It was an interesting week for Shiplake; a number of fixtures took place across the week, with some very positive results for the improving players. Rounders also kicked off this week, with the girls putting in impressive performances both batting and fielding, earning them a win against local rivals Leighton Park School.

Cricket

1st XI (182-6) – (181-7) South Oxfordshire Amateurs

‘On Wednesday 10 May, the 1st XI won their fourth match of a successful season, chasing down 181 in 31 overs to beat the South Oxfordshire Amateurs side in our annual declaration match with the invitational side. Winning the toss and electing to bowl, Shiplake started well, with both Callum Creighton and Lewis Bishop picking up early wickets.

The best thing about this fixture is that the boys get to play against some top class players and this year was no different. Former Hampshire player and current Berkshire 1st XI batsman Richard Morris looked every bit the top player he was, making containing runs very difficult. However, Callum Theodorou’s off spin was working and he bowled 15 overs unchanged in taking 3 for 62. It was Joe Tucker that made the key breakthrough with the SOA on 151 for 3, when he bowled Morris for a blistering 79 off 42 balls.

Some excellent tight bowling from Ben Westbrook-Burr, Freddie Bowcock and Miles Bridgman meant that the SOA declared on 181 for 7. This left Shiplake 33 overs to chase down the total. The innings began very well with openers Oliver Brown and Josh Howard both looking set and comfortable. When Brown departed for 30, with the score on 52, Howard took over attacking the SOA attack, reaching 50 off 55 balls. Tucker (20) and Bridgman (28) continued to chase down the target with Sam Neil (20 not out) and Callum Creighton (12 not out) finishing the job with two overs and four wickets to spare.’

Mr Jonnie Howorth

2nd XI (75-3) – (74 all out) Forest School

‘We won the toss and elected to bowl. Our opening partnership of bowlers of Andrew Fearn and Ben Atkin started well with Ben Atkin taking three wickets whilst Andy kept the other end tight. From here wickets started to fall, with Charlie Bertram taking four wickets from three overs resulting in Forest being bowled out after 12 overs for 75. Within this the skipper Finbar Arbuckle gave his contribution of the season by taking a fluke of a catch at slip when the ball hit his hand and stayed in. Tom Ibbitson also snared two catches in the covers. Shiplake started their innings by losing three quick wickets of Ben Atkin, Tom Gorringe and Tom Coates leaving us struggling at 18 for 3. However, Todd Harman and Freddie Davis both scored 26 runs putting on an impressive 50 + partnership to see out the game with relative ease taking the season to four wins out of four.

Special mention to Freddie and Todd for an excellent innings, Ben and Charlie for great bowling, Finbar for admitting his catch was a fluke and Tom Gorringe for brilliant wicket keeping.’

Finn Arbuckle, Year 13

3rd XI vs Pangbourne College

‘Pangbourne won the toss and chose the bowl first. Opening batsman, Seb Rivett got a commendable 15 runs and Jack Rees, achieved a well fantastic 33 runs. Once again, Ben Monson was on hand to bring up our total, with 39 not out, to give Shiplake a total of 125 runs for 6 wickets off 20 overs. Some clinical bowling from Shiplake kept Pangbourne to a low batting total, to ensure a comfortable victory. Max Haynes and Tom Ibbitson both got a brace of wickets, with Ben Monson, Josh Lloyd and Spence Smith picking up one each. However, some spin bowling from Harry Rees was too much for the Pangbourne batsman, who conceded three wickets to him, leaving them with a score of 56 all out.’

Mr Duncan Traynor

3rd XI (122-7) – (121-6) Wellington College

‘Wellington won the toss and chose to bat first and after their 20 overs scored a total of 121 for 5 wickets. Joe Booth claimed two of these wickets with Ben Monson, Max Haynes and Josh Lloyd also claiming one each. It was then Shiplake’s turn to bat and after a slow start we look unable to chase 122 runs for the victory, sitting on 62 runs after 12 overs. However, our middle order batsmen, Ben Monson and Louis Ashcroft turned things around for us, treating as to an array of boundary shots. Ben Monson scored 48 not out and Louis Ashcroft 37 not out, attaining the 122 required with just 5 balls remaining.’

Mr Duncan Traynor

U15B (97 all out) – (98-9) Pangbourne College

‘Shiplake U15B welcomed Pangbourne to the College on a sunny Saturday afternoon and after losing the toss, were sent into bat. Pangbourne opened the bowling fiercely and within 2 overs, Shiplake had lost both Mason Thorne and Billy Parrish to a couple of great catches in the field. Will Kayll came into bat next and faced 6 balls before also being caught attempting to play one over long off and at 3-2, things were looking shaky for Shiplake. However, Max Smith and Adam Porter managed to build a partnership and 20 runs between them and the now erratic bowling of Pangbourne ensured the extras kept Shiplake’s scoring ticking over. After being bowled out in the 19th over, Shiplake had amassed a defendable 92 runs before heading in for tea.

