but that didn’t happen. Within the first 3 overs we gave away 20 runs in extras. It only took Charterhouse 14 overs to catch up to our score. 93 all out vs 95 for 4. (JM)

The Yearling Ds clung on to secure a spectacular one-run victory with the final ball of the match against a highly competitive Charterhouse side. A swashbuckling innings of 49 from Sam Sullivan (who was unlucky to be caught one run short of his half-century) helped Winchester reach an impressive first-innings total of 125. Excellent bowling from John Moulds (3 for 13 off 4 overs) limited Charterhouse in the early stages of their reply, but ultimately it was Sam Sullivan who found himself called upon to deliver heroics once more, this time with the ball. With Charterhouse needing nine runs from the last over to win, Sullivan bowled a phenomenal death over to leave them needing four from the final ball. After running two and pushing for a third to tie, the Charterhouse number 9 batter was sensationally run out by Samuel Du Ry, prompting jubilant Winchester celebrations. This was an outstanding all-round team performance. Special congratulations should go to Sam Sullivan for his exceptional contributions with both bat and ball. Won by 1 run. 125 for 4 against 124 for 8. (JL)

Friday 16th June 2023

Cricket: Jun Colts A v King Edward VI (a). Lost by 118 runs. 95 for 8 against 213 for 5.

Golf: Micklem Trophy (h)

This tournament was originally scheduled for March but the unseasonable arrival of snow put pay to that event. The rescheduled competition last Friday saw temperatures in the high 20s which was going to present a different sort of challenge for the players to stay hydrated across the 36 hole competition. The morning format was a Scratch Stableford (best 4 scores from team of 5) with the top two teams going through to the final and the next two teams into the Plate. The morning scores were:

Stowe - 122

Wellington - 121

Winchester - 119

Bradfield - 108

Eton - 102

In the afternoon Stowe beat Wellington 3-2 to claim the Micklem Trophy and having narrowly missed qualifying for the final the Winchester team were determined to come away with some silverware in the Plate play-off. A comprehensive team performance saw victory against Bradfield, 4.5-0.5, and Winchester claimed their first trophy in this competition for several years.

Saturday 17th June 2023: Wykeham Day

Cricket v OWs

Lords batted first, with an agreed declaration game and 20 overs to be played from 5.30pm.

Unfortunately we lost Zain in the first over, when he was bowled not playing a shot, much to Paddy Fisher's delight!. Seb and Ethan then put on a good partnership of 43, playing good shots particularly down the ground and both looked set for a sizeable total until Ethan was trapped LBW(maybe slightly unluckily) and Seb was tempted into a drive and was bowled, both off the bowling of Freddie Egleston. It was good to see both Paddy and Freddie bowling intelligently and with some clever field placings, clearly Rollo had been doing some homework!! At 50-3 and then 79-4 when Dom was out having played with good impetus, we were struggling a little.

George and Chris took their time initially to establish a partnership, but both then played very well. George hitting the ball powerfully, particularly straight and through the legside, Chris with neat deflections, sweeps and great running and they put on 157 for the 5th wicket. Chris eventually was run out, but George went on to make his maiden Lords Century, to great cheers and applause from all around the ground. Alex hit a couple of lusty blows towards the end and Wilf declared on 258-6.

We were going to have approximately 50 overs back at the Old Boys to bowl them out for victory and were given a great start when Alex produced a great outswinger to dismiss Egleston in his first over. However the Old Boys batters (Ridley and Axtell) then played very well, attacking anything that was either too straight or wide and the score had moved on quite quickly to 70, when Ridley was well caught by Wilf at extra cover in Ethan's first over. Will then took another wicket, but at 126-3 the game was well balanced, with all results possible. However Ethan trapped Byers LBW and Axtell quickly followed adjudged LBW off Callum and we sensed victory and from 126-3, the Old Boys collapsed to 158 all out. Ethan took 5-36, bowling with good control and skill, Will disciplined and accurate took 2-17, Callum 1-17 and Alex 1-31. (PNG)

2nd XI v OW’s (h). Won by 1 wicket. 212 for 9 against 210 for 8.

