Sports Report – Cloister Time 2024, Week 4

Tuesday 7th May 2024

Cricket v Marlborough College (h):

This was a little disappointing in that we were in quite good positions when batting, but unfortunately we failed to bat our overs as we were dismissed in 32.5 overs of the 35 allotted, admittedly against some excellent spin bowling from Marlborough.

Vedant played well and we were going along well at 27-1 after 5 overs, until he tried to hit to mid wicket and was bowled. We then progressed to 49-2 when Seb was LBW to a ball that kept a little low, Jack was caught and bowled for 20. We then had an excellent partnership between Rhys and Amaar and, at 112-4 with approximately 8 overs remaining. a score of 165 looked on, which would have been quite competitive on a pitch that was quite slow. Unfortunately they were both dismissed in successive balls and we collapsed to 135 all out..

We needed a really good start, but we were a little wayward with our bowling and unfortunately conceded too many extras early on and were never really able to gain any control of the match. Amar F bowled very tidily and took the only wicket, finishing with 1-21 from his 7 overs and George B bowled his 7 overs for 19 runs, but alas we lost by 9 wickets and move into the National Plate competition. Lost by 9 wickets. 145 ao against 136 for 1. (PNG)

Thursday 9th May 2024

Cricket U15A’s v John Hanson Community School (h) in Hampshire Schools’ County Cup

On a roasting hot day the U15A's played their first round county cup match vs John Hanson School. After losing the toss we bowled first in what was a strong performance bowling out the opposition for 31 runs with Amar being the pick of the bowlers taking 4 wickets.

After a nervy start losing both Plum and Amar for 0, the score wandered to 9-2. But after some brutal hitting from Vedant (30 off 12 balls - 4x4s 2x6s) we eased home winning the fixture by 8 wickets. A strong performance all round. (TJF)

Sailing v Sherborne School (h):

With a team of eight, we went down to Spinnaker Sailing Club on Thursday. Thanks to a wind forecast of just 2-3 knots, our spirits on the bus were somewhat dampened, but upon arriving at Spinnaker we were surprised by good breeze and fantastic weather. After a well fought match last season against Sherborne, we were eager to achieve another win.

Briefing done, the first teams took to the water. The start was promising, with Winchester using the rules to push one of the Sherborne boats over the line early and so taking control. Unfortunately, this control was then handed to Sherborne who displayed very tidy boat handling to finish in a winning combination. The second race was a similar story, and while we rounded mark 3 in a winning combination, two of our boats were given penalties leaving our boat in first place to try their best to resurrect the situation, albeit in vain.

However, we were determined for the third race to go our way, so came off the start-line in a strong position. Sherborne weren’t going to let us get away from them that easily though, and their boat in second place promptly started pushing back on our boat in three, allowing one of their teammates through. Sherborne now had the upper hand, and on the final beat to the finish line we had to do something. Rupert B and Thomas F displayed reliable boat speed and manoeuvres, slowing the Sherborne frontrunners as best they could while also ensuring they retained their own first place position. This allowed the rest of the fleet to catch up, and this congestion ultimately resulted in one of the Sherborne boats getting a penalty on the finish line, allowing the other two Winchester boats helmed by Noah H, sailing with Amelie S, and Max B, sailing with Olivia P, to cross the finish line before them. This was an impressive comeback and the decisive moment which meant Winchester won the race. A fine example of how a team race is never over until it is over!

Facing Sherborne's second team, we had to improvise a bit with our eight sailors. Some experienced crew members got the chance to helm for the first time, while the younger ones got the chance to improve their crewing skills. In the first race, Winchester got off to a good start, but Sherborne managed to take the lead already at the first upwind mark. Although the first race did not go our way, by the second race we had started to find our rhythm more and were more confident pre-start. This allowed us to establish a 1,2,3 from the start-line. Olivia P (E) and Thomas F (E) sailed a very good upwind leg, retaining first place until mark 3. However, the comparative lack of experience in team racing made it difficult for us to defend this and we lost this winning combination in the final upwind.

