Sports Report – Cloister Time 2024, Week 6

Tuesday 21st May 2024

Cricket: Development XI v XL Club & Yearlings A v Toynbee School.

T Howard's 3-13 lead the way as our Development side bowled out the XL Club for 83 on a slow pitch on Lords. Wickets were also shard around the young attack, with the more experienced pair of Humphreys and Davies returning braces each. Davies removed both openers in his opening spell before the spinners were brought into the action by the captain for the day Bowder. George rotated his bowlers nicely and got seven of them into the game in the 36 overs it took to claim all 10 wickets.

Some canny bowling by our guests reduced our chase to near disarray as we reached 39-5. However, A Malik then steadied the ship and calmly guided his partnership with J Redfern to the target unscathed. Redfern was watchful for much of the partnership whilst Malik scored well straight early on in his innings before expanding his stroke-play around the ground on his way to an unbeaten 48. (JMB)

On a cloudy Tuesday afternoon the YA walked out for their first County Cup game of the season, a shortened format T20 game against Toynbee school. Toynbee batted first with their opening partners starting strongly before Issac (K) took a brilliant diving catch to dismiss their opener off his own bowling. After this we managed to gain a little more control on the game and with Ray (D) picking up two wickets in quick succession and some strong bowling from Henry F (I) we managed to constrict them to 125, though it wasn't a performance with the ball we were particularly proud of. After we conceded 2 early wickets Ray and Issac guided us home in just under 14 overs hitting 35* (42) and 57* (42) respectively. The YA can take much confidence from this win and look ahead to our next match against St Edwards. (O. Pritchard, X)

Croquet U18A’s v Radley College (a):

Despite the steady rain, this was a great outing for some of our newer and younger players in a friendly fixture, under the experienced wing of August. With thanks to Radley and Blewbury Croquet Club for lending us their beautifully kept and playable lawns. All players learnt something from our one win and three losses, with some promising rising stars making the most of an enjoyable day out, not least Inigo with his victory on lawn 2b. [DIF]

Golf U16s v Bradfield College (a):

It was a rainy and miserable day at Bradfield for this triangular fixture with the hosts and Marlborough College. O Chuen-im (F) started the match off in the first group with a snap hook drive straight into the bushes allowing the opponents to take an early lead. The match ended with 2 birdies from Orca to result in a draw with the Marlborough player and a 1-down loss to the Bradfield player. In the second group, B Lewis (E) played some convincing golf with excellent iron shots into the greens but after a long game he was ultimately overcome by the Bradfield player but won against the Marlborough. P Kitrungrueangkul (C) also played some convincing golf in a neck-and-neck game in which he unfortunately could not beat the Bradfield player but managed to comprehensively defeat his Marlborough opponent. B Khanittaweekul (F) did not play his best but still put up a great showing for the College; he could not turn the game around though, narrowly falling behind his opponents and was sadly defeated by both the Bradfield and Marlborough players. In his second ever game for the college junior team, W Hunt (H) played very well in the fifth group with some lovely short game being executed extremely well. Again though, he was unfortunately unable to catch up to the Bradfield player but managed to beat the Marlborough player coming second in his group. In the sixth group was M Helliwell (B) who played a genuinely amazing game of golf, coming under his handicap with excellent drives played throughout. Monty was the only player from the Winchester team who was able to defeat both Bradfield and Marlborough players coming first in his group. It was a great showing from the lads with lots of lessons to learn. (O Chuen-Im, F)

Bradfield 4 - 1 Winchester

Winchester 3.5 - 1.5 Marlborough

Thursday 23rd May 2024

Athletics v Nitro meet at Marlborough College (a):

Another good job by the team at the Marlborough Nitro meet last Thursday afternoon. In a multi-event format where 4 members of an 8 man team have to compete in every event the senior boys won the their competition. Unfortunately, we were unable to field a full junior team due to some late drop-outs.

The seniors started their successful afternoon with victory in the cumulative long jump whilst Jeffrey, Daiza, and David all won their 70m heats. Gus and Edri managed to pick up some points in javelin even though Anthony and Jeffrey unfortunately fouled both throw. Kaito, Anthony, Daiza and Andre stepped up for the elimination mile with both Kaito and Anthony picking up points. Importantly, the team managed to win both the medley and 4 minute relays. The 4 minute relay saw Jeffrey, Anthony, Gus and Kaito all running continuous 130m legs and we pipped St. Edward’s Oxford in the last 5 seconds to win. We also won the medley relay with a stunning 400m by Andre and strong running from David and Kaito for the 200m legs. (G. Bowden, F)

Cricket: Lords v Marylebone CC (h):

Lords won the toss and elected to field first. We bowled very well, both initially and throughout the MCC innings. Hamish and Amar both bowled excellently at the start; Hamish shaping the ball away from the right hander and Amar into the right handers, enabling Henry to take control. However it was the introduction of George that brought us wickets as he took 3 quick wickets to reduce the MCC to 67-3. Aaron then had an LBW and MCC were 76-4 and at lunch 93-4 from 33 overs.

