450th Anniversary Speech Day Cricket Match

On Friday 27th June, a special cricket match was held on the famous Felsted Front with current pupils playing against Old Felstedians. The Felsted School 1st XI v Robins XI cricket match played a central role in the 450thAnniversary Speech Day celebrations. 
 
The star-studded Robins team included former international players Derek Pringle (e74-77) and John Stephenson (fa74-83). Nick Knight (fb78-88), also a former international player, arrived later in the day to offer his support.

Old Felstedians Rory Burns, Tom Cooper, Will Cooper, Charlie Douglas-Hughes, Jake Foley, Nigel Gadsby, Josh Hunter-Jordan, Ed Hutley and Lloyd Paternott joined Derek Pringle and John Stephenson to form the successful Robins team.

The Robins won the toss and elected to bat first, they posted up an impressive 261/6 off 59.3 overs. Felsted then came to the crease and made a promising start, but slipped to 123-3 after 35 overs. Felsted managed to steady the ship and looked to have moved themselves into a winning position, reaching 219-5, however some excellent bowling from the Robins resulted in three quick wickets and this halted Felsted’s run chase. At 249/8 after 52 overs, the match ended at 8pm as an honourable draw.

After 32 years as President of the Robins Crickets Club, Roger Luckin (a53-57) officially stepped down from his role at the AGM in the morning prior to the match. Roger was originally elected in 1982 and handed the role of President over to Nigel Gadsby (h75-79), who paid tribute to Roger’s dedication to the club over the past three decades.

U15 SEASON REVIEW

Played: 9
Won: 7
Lost: 2
The record is impressive, and the team did play some very good cricket at times.  The batting was based around setting a solid foundation, with Will Buttleman making 218 runs (at 43.6), and Josh King thrashing his way to 244 runs (at 30.5).  This was then supported by the elegant Charlie Latham (224 at an average of almost 75), and the brutal Archie Lucas (162 runs at 27).  The bowling was inconsistent, and occasionally threatened to undo the good work of the batsmen, but Matt Gilham (12 wickets at 11.5) led the seamers well, and is better than he thinks. 
Josh King was probably the most effective bowler with his left arm spin
(9 wickets at 14), while Toby Wilkes' leg spin claimed 12 wickets at 10.8, and was very effective on his day.  Mike Barton, Charlie Latham, Cameron Baile and Ronan Willis all chipped in, and it was good to see Jack Clark coming through.

Some of the fielding was excellent, and Matt Morley-Jacob deserves a special mention here, for his ground fielding, catching and attitude.

As a squad, they were great to work with - very positive, keen to do well, willing to learn, and even to listen sometimes, although they still need to make better use of running between the wickets, and understand the value of bowling straight and full.  All of them would benefit from playing some club cricket, and I hope that most of them will still play some cricket for Felsted in the coming years, despite the pressures of examinations.

Thanks to Nick Lockhart for his help and support, as well as preparing the surfaces on which we have been privileged to play.  Thanks to Mr Gallian for his leadership of the cricket, and to Mr Chamberlain and Mr Sloman for running the other Under 15 teams.

U15 A v Eltham

Saturday 21st June 2014
U15 A v Eltham (home)
Result: Won by 16 runs
Felsted 174 for 6 (30 overs) [W. Buttleman 29, C. Latham 50, A. Lucas 44] Eltham 158 all out (28 overs) [C. Latham 2/30, M. Gilham 3/10, J. King 2/11]

Batting first on a hot day, Felsted raced to 40 before losing Josh King in the 8th over.  Charlie Latham and Will Buttleman added a further 58 for the second wicket, but it was a blistering innings of 44 in just 47 balls from Archie Lucas that set up a challenging total.  Even so, Eltham stuck in the game, by limiting us to just 14 in the last 3 overs, when a total of 200 had been on the cards.

Eltham's reply began badly with an early wicket for Matt Gilham, who bowled a superb 6 overs, taking 3 for 10.  When Josh King took two wickets in the 15th over, Eltham looked down and out at 77 for 4, but Smith (71) and Fuller (37) had other ideas, and with 8 overs to go, both were still at the crease, with just 50 required.  Felsted were flagging.

Captain Charlie Latham brought himself back, and broke the stand first ball, trapping Smith lbw (given by their coach).  Chaos followed, with Gilham (2), Latham and a Mike Barton run out reducing them to 143 for 9.

 Fuller remained, though, and a 5 run penalty for a throw hitting the helmet, was followed by 5 no balls, from a chest high beamer from Mike Barton.  Further chaos, and the game in the balance.  The Eltham number 11, who looked pretty clueless, clung on, while Fuller continued to heave merrily to the leg side (incredibly, all of his 37 runs were scored on the leg side).  With bowling options running out, Latham brought back Mike Barton, whose radar was not quite working at this stage, but the last ball of his over was a knee high full toss, and Fuller, who had been thumping this kind of delivery into the stinging nettles, stopped, thought twice, and chipped a gentle catch to Josh King, to bring victory.

Felsted Girls’ Cricket Team take on MCC!

For the first time in Felsted School history, a Felsted Girls’ Cricket team played on the famous Felsted Front. The girls’ cricket fixture against the MCC marked a special highlight in the 450th anniversary year of the school. 