In the third and final race for the second team, Amelie S (C) sailing with Rory D (X) and Max B (K) sailing with James B (X) got off to a fantastic start and managed to win the first upwind leg. However, Sherborne managed to catch one of us after they spotted a gust so despite one of us finishing first in the race, we couldn't win overall. Nevertheless, we learnt a lot and know what we need to work on in the future. Thank you very much to everyone who made this afternoon possible and we look forward to competing against Sherborne again in the upcoming events! [Max B (K) and Rupert B (K)]

Saturday 11th May 2024

Athletics v Canford School, Dauntsey’s, Bryanston, Clayesmore, Sherborne (a):

A tortuous traffic jam means it took 45 minutes to travel 12 miles down the M3 and despite the rest of the journey to Canford being clear we arrived late at the event with several of our sprinters missing their first event. Nevertheless, there were still some fine performances. Osamede Aighe claimed 1st place in the 200m, Shot and Discus in the Junior Boys competition with Seb Parkinson also claiming a 1st place in the 80m Hurdles. In the Inter boys category Ed Fangzhou claimed a fine victory in the Long Jump and a 2nd place in the Discus whilst Seb Browning took 1st place in the 200m whilst Felix Coleman finished runner up in the 100mH. Amongst the senior boys Gus Bowden took a comfortable victory in the 100mH and this was matched by Kaito Kawada-Williams in the 400m. There were numerous top 3 finishes amongst the senior boys and the whole team finished =2nd overall. We host our own home meet next Saturday against seven other schools and it would be great to see some support for the boys up at the Bar End track.

Gus Bowden also competed at the Hampshire Athletics Association County Champs over the weekend where he not only set a new pb in the High Jump to take 2nd place in the U20 competition but also set a new school record in the 400m Hurdles. Well done also to Jeffrey Chan who took 1st place in the U20 long jump competition. (MSB)

Cricket v Marlborough

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Lords found the going slow in the early overs. Nicholls might have been out in the 2nd over but his reprieve was short lived as both he and Whitfield were caught in the ring. Morgan and Bristowe then went about building a partnership, with Morgan clipping well of his legs early on and Bristowe looking to work singles. The challenge against the array of spinners was a tough one but the pair continued to build well, adding sweeps either side of the wicket into their shot options and manipulating the field well. Just shy of a century stand, Morgan, who had typically been the more aggressive, was dismissed for 71 when looking to be positive again. Lam brought good energy to the crease but when Bristowe was caught not long after the second drinks break, a collapse ensued as the lower order struggled to get in against the effective rotation of the Marlborough spinners. We finished 181ao with 20 balls still left in the innings.

Despite early boundaries for Marlborough, Claisse and Hockey both found edges which didn't successfully find the slips' hands. The pair, however, linked up in dramatic fashion as Hockey took a spectacular catch at backward point to make the breakthrough. As a 2nd wicket partnership grew quickly, it took the introduction of Askew to break it with a bit of fortune as the Marlborough captain mistimed his pull to Morgan at deep square leg. Askew took another before Morgan soon got involved with a return catch from his first ball as the game rattled on to 77-4. The quick early scoring allowed Marlborough to soak up some dot balls in the middle of the innings, allowing Corbett and then Lott to get settled and choose their moment to attack carefully. Whitfield and Morgan continued to build pressure though and when the pair picked up 3 quick wickets we felt back in the driving seat again. Still needing more than 50 to win, Lott and Carroll proceeded to milk singles as we rotated the bowlers seeking the next breakthrough. Despite still finding some edges, which eluded us, Lott then counter-attacked off the returning Hockey and Askew to seal the win for our hosts. Lost by 3 wickets. 181 ao against 184 for 7. (JMB)

The 2nd XI arrived at Lords confident following our last two victories. We won a crucial toss and elected to bat first. Amaar M and Will A started well, Amaar clipping off his pads nicely and Will playing well down the ground. They put on a well-constructed partnership of 72, before Amaar was caught for 37. Will soon followed thanks to a “worldie” pulled off by Marlborough’s mid-off, for 28. Aneesh K and Angus H found themselves in the middle of a tense period with Marlborough’s spinners pulling them back into the game. With some good running between the wickets and putting away the bad balls, we found ourselves in a good spot at 124/2 with 7 overs to go. Aneesh was soon dismissed by LBW and then Hamish with an unlucky run out. But Angus held strong, (well accompanied by Lucas P) punishing the bowlers and finished 3 short of his maiden 2XI fifty. 167, a score that we were happy to defend but feel like we left 10 runs out there.

