It was a mixed bag of results this week for the Shiplake cricketers; Saturday saw the teams taking on Reading Blue Coat, with some fantastic wins and some rather disappointing losses. However, on Wednesday the teams took on Claires Court School to great success, winning six out of the seven matches that were played. The 1st IX rounders team won their first fixture against Leighton Park School, with a score of 15.5 to 11. The tennis players, however, had a difficult week, with the only win coming from Colts VI against Our Lady’s Abingdon, with a win of 4-0. Lauren McNally became the first pupil to participate in an equestrian event for Shiplake, scoring well in dressage and hopefully leading the way for a team to take part in these events in the future.

Cricket

2nd XI (99 for 5) vs Claires Court (98 for 7)

‘On Wednesday we travelled to Claire’s Court to take part in our second away day of the season, knowing that we were in fine form having dismantled Churches. Finn Arbuckle lost the toss off and was forced to bowl first, against the teams wishes. However, Andy Fearn quickly lifted spirits due to bowling two wickets from the first two balls. We continued to take wickets throughout the game, including a great run out by Justin Van Vuuren, with standout performer Fearn taking three wickets from four overs. Claires Court finished on a measly 97 for 7.

We started off with a quick succession of losing wickets with Fearn and Todd Harman failing to make any impact with the bat. From the rubble, Van Vuuren and Ben Atkins made a partnership of over 50 runs, with Atkins being the high scorer with 34 runs (Van Vuuren scored 24). We were then left with a small run chase from the remaining overs; with Freddie Davis getting out first ball, this looked in doubt. However, Charlie Bertram came to save the team, smashing a 6 not-out to finish the game along with Harry Ingram, who made it to 10 not-out. We’d Like to thank Mr Rose for alternative advice throughout the game and for taking us.

Highlights: Fearn 4 overs 3 for 15. Atkin 3 overs 1 for 12

Batting: Van Vuuren 24. Atkins 34. Ingram 10 not out.

They scored 98 for 7 off 20 overs, we scored 99 with 3 balls left for the loss of 5 wickets.’

Finn Arbuckle (Year 13)

On Saturday, the 2nd XI took on Reading Blue Coat, winning 130 for 7 vs 129 for 5 (Shiplake won by 3 wickets).

3rd XI (147 for 6) vs Reading Blue Coat (173 for 8)

‘The 3rd XI just fell short of victory in their opening fixture against Reading Blue Coat School on Wednesday, losing by 33 runs. Shiplake bowled first, with Harry Rees taking a hat trick of wickets. However, Blue Coat’s shot selection was accurate and they were able to pick out the gaps between our fielders and score 173 runs off 20 overs. With a large total to chase, Shiplake had to be aggressive with their batting. Captain Seb Rivett got an admirable 21 runs before he was caught out. Tom Coates scored an impressive 38 and Josh Lloyd and Harry Rees accumulated 18 and 28 runs respectively. Despite their excellent endeavours we just fell short of their total, with 147 runs.’

Mr Duncan Traynor

U14A (121 for 3) vs Reading Blue Coat (129 for 7)

‘Shiplake welcomed Blue Coat for the first home match of the season, with the visitors winning the toss and electing to bat. The bowling attack limited Blue Coat to only 54 for 4 from the first 13 overs, with Theodorou (3-23) and Taylor (2-29) in particular doing the damage. However, Blue Coat stabilised and, led by their captain, began punishing some stray leg side bowling and working runs through the field. Excellent bowling in particular from Ed Atkinson (3-12) limited the damage but Blue Coat struck 33 runs off the last 3 overs, giving a more respectable total of 129 for the innings, despite excellent fielding.