Both teams were mixed so that each team was composed equally of Felsted and MCC players. The two teams, ‘Felsted’ and ‘MCC’, led by former England players Laura Boorman and Beth Wild respectively, headed out onto the pitch in superb weather conditions.

Laura’s team batted first with C.Atkins and Felsted’s Anastasia May, opening the match. Their early run rate was steady but was checked by the excellent bowling of Felsted Preparatory School Pupil Olivia Snooks, who later claimed 2-17 off her six overs.

After Anastasia was neatly caught at slip, Boorman provided a steady anchor in scoring her 69 runs. J. Heppell also batted well for her 16 runs. Wickets began to fall with pacey bowling from Olivia, three catches from E.Wild, and tight wicket-keeping from Felsted’s Alex Went.

Felsted girls Abi Magee, Poppy Mifsud and MCC Player S.Bi helped Boorman lift ‘Felsted’s’ score after thirty overs to a very respectable 161-9.

The MCC lost three early wickets as a result of Felsted’s Nancy Hebron and S.Bi’s superb bowling. At number three, E.Wild was ideally placed to form a strong partnership with fellow team player E.Porter. After 7 fours and 1 six, E.Wild retired on 52 leaving C.Barrs, D.Lavender and Felsted’s Isabella George to help E.Porter usher the MCC over the winning line.

C.Livesey bowled a great spell to take 3-10 off her three overs. Taylor Timmis swept in to claim two late wickets. Nevertheless, E.Porter, who hit 9 fours and D.Lavender, were too strong for the fielding team.
Elizabeth McLaren, who coaches Girls’ Cricket at Felsted, comments: “This was a superb fixture and the Felsted girls are indebted to the experience and skilled coaching of the MCC players. The spirit of cricket was certainly at the forefront of the whole afternoon and we hope that this will become a regular fixture in the future as Felsted Girls’ Cricket continues to develop and flourish.”  



Photo: Felsted School Girls’ XI Cricket Team and the MCC Women’s Team with Umpires Mr Nick Lockhart and Mr Charles Allen

U15 A v Oakham

Saturday 14th June 2014
U15 A v Oakham (away)
Result: Won by 18 runs

Felsted 145/5 (30 overs) [W. Buttleman 50, C. Latham 37] Oakham 127 all out (27.2 overs) [M. Barton 2/25, J. King 2/20, T. Wilkes 2/22, J. Clark 2/21]

Following the disappointment of losing out in the semi-finals of the Essex Cup, a fixture away at Oakham was a great opportunity to show that this team had some character.  Playing 30 overs a side, Will Buttleman again anchored the innings, making 50, while Charlie Latham made a good 37.  At one stage, we were 107 for 1, with 9 overs remaining, and 175 was on the cards, but Oakham fought hard, and limited us to 145 for 5, despite Mike Barton coming in and hitting a 6 to get off the mark.

With Oakham 55 for 0 after 12 overs, hopes were fading fast, but the spinners, Josh King and Toby Wilkes bowled very well, taking two wickets each, and slowing the run scoring, to such effect that Oakham were floundering at 84 for 5 after 21.  With Jack Clark and Mike Barton also chipping in with two wickets, they fell away from 100 for 5 to 109 for 9, and we started to relax, but just too soon!  The Oakham number 10 took 17 from the 27th over, to bring them within sight of victory, before Barton took the final wicket for a famous victory.

U15 A v KEGS

Tuesday 10th June 2014
Result: Lost by 8 wickets

Felsted 120 for 4 (20 overs) (C. Latham 52*), KEGS 121 for 2 (18.5 overs)

After Saturday's fixture at Oundle was cancelled, it was good to get back into action quickly, with the Essex semi-final against KEGS. 

Winning the toss on a good pitch, it made sense to bat first, but the early loss of openers Lucas and King put us on the back foot for the first time in a while.  Charlie Latham held the innings together with a fine half century, well supported by Sam Holland (16) and Ned Potter (15), but the caution demanded by the situation meant that the final score of 120 was only just competitive.

KEGS came out positively, and it took a brilliant catch by Matt Morley Jacob to take the first wicket at 33.  After this, despite trying seven bowlers, Felsted could not break through, until it was too late.  Ollie Phillips for KEGS made 69 from just 56 balls, and by the time he was well caught on the boundary by Archie Lucas, the game was all over.

Good luck to KEGS in the Essex final.  For us, we move on to face Oakham on Saturday.

U15 A v St Martin's

Tuesday 4th June 2014
Result: Won by 8 wickets

St Martin's: 67 all out (20 overs) (T. Wilkes 3/9, W. Buttleman 2/4)
Felsted 71 for 2 (8.3 overs) (J. King 27)

Despite a terrible forecast, and threatening skies, Felsted's Essex Cup quarter final went ahead against St Martin's.  With the visitors batting first in cold and windy conditions, the bowlers were put under pressure by opening batsman Tredgett, who made a breezy 15, but once he was out, there was little resistance.  Charlie Latham bowled well, but Toby Wilkes and Will Buttleman ran through the tail, as St Martin's fell away from 33-1 to 67 all out.

In response, Josh King took the attack to the bowlers, smashing 27 from just 14 deliveries, and with good support from Matt Morley Jacob (14) and Charlie Latham (19 not out), Felsted progressed smoothly to the semi finals, due to be played next week.

A sterner challenge awaits at the weekend with an away trip to Oundle.