Winchester started well with the ball, Hamish bowling tight lines and George backing him up at the other end. 1 wicket a piece for both but deserved more with a couple of missed chances. After a bit of a recovery from Marlborough’s batsmen 1 and 4, Freddie E provided us with the breakthrough and then another wicket in the same over. Freddie ending up with a fine 2/12 in 6 overs. From the other end, the captain passed Sam H the ball searching for more wickets. After his first couple overs, he soon got into his work, finding the edge multiple times but soon rewarded with his first, well caught by Angus behind the stumps. Humphreys was still hungry and picked up 2 more in an over and then another 2 in his next. The wicket-taking ball for his fifer was something special as many words and phrase sprung into mind, such as, ‘He’s done it again! Another half tracker’ and ‘You don’t see them on the scoresheet’ and of course ‘A wicket’s a wicket’. Well bowled by Sam ending up with figures of 5/19 (5). Marlborough’s innings was soon wrapped up with a powerful underarm runout from Aneesh. A very complete performance against Marlborough. The unbeaten season is still alive! Won by 104 runs. Thank you to Dr Townson for scoring and Dr Galliver for not giving Angus run out. (Aneesh K, E)

The mighty 3rd XI travelled to Marlborough confident after our previous victory at King Edward’s. We lost the toss and bowled first and what a great first over from Dominic J taking a beauty with his second ball clean bowling their number 1. We were then smashed around a bit to leave them on 51 after 6. The next 18 overs we did well to limit them to 150 but their tail did well to post 204 for 9. Dominic, Max C, and James K taking 2 wickets and Rufus LO taking 3. A decent bowling display in a 30 over game.

We started well with Isaac H and Vikrant K but Isaac fell for 7 bringing Max I to the crease. Some excellent running and stroke play got us to 68 in the 12 over and well in the game. Unluckily for us Marlborough bowled well and picked up wickets and we were only able to post 114 losing by 90 runs. Vikrant top scoring with 35. (JRD)

The 4th XI walked what felt like miles to get to their pitch in Marlborough on a lovely spring day. Bhattacharya (c) elected to bat after winning the toss. The opening batters (Bhattacharya, Spearing) saw out the opening bowlers without playing any risky shots. A change of bowling proved disastrous: our whole top order fell to a hattrick from Marlborough's first-change bowler, leaving Spearing and the middle order to steady the ship. Baxendale, Judge and Perks managed to keep the scoreboard ticking. When they too fell to Marlborough's star bowler, a couple of thick outside edges off Clark's (no 10) bat took us to three figures. 103 felt then like a score we might be able to defend if we managed a few early wickets. That was not to be: the Marlborough openers kept their wickets, playing defensively and waiting for the occasional bad bowl to score their runs. A sharp bit of fielding by Bell managed to dismiss one of their openers, but no further breakthroughs were forthcoming. We lost by 9 wickets in the 16th over. As always, the 4th team can take comfort in moments of excellence: confident middle-order innings from Baxendale and Judge, a spell of economical spin from Bhattacharya, excellent bounce and accuracy from Perks and Hairy, and of course, Clark's faultless work behind the wickets. (NGK)

The Girls XI opened their season with a pairs format fixture on Saturday (with both teams starting on 200 runs), Marlborough opened the batting with some strong players at the crease. Winchester were lively in the field (particularly Michelle M who only took up the game this term) and there was plenty of excellent tight bowling early on from all involved especially from Kansola O who is also entirely new to the game. We came into our own in the field with Cleo K taking four catches and Bea B executing a first rate run out. Cecily M also proved a safe pair of hands as she took an excellent catch at extra cover. However, Marlborough continued to build a good total and showed their depth of experience as they knocked the ball into safe spots to keep the run rate ticking over. Sanvee P then clean bowled one of their batters and she, Amelie S, Maya G (Capt) and Amara M collectively restricted their runs. There was plenty of enthusiasm from the team with Anna P keeping spirits up! Marlborough eventually finished on 324. Winchester then took up the bat and made a strong start with some well placed shots including a fantastically timed boundary from Cecily. Kate R and Anna showed good composure under pressure and were confident shot makers as were Sanvee, Kansola, Cleo, Maya and Amara who all contributed well with the bat. Sadly, we just came up short making 289 but everyone played extremely well in what proved to be a much more competitive fixture than last year. Roll on next fixture. Lost by 35 runs