Basketball: OWs vs U18s

The basketball match vs the OWs is always a highlight of Wykeham Day, and this year the crowd in the sports hall were treated to match of high skill, athleticism and excitement.

The Winchester College U18s started superbly pulling out a healthy lead through speed, teamwork and no little individual skill. The OW legends were showing flashes of brilliance, especially Big Seb Steiner whose footwork was a sublime as ever, but the U18s were playing so well that the second half looked like it would probably be a little dull. This is when the OWs revealed their secret weapon: Nosa Okunbo walked through the door at half time with Omos Kuye. Nosa has been playing successfully in America. He made his presence felt immediately with a couple of monstrous dunks, but our U18s are never easily intimidated and they stood strong, playing with determination and confidence.

The game was now on for real and at the end of 40 minutes the scores were even. There are no draws in basketball though, and it took three tough periods of overtime to separate the teams. This was one of the best ever OW matches and credit should be given to both teams not just for their skill, but for making the match so enjoyable to watch.

After the match the OWs and many parents were highly complimentary about the Winchester team. The U18s have had a frustrating season, but they are a most likeable, disciplined, team-orientated, hard-working and talented bunch. He would love them all to come back for one more year, but most are off to share their skills at university. We hope to welcome them back as opponents at future Winchester Matches. Winchester U18s players with score: Ahearne 13, Akinyanju 12, Bullen 14, Khan 17, Pascoe 8, Yao, Brack, Yi 5.

Thanks once again to Aarin, Temi, Benoy, Debo, Nosa, Suley, Adi, Seb and Omos (from left to right below) for making this game such a success. (LNT)

Athletics: SE Inter-Counties Championships, Basingstoke.

Five of our athletes had gained selection to represent Hampshire at the South East Inter-Counties Championships on Saturday. First up was Jad Garlick in the Inter Boys Shot Put. Jad threw two new PBs in the competition to finish a very credible 4th place and considering the top two in the event are ranked 2nd & 3rd nationally this was something to be proud of. Jeffrey Chan and Edward Fangzhou competed in the Inter & Junior Boys’ long jump respectively and found themselves up against some excellent jumpers but some big fouls couldn’t be turned into new PBs. JP Pupils Felix Coleman and Ivor Martin found themselves against high quality opposition too and in such circumstances all you can ask for is to go out and do their best. They did this by both making considerable improvements in their PBs for the 80m Hurdles and 1500m respectively. A great learning experience for all involved. (MSB)

Rowing: Marlow Regatta

The Winchester College Boat Club 1st VIII raced at Marlow Regatta this weekend. The final major multi lane regatta of the year. The boys have been training very well and this showed, turning over multiple crews that had previously beaten them in the time trial. From this, they earned the right to race in the B final and had a gutsy race, showing impressive speed, especially over the first half.

The following day, the crew found out that this performance, along with previous results from the National Schools' Regatta, Met Regatta, Wallingford Regatta and the Schools' Head of the River Race had been enough to pre-qualify them for Henley Royal Regatta. This is a really significant achievement, and we are all very proud of their efforts. We look forward to racing commencing on the 27th of June.

Sunday 18th June: Polo: Schools and Universities Polo Association Tournament

A number of pupils have been attending Polo training on Friday afternoons over the last two terms and this past Sunday saw an opportunity to compete at the Senior Schools Polo Championships. The team consisted of Ben Allison, Max Ingram and Jeffrey Chan. With the fourth team member unavailable, a stand-in had to be found and as he was from the Intermediate category, the Winchester team had to move up from the Novice classification, even though this was their very first competitive match. The result was that they lost three chukkas narrowly to an experienced Stowe team. However, they were commended by both coach and opponents and learnt a good deal about facing teams with a stronger pedigree.

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

Sporting quote for the week:

“Success isn’t all about talent. It’s about being dependable, consistent, coachable and knowing what you need to do to improve.” (Bill Belichick, New England Patriots NFL Coach)

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

20th June 2023

Twitter: @WinCollSports