The Wykehamist
first. The pitch was by far the most picturesque we had played on so far, surrounded on all sides by thick jungle, though the boundaries were like that of an under 11 club game – not the largest. The opposition made the most of this reaching 219 off their 20 overs with one batsman notching up eleven sixes on his way to 98( 44). Archie L bowled superbly in the face of such destructive hitting, picking up both of our wickets, aided by a special catch from James Kennedy( D, 2021-). Despite the tall order, we knew, given the strength and depth of the team and the dimensions of the ground, that the chase was possible. James K and Seb M began well, keeping up with the rate, but some good bowling meant that we only reached 179, with Seb and Stan making fluent knocks. But the highlight of the day was a special moment which embodied the spirit of cricket perfectly: coming back for a second run, James K slipped, and the keeper gathered the ball, though instead of taking the bails he allowed James to get up and make his ground. Many of the team admitted they might not have done the same, making the moment even more impressive.
For our final game of the tour we had the great pleasure of playing at the Galle international stadium in two T10s versus Merchant Taylor’ s school. Batting first we reached 116 with Stanley making 50( 17) and Amaar M bowling excellently, helping us to win by a comfortable 30 runs. However, we fell 14 runs short in the second game, partly due to being in something of a rush to make our flight.
This capped off what was an utterly unforgettable tour, and we must of course give special thanks to the coaches: Mr Gover, Miss Jones, Mr Taylor, Mr Wilkinson and most of all Mr Burridge whose meticulous organisation greatly enhanced the tour. Bring on the season!
Stanley Askew( K, 2021-)
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