The Senior Colts A team have been bowling and fielding well, but in this match they struggled with consistency. There were some excellent balls (a good Marlborough batting side were all out in 29.1 overs), but also too many bad balls which were punished with some effective and powerful hitting from Marlborough who finished on 203 all out. This was a formidable target, especially for this team who were bowled out for 44 on the same pitch only four weeks ago, but the senior colts set about their task sensibly, scoring runs while not throwing their wickets away. The openers thus set the platform from which the rest of the team could attack. With increased pressure the excellent Marlborough bowling started to produce the odd bad ball and the Winchester batsmen played with increasing confidence, running well and hitting strongly. In the end 203 proved to be just too high a target, and Winchester ended up on 185-7. With one more match left, hopefully the team will perform at their best in both halves of the game; they are improving rapidly and deserve a victory. Lost by 18 runs. Highlights - Batting: Kingsbury 40, Wells 31, Brett 26 - Bowling: Kingsbury 5 wickets for 24 off 4 overs. (LNT)

Sen Colts B (a): Lost by 4 wickets. 101 for 9 against 102 for 6.

Amar finally won the toss for the U15As and elected to bat first on what looked like a dry wicket that hopefully would get tougher as the day progressed. Lately, our main target as a group was to value our wickets more, find different scoring options when boundaries aren't available and of course bat for the full 35 overs. We managed to bat our 35 overs, however it was made very difficult by the Marlborough bowlers. The chase started well with 11 runs coming off the first over. However, both Ayush and Vedant fell in the same over with the Winchester total being reduced to 13-2 off 5 overs.

As we looked to rebuild, things didn't get any easier for the Jun Colts A having lost Plum for 2 (18-3). Tom and Amar looked to be positive and provide a counter attack against the opposition recovering from 18-3 to 36-3. Just when Tom was getting into his stride he unfortunately found the hands of an opposition fielder leaving the score 36-4. This brought Holly to the crease who looked to be in fine touch. He scored 26 off 39 balls looking at ease throughout. After having worked on his technique hard in Friday’s training session, it was so nice to see this being put into practice out within a game scenario. Amar, after a good partnership with Holly, fell for a gritty 16 (44) as he tried to hold the innings together leaving Winchester 55-5. With those early wickets lost it was very difficult to string back momentum as we finished up with a total of 93-9.

Our bowling innings proved to be rather tough with Marlborough knocking off our score finishing up on 97-3 . Our standout bowler proved to be Tom, having bowled 7 overs for 3 wickets and only conceding 3 runs. Lost by 7 wickets

We look to bounce back with a trip to Millfield school on Thursday 16th May in the National Trophy and a fixture against Hampton school at home on Saturday. (TJF)

Jun Colts B (a): Lost by 3 wickets. 64 ao against 65 for 7.

Jun Colts C (a): Lost by 8 wickets. 51 for 9 against 52 for 2.

Yearlings A (h): Lost by 124 runs. 65 ao against 189 for 6.

The Yearlings B came up against an incredibly strong Marlborough side at home. Having won the toss, they put us into bat and it became immediately apparent that they had a very capable bowling line up who were incredibly accurate in terms of line and length. Our top half of the order were able to put on a reasonable show and kept the score steadily creeping up over the course of the first dozen overs. However, we subsequently lost the final five wickets for the addition of just 9 runs, leaving Marlborough just 71 to win. Marlborough got off to a solid start and made steady progress to the target, wrapping up the match with plenty of overs to spare and with just the slight blemish on the scorecard of 1 wicket which came from some sharp fielding and run out. It was a comprehensive win for the visitors but Winchester can take comfort from the fact that this is one of the strongest year groups that Marlborough has seen in years and who are currently undefeated this season. [PAH]