After lunch the MCC looked to push on. Hamish was relentless and kept bowling some quick balls but the MCC had moved on to 137, when George, returning to the attack, picked up another. Hamish then removed their number 6, a thoroughly deserved wicket, caught behind and MCC decided to declare at 177-7 from 59 overs. This was a huge effort from the lads, George finishing with 4-40 from his 17 overs, Hamish 1-44 from 15, Aaron 1-26, Charlie 1-45.

Once again Charlie and Henry were excellent at the top of the order with good shots both sides of the wicket and good intent with their running. It was such a shame when Charlie was out for 30, but an opening stand of 81 put is in a strong position. Seb and Henry then put on another 49, Henry falling for a very well constructed 72. However, Seb 49* off 61 balls, with 5 x 4s and a six and Jack with a fluent 27* ensured we reached our target off 45.2 overs, an excellent performance and it is now 2 years running that we have beaten the MCC! (PNG)

Tennis v Bryanston School:

The 1st VI have always enjoyed travelling to Bryanston to play on their immaculate grass courts right in front of their magnificent school. Today was no different, and the team got off to a quick start, overcoming Bryanston's big serves, with wins from all 3 pairs in the first 3 sets. The closest match featured our 3rd pair of Latimer and Tait who won 16 of the last 19 points to come back from 5-3 down against Bryanston’s 1st pair, to win 7-5.

Two more wins from our top two pairs sealed the victory at 5-0. Bryanston’s 2nd pair then produced a strong performance to beat our 3rd pair of Latimer and Tait 6-2. In the end, the fixture was won convincingly 8-1, with our 2nd pair of Park and Hammerson-Jones dropping the fewest games of all 3 pairs, winning 6-2, 6-2, and 6-3, and our 1st pair of Oldenhove and Garrett forming an unstoppable duo once again, thanks to Garrett’s massive serves and Oscar’s finishing touch at the net. [M Park, F]

There was only success for our Second team today with our first 9-0 victory of the term. All three pairs very much enjoyed playing on the grass with slices proving particularly effective. The first pair of V. Gueguen (H) and J. Inglis (B) comfortably won all their matches. Both the second and third pairs of J. Sadie (I) & L. Remners (I) and JP Cheng (E) & O. Frost (G) had to fight hard in a tiebreak to win their first match but comfortable victories then ensued. [JP Cheng, E]

It's finally here. The Girls 1st VI Tennis debut. With some top-quality music played on the bus, we set out to Bryanston for the first ever girls tennis fixture. Forming a proper team only four days before the match, the girls had to quickly settle into the game, trying to get used to the new astro courts. Our 1st pair of captain Sophia L. (H) and Bea B. (F) had a brilliant start, taking down their second pair 6-3. Despite having never played together, the pair worked miraculously well. With Bea's excellent groundstrokes and Sophia's aces and attacks at the net, they secured another two clean victories 6-1, 6-1.

Our 2nd pair of Sanvee P. (I) and Diana L. (C) opened their season well and won 6-2 in their first match. The second match lasted quite a while, and the pair unfortunately didn't win crucial game points, losing 2-6. In the final match, there were a few close line decisions, unluckily ending with a 2-6 loss for us. Our 3rd pair Cleo K. (D) and Tabitha P. (I) demonstrated some good levels of tennis today. Their first match was an unfortunate loss 5-6 (no tie-breaks) with Cleo's strong backhand and returns. Despite Tabi's powerful serves, the opponents beat them 6-2. The last match was full of excellent volleys from both, and it was another very close loss 5-6.

Today was an extremely encouraging start for the team, losing narrowly to our opponents 5-4. We look forward to more matches and wins in the future. [S Liu, (H)]

The U15 A & B teams played in a very one-sided match against Bryanston this afternoon, with all pairs winning all of their matches. The A1 pair, D.Kasumov and A.Nottin, and the B2 pair, W.Suksriwong and H.Shen were the most disciplined and effective and earned the most impressive scores. It was a fun afternoon in the sunshine at the Palmer courts, but I know the team will be looking forward to more of a challenge against Radley after Leave Out. [LJR]

A surprisingly sunny and hot day on the Warden's courts promised a great afternoon of tennis for the Yearlings. Ahead of the match, Bryanston was concerned about not giving us a competitive fixture by letting their U15Cs play our Yearlings As. We decided to match their one-year older Bs with our YAs and despite the physical difference, Winchester quickly showed their superior skills. Hard-hitting serves, technical returns and great footwork at the net led to an early sense of optimism. Bryanston boys, however, were brilliant sportsmen, courteous and a cheerful disposition throughout. The opposition coach was very complimentary about our first pair, in particular of Barton's serves: "fierce and accurate". Unfortunately, the match-up was a little one-sided, with Winchester taking every single match. At one point the Bryanston first pair asked whether they could give up! Overall a good day of tennis with fine weather, so nothing to complain about.