After the break, Shiplake opened the bowling with George Lawrence and Parrish, with Lawrence taking a wicket in his first over and Parrish only conceding 2 runs. This filled the Shiplake team with confidence that they could hold on to the win and Porter, Kayll, Parrish and Thorne all took wickets in a much improved bowling display. In the 18th over, Pangbourne were left requiring 8 runs from 2 overs, with only 1 wicket remaining. The spectators on the side-line did their best to encourage the Shiplake team and the win was almost sealed but a dropped catch, followed by a wide delivery, presented Pangbourne with the win in the final over.

A much improved display from Shiplake, but there is plenty of work to be done with the bat in training before the fixture against Oratory on Wednesday.’

Mr Tom Armstrong

U13A (133-6) – (98-4) Falcon Prep

‘This is the first time this fixture has taken place and it was a great morning of cricket. Under grey and threatening skies, Jai Angell won the toss for Shiplake and decided to bat first. Seth Looney, on the back of two half-centuries, opened the batting with Taj Angell. They both looked in good form but struggled early on against an excellent bowling partnership from Falcon’s Aidan and Tom. Taj lost his wicket to a superb delivery for 6 runs and Seth went on to score 34 before being caught out. Luke Byca, making his debut with the bat played with real steel and he kept his wicket intact despite the spitting rain - supporting Charlie Moss, Jai Angell, Matt Grundy and Archie Arnold. As the weather dried up, Jai took advantage of the short boundaries and hit 6 sixes along his way to a stunning half century in just 18 balls. With the other batsmen moving the pace along, Shiplake reached 133 for 6 of the 20 overs.

The Shiplake bowling is a real strength and after 5 overs, the Falcon’s reply was only 12 runs, 8 of which were conceded as wides. Milo Connolly, behind the wickets showed real class and instincts, keeping the batsmen honest. However, the opener for Falcons protected his wicket and, supported by a fine innings from year 6 player Fin, scored over 30 runs in a fine knock. This meant that Falcons required 52 from the last 5 overs, which, after the slow start, looked possible. However, Shiplake then introduced Jamie Macleod and Matt Grundy to the attack, which kept the run rate down. Looney and Angell then saw the game out, winning by 35 runs.

An entertaining match and the 5th win in a row for the U13A squad. A promising start to the season!’

Mr Alex Duncan

Tennis

1st and 2nd VI vs The Oratory School

With the sun shining on the lush grass courts and a selection of scones at the side, this could have been Wimbledon. However, this was Oratory and during the warm up it was clear that we had a game on our hands. The uneven bounce and enhanced spin made for some wonderful rallies between the pairs and after the first round of matches the honours were all even with Marcus Hillman/Alex Sutton and Miles Firth/Charlie Dodd picking up the points. After a quick tea break and a discussion with parents about whether the jam or the cream should be put on a scone first, the boys headed back out into the blistering heat and battled hard in some tight games. Hugh Rutledge/Alex Gray and Hassan Rubbani/Josh Towell eventually settled the match with wins over their opposite pairs; 7-4 win to Shiplake.

Rounders

Girls 1st VI 15.5-11 Leighton Park

‘Last Wednesday the girls first rounders team made their way to Leighton Park for the first match of the season. After a successful first innings we lead 5.5 to 3. We began the second innings with amazing batting from the whole team giving us a 7-point lead going into the second half of the innings. Thanks to great bowling from Brooke Creighton, and catching by Jem Evans, who achieved Player of the Match, we got Leighton Park out on their twelfth good ball. This gave us time to play a third innings, we maintained our strong lead and won 15.5 to 11.’

Elizabeth Findlay, Year 13

Girls 1st VI 12-16.5 Reddam House

‘Last Wednesday the girls first rounders team made their way to Reddam House for the second match of the season. We began the innings batting and finished with a positive five rounders, however Reddam also put up a strong batting team which put them in the lead. In the second innings we knew we had to work hard to improve our score, and with a reposition of our fielding team we successfully managed to get Reddam all out which helped us draw closer to their score. We had time to play a third innings, where we once again put up a strong bat and great fielding especially from Hannah Simonds-Gooding and Lauren McNally. Despite the hard work Reddam won 16.5 to 12.’