The Yearlings C Team faced Marlborough on Saturday. Winchester won the toss and elected to bat. Thanks to an outstanding performance from Darren T (G) scoring 43 and Rupert F (I) scoring 42 Winchester scored 123 off 25 overs in total. During the second innings, Winchester bowled well, especially James H (G) taking 3 wickets and with almost everyone that bowled taking a wicket. Marlborough were all out for 101 resulting in a close but entertaining game. Won by 22 runs. 123 ao against 101 ao. (PM)

Having lost the toss, Yearlings D batted first against Marlborough and posted a commendable 103 all out. There were admirable batting performances from Conor O'S and David C, David scoring two boundaries from his first two balls. The Yearlings D bowlers proceeded to rapidly dismantle the top of Marlborough's batting order with Oliver S and Theo L taking three wickets in eleven balls. The remaining Marlborough batsman dug in however and chased 103 in 21 overs. Lost by 4 wickets. (TP)

Golf: Delhi Cup (h):

The Delhi Cup is an elite amateur event that forms part of the Hampshire Men’s Order of Merit. Over 36 holes of medal golf at Hockley GC, we had some outstanding performances from the boys involved.

Ray S (E), shot two fantastic rounds of golf 72, 73 finishing 10th= overall on the day. Given there were a number of senior county players in the field and a great number of them with superior handicaps to Ray, this a fantastic result and shows the potential for his improvement this summer.

Harry H (I) at 14 yrs old was playing in the penultimate group of the day with two players recently returned from US University Scholarship programmes. Though he wasn't at his best in the morning (gross 78), he shot a wonderful 69 (2 under par) in the afternoon, the joint second best score of the whole day, to finish a highly commendable 18th overall (in a field of 66).

Two young Furleyites in James R and Sander A also performed with commendable prowess. James, after a slow start to the day, finished strongly in the morning round before shooting a very strong 76 in the afternoon; again, showing his great promise for the year ahead. Sander, despite having some rotten luck with an umpire's ruling, represented the school admirably too, gaining some invaluable experience and learning for his remaining tournaments this summer. [RM].

Sailing 1st v Radley College (a):

We took 6 sailors to Oxford Sailing Club for a friendly match against Radley. When we arrived at Farmoor, Radley had kindly already rigged the boats so we could go straight out on the water. In what was a pleasant surprise, St. Edwards joined us for the beginning of the afternoon, so we were looking forward to racing them too.

After slight changes to the team from Thursday, we started the first race with full concentration and had a perfect start. Team racing manoeuvres all went to plan which was very satisfying as this is something we have been working on recently in training. As a result, Winchester beat St. Edwards with a resounding 1,2,3 in all our races against them.

Similarly, we beat Radley with an equally comprehensive 1,2,3 win every time, except for one unfortunate race where we allowed the opposition to outpace us at the crucial moment on the final upwind, so allowing Radley to claim that race. Regardless, we won the other three races against Radley comfortably so won overall.

It was great to see Alex P helming at an inter-school event for the first time, and he worked well with crew James B and made a few impressive overtakes, most notably one from fifth to second on just one downwind leg! Similarly, the reliable boat-pairings of Noah H and Olivia P, alongside Rupert B and Max B showed a good ability to read the wind shifts and ‘shift gears’ in the gusts to keep their boats moving efficiently around the course in front of the Radley and St. Edwards boats.

Thank you to Radley for hosting such a fun event and we look forward to welcoming them to Spinnaker for another match in a few weeks. [Max B (K) & Rupert B (K)]

Tennis v Harrow School

The 1st VI continued their run of form on a beautiful, albeit hot, day down at the courts. A thrilling match, which included 5 breaks of serve, from 2nd pair Park and Sawbridge against Harrow's top pair took us ahead early on. Our 1st pair of Garrett and Oldenhove used their great teamwork to secure two convincing sets 6-0 and 6-1, and an excellent debut from Tait, who played at a great level with the ever-reliable Remers, sealed the victory at 5 sets to 0. In their second match against Harrow's 1s, however, the heat got to our third pair of Remers and Tait, who were beaten by the finest of margins in an exciting contest. In the end, Winchester prevailed 7-2, continuing the unbeaten streak further into the new season. [M Park (F) & H Latimer (X)].