Friday 24th May 2024

Cricket: Lords v Reading Blue Coat School (h):

Once again Henry won the toss and elected to bat. Seb and Charlie looked in good form again and started the innings well, Seb in particular hitting a big six in the second over as we looked to make good use of the first powerplay. Both were out in quick succession leaving Henry and James to combine with good rotation of the strike and clever batting as we looked to build towards a decent total. James was bowled reversing for 24, Aaron departed quickly and at 104-4, we were probably looking at a score of around 140.

Stephen Lam then came in and played very well from ball one, striking the ball with excellent timing and fast hands and made 31* from only 18 balls, Henry holding the innings together with an accomplished 65* which meant we posted a very competitive 164-4 from the 20 overs.

In the field Alex set the tone, only going for a single in his first over. Aaron then followed with a couple of quick wickets and it was left to the opening batter to fight a pretty much lone battle. He played a couple of wonderful shots before he was caught well in the deep by Stephen. Reading Blue Coat collapsing to 39 all out, George picking up 3 wickets and Seb 2. We move onto the next round where we will face St Edwards away. (PNG)

Junior Colts A v Salesian College (h), County Schools Cup:

On Friday 24th May the Jun Colts A were back in action for their 2nd round County Cup Match vs Salesian.

On a hot day surprisingly Salesian won the toss and inserted us into bat on what looked like a very good Doggers wicket. We opened up with Vedant and Ayush who looked to get things off to a strong start leaving us 23-1 after 4 overs (Vedant falling for 11). Plum arrived at the crease and looked to score quickly along with Ayush and some boundary flourishes from Fergus who came in at number 4.At the halfway stage Winchester were 57-3 and looked to accelerate quickly towards the second half of the innings. Unfortunately, things did not go our way as we slumped from 57-3 to 91-9 after 20 overs. It was going to take a very good bowling and fielding effort to defend our total.

Salesian managed to chase down our total 6 wickets down with 3 overs to go. With Tom being the pick of the bowlers (4-0-16-2). Lost by 4 wickets (TJF)

Rowing ~ National Schools’ Regatta

Friday 24th May – Sunday 26th May:

The first day of Nat Schools saw our J14 crews take to the water, a J14 4x+ and a J14 8x+. Both crews headed up to Dorney lake early Friday morning, and then raced a time trial of 1000m which then determined which final they made it to. The 4x+ coxed by Miles (F) raced their time trial which was very close with only seconds separating finals. They made it to the C final and came 1st with a 5 second lead. The 8x+ coxed by George (B) raced their time trial and made it into the D final, they had a tough race but did very well and came 6th.

Our busiest day at Dorney was Saturday, 2 J16 4+’s, 1 J15 4+ and Martha (E) making history in her WCh 1x; the first girl from Winchester College to race at the National Schools Regatta. Martha kicked the day off in her 1x time trial getting into the Repechage later in the afternoon which would determine which semi final she got into. After two brilliant 2000m races Martha was into the C/D semi final to be raced on Sunday. The J15 4+ with Harry (B) in the coxing seat, took to the water next for their time trial. They finished in 10th place overall in the time trial placing them in the B final. It was a close race between 2nd and 3rd the whole way down the track and they ended up coming 3rd, a great result. Both J16 4+’s boated for their time trial and both crews looked composed and determined during the time trial. Fergus (A) coxed the A crew while Jamie (I) coxed the B crew. Fergus’ (A) crew made it into the A final and Jamie’s (I) crew the D final. Fergus’ 4+ (A) had a great race and came 6th in a high standard ‘A’ final whilst Jamie’s (I) 4+ got in front and managed to stay in front to win their final.

There were 2 boats racing on the final day of the regatta, Martha (E) in WCh 1x and Hugo (E) and Lawrence (G) in Ch 2x. The 2x was up first for their time trial, rowing well and finishing 5th overall to put them in the A final. Martha (E) then raced her semi final and came 4th putting her in the C final. With little rest Martha (E) raced her final and after a slight wobble on the start had a determined race to finish 7th.

The 2x made their way down to the start line and were soon in a constant battle between 3rd and 4th place but Lawrence (G) and Hugo (E) ended up coming out on top getting a bronze medal! A fantastic race and very exciting to spectate. We had a great National Schools competition this year and it was great to have a full marquee of supporters also. Everyone raced very well!

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

Sporting quote for the week:

“Anyone can have a good day, but you have to be able to perform on a bad day”
Jurgen Klopp

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

3rd June 2024

X: @WinCollSports