After an early loss of Theodorou, the Shiplake response was effectively martialled by Livingstone-Smith and Durcan, who took it to opening bowlers. However, the second bowling change gave the boys a sharp test. Shiplake were only able to reach 51 for 2 off 13 overs, losing Durcan in the process. Livingstone-Smith, the backbone of the innings for over an hour, finally fell for a well-earned 32, leaving Matt Healy and Alex Barlett to chase 68 off 10 overs. Continued tight bowling from Blue Coat limited the Shiplake scoring for the first 5 overs before Barlett was finally able bring the fightback, creating havoc in the outfield with some fine boundaries. The partnership smashed 38 off the last 5, including 11 off the last over, but it was sadly too late to grab the win, coming up 8 runs short on 121 for 3. Despite the loss, it was strong performance by the team who represented the school excellently and should hold their heads up high.’

Mr Jim Reynolds

U14B (69 for 6) vs Reading Blue Coat (120 for 4)

‘The U14B team were hampered by some injuries and late call ups to the A squad but hoped to continue their good form against a strong Blue Coat side. Shiplake won the toss and elected to field. The Blue Coat batsmen were up to the challenge of our bowling attack and eventually finished the innings on 120 runs.

Shiplake knew they had a tough challenge, requiring a run a ball to reach their target. The team batted well but the scoring unfortunately didn’t keep up with the required run rate, mostly thanks to some excellent fielding from the opposition. Whilst the team batted for the full innings, they were only able to reach 69 runs from their allotted 20 overs.

Whilst this was a tough defeat for the team to endure, there were still positives to be had, especially Max Way’s display as opening batsman and Ben Ferguson’s confident wicket keeping. The team are now looking forward to an away fixture at Pangbourne next Saturday to get their winning season back on track.’

Mr Marcus Milburn

U13A (142 for 3) vs Claires Court (79 for 4)

‘On Tuesday, Shiplake set out to avenge last year’s two narrow defeats to Claires Court. The game, played on the 1st XI pitch, was set up to be evening contested. Seth Looney and Jamie Macleod opened positively and Jamie’s defensive strokes allowed Seth to start finding his rhythm and soon the boundaries were found with frequency. When Jamie was out, Jai Angell came in and look very composed. Unfortunately for Jai, a superb piece of fielding by the Claires Court captain caught him slightly flat-footed between the wickets and a run, which was very much on, became a sensational run out. The Shiplake batsmen all came in and made a score, with Milo batting well again and Henry Poustie and Ollie Lewis ending the game as the match-winning partnership. Ollie hit three beautiful fours and Henry got bat on ball to the pace bowlers, cleverly sending the ball through gaps, therefore picking up 2s and 3s at will. The running between the wickets was excellent as was the leadership, general communication and team spirit. With an impressive 142 posted of the 20 overs, Shiplake looked in charge… and when the opening batsmen and captain from Claires Court was caught by Poustie early on, the game looked done. However, Claires Court hung in there impressively and battled well. After 20 excellent overs with Luke Byca, Matthew Grundy and Ollie Lewis with stand-out figures, the game was won by 63 runs. The only disappointment was that Shiplake did not take more wickets. Seth Looney’s 51 (retired) earned him the Man of the Match award.’

Mr Alex Duncan

U13A (104 for 1) vs Reading Blue Coat (100 all out)

‘On Saturday, the U13A team are on a hot streak and after restricting Blue Coat to 100 all out, Seth Looney scored his second half century in a week and, supported by Macleod and Batchelor – this was enough to win the match by 9 wickets. Well done boys – on to the cup match on Tuesday.’

Mr Duncan

Equestrian

‘Lauren McNally took part in the inter schools one-day event at Calmsden over the bank holiday weekend, in what is thought to be Shiplake’s first official appearance at an equestrian event. In a tough field and on hard ground, Lauren did exceptionally well and recorded an impressive dressage score of 28, before going double clear in the show jumping and cross country. A few time faults meant that Lauren finished just outside of the placings but she can reflect on an excellent opening event of the season and is already looking forward to the next competition where she will hopefully be joined by some of her Shiplake peers to compete as a team.’

Head of Girls’ Games Mr Tom Walter