With the sun shining down, the SCAs headed down to Palmer to take on a strong Harrow side. Having lost 8-1 to Harrow the previous year, there was a lot to live up to for the team. What followed was a shaky first series of matches with only the first pair of Hammerson-Jones (A) and Coles (A) picking up a 6-0 win. However, a strong round tied the fixture at 3-3 with our second pair of Suksriwong (H) and Tang (X) winning a tight match against their third pair 6-4. The final set of matches where we played our equivalent pairs, proved the best of all as Duckworth (H) and Vorobev (F) picked up their first and only win of the day. With Hammerson-Jones and Coles winning all three of their matches and dropping only 2 games, the team left Palmer with a 6-3 victory. [Theo C (A)].

Junior Colts A (n): Won 5-4.

Junior Colts B (n): Won 6-3.

U15Cs clashed with a formidable opponent, Harrow. Despite our valiant efforts, Winchester suffered an unfortunate 6-3 defeat. Despite facing an uphill struggle, Winchester's 2nd and 3rd pairs lost close matches, with second pair Deniz's astounding volleys and Ernest’s serves, highlighting their exceptional technique, their loss leaving a bittersweet taste of what could have been. Fortunately, the first pair delivered a stellar performance, winning three remarkable sets. Credit is due to Mike M for his exceptional serves, which played a pivotal role in securing the final game. Lost 3-6 [Theo O (C)]

The mighty young men of Wykham arrived on a summer’s day to do battle against the dreaded foe - Harrow. Armed with racket and ball in place of sword and shield, they stood firm and took their places on the court. “Go forth and conquer” came the cry from the stands. The games commenced… The Winchester Yearlings A team set a startling pace. With a likeness of Nadal and Federer in their prime, Barton and Mathieu mercilessly put their opposition to the test. With the grace of a gazelle, Mathieu danced around his backhand to deliver decisive forehands time and time again. His racket, aptly named Foe-Hammer, is a weapon of destruction when placed in his grip. Mathieu and Barton, stand out performers, won all three of their matches to help the A’s to a hard-fought 5-4 victory. [JWS]

The B team showed the strength in depth offered by the boys of Wykham. Spurred by the success of the A Team, the B’s once again showed their prowess and skill, ending the day 6-3 winners. Despite their best efforts, the C’s were not able to overcome their counterparts. They dug deep and showed great heart and character, but were not able to come out winners on this particular outing with the scores ending 3-6. The D teams were closely matched in skill, and as all students of sport know, when skill is equal then it is desire, mental fortitude and effort which often make the difference. The mighty D team showed this in abundance, recovering from disappointing results in earlier matches to come out 5-4 victors. [JWS]

Rowing – Bristol Avon Regatta

On Saturday WCBC competed at Bristol Avon Regatta, a 1 kilometre side by side race. The girls were up first in their 2x Martha (E) and Daisy (E), having a very early start they managed to put up a good fight against Millfield, just narrowly losing. The J16’s were racing in two 4+’s in the second division while the J15’s were in the 8+. Both J16’s 4+’s met in the final with George’s (B) 4+ coming out on top. The J15 8+ was a straight final against Canford which was a great race which ended with a win for WCBC. Lawrence (G) and Hugo (E) faced each other in the 1x final, one of the closest races of the day with Lawrence (G) winning.

The afternoon division saw all year groups take to the water; the JP were in 2 4x+’s, racing a year group above. This was their first taste of side by side racing, the quad coxed by Miles (F) raced the semi final and made it to the final where they won, it was a great race to watch, very close at the finish. A great accomplishment for all 10 JP to have raced! The J16 8+ narrowly missed out on winning their final against Monkton. Hugo (E) and Lawrence (G) were in the 2x and won their race convincingly. Martha(E) raced in her 1x but narrowly lost against her opponent. Both J15 4+’s took to the water and both raced twice. Michael’s (C)4+ made it to the final and won! Overall it was a great day of racing for the club. (SG)

Sunday 12th May 2024

Chess v Stowe Congress (n):

Jaden won the U14 with section with 5.5/6, with Yourui 4th on 4/6.

Rex joint first (runner up on tiebreak) with the U16 champion on 4.5/6

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

Sporting quote for the week:

“It's not about your goals that make you achieve, it's about your commitment to the process of achieving them”. – NCAA Basketball Coach, John Calipari

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

14th May 2024

X: @WinCollSports