Tomorrow, in action at home, are all the Foals, selected over three teams against Aldro.
All Colts cricketers are selected across three teams playing away. Please note, Colts B are playing at Elstead CC; Thursley Rd, Elstead, Godalming GU8 6DU.
Whilst we have been struggling for numbers for Colts C, we are nonetheless taking a diminished team under the Colts C banner, who will mix in with Aldro pupils to play a pairs game. The A and C teams are at Aldro School itself.
We and Aldro, our new school in our fixture list, are looking forward to the occasion.
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th XIs will play internal matches at Gater Field, Garnier Road. Unfortunately, the West Hill Park 8s, scheduled for the 1st team, has fallen through. We aim to start play at 1345 and be back at school for a 1630 collection.
Under 9 (Year 4) have activities based at school including swimming with collection from 1530.
There is also senior athletics (collection from 1530) and tennis (collection from 1530).
Unfortunately, fly-fishing continues to be cancelled owing to staff absence. The boys will move to cricket and athletics groups. The cricketers have been selected for the matches with Aldro – please let me know if there are any problems. I’m working to rectify the fly-fishing issue.
On Friday, Under 8 (Year 3) are all playing away at Elstree. Play has now been scheduled to start at 1400. I expect play to end by 1600 and to be back at school by 1700.
Under 9s are all at home to Elstree (across two teams). Again, we are aiming to start at 1400 and finish around 1600. Boys will be walked back to school by staff to change and collect belongings before signing out. They may, of course, stay for prep and commoners and School of Rock depending on your arrangements.
On Saturday we have our return fixture with Twyford.
The 2nd XI, Colts B and Foals C will be at home.
The 1st and 3rd XIs, Colts A, Colts B, Foals A, Foals B and all U9s will be away.
On Sunday, Colts A are in a 7-a-side tournament at Winchester College. Meet, ready to play, in the Pilgrims’ yard at 0845 for a walk across the road. The first match is 0930 and presentations at 1430. Lunch and refreshments are provided to players and parents.
Also on Sunday, good luck to our team of fencers as they compete in the IAPS championships at Millfield School.
Match Reports
Wednesday 10 May
Pilgrims’ 1st XI v Twyford
25 overs
Twyford 104/5 (24.1) (Thomas R 54*/Thomas R 3-16)
Pilgrims’ 103/5 (25)
Pilgrims’ lost by 5 wickets
A bittersweet afternoon. The 1st XI were hosted by Winchester College on Wednesday. Not only did the boys get to play on ‘Lords’, but this was done in style, in coloured kit and white ball! What a spectacle and special experience for the team! Pilgrims’ batted first, the opening partnership of Rory K and Thomas R looked composed in the middle, picking off the bad ball and rotating strike effectively. Rory fell for 15, but Aditya S offered a reliable and measured innings to support Thomas at the other end. The boys batted extremely well. Thomas paced his innings well, securing a well deserved 54*. An excellent achievement and one worthy of winning a fixture!
The second innings took a very similar script. Twyford were rocked early on by an exception one-handed grab by Aditya S – a catch, that could easily take catch of the season at this early stage! Sublime. Pilgrims’ started to turn the screw, stemming the run flow in the middle overs and climbing on top of the game. Thomas R made a breakthrough, and before we knew it, found himself on a hattrick! Not to be this time, but a great spell. Tywford’s no.3 batted a patient innings, scoring a well deserved 44. As the overs left drew in, it was very hard to say which way the game would go. It did make for some very exciting viewing. So exciting that past Pilgrims’, studying at the College, left their training session to support from the boundary! Pilgrims’ looked on top as the runs dried up. However, a couple of loose deliveries put Twyford right back in the mix. Cruelly, with just 5 balls left, Twyford surpassed our score. The team were understandably disappointed. They will learn from this, building resilience and picking up key skills in managing run flow. A huge thank you to Winchester College for hosting us, what a lovely opportunity! We look forward to the return fixture in a couple of weeks! MTG
2nd XI v Twyford
20 overs
Pilgrims’ 36 all out
Twyford 38 for 1
Pilgrims’ lost by 9 wickets
Captain Rohan T expressed his wish prior to the match to bat second. However, Twyford won the toss, electing to field first. The meant the seconds had to put themselves in the position of chasing batters to push the run rate. Twyford’s tight bowling didn’t afford much scoring opportunity, demonstrated by their four maidens and one wicket maiden. When the odd loose delivery came through, we didn’t manage to connect for any runs. To take a positive, we managed to bat through the innings.
The message at the half-way stage was, whatever the score, Twyford still had to go out there and get it. If we could keep the bowling full and straight, we could be as restrictive. Rohan had an lbw decision upheld in the third over and Freddie kept tidily enough behind the stumps. A couple of half chances were missed by way of catches, but Twyford did punish short deliveries and started to hit out, surpassing the total in the seventh over. Edward B caught a high, skied hit, but sadly it was from a free hit, so didn’t count. The rain stayed away, it was an enjoyable game and there are things to work on going forward. AJS
3rd XI v Twyford
20 Overs
Pilgrims’ 16 all out
Twyford 17 for 1
Pilgrims’ lost by 9 wickets
This was a very chastening day at the office. Twyford won the toss and elected to bowl first. Sadly, this rather exposed our batting fragilities and, in the face of good, accurate (but not devastatingly quick) bowling, we capitulated. A lack of positive foot movement and willingness to get the front foot to the pitch of the ball, alongside our longstanding issue with playing defensively to the straight balls, meant that we were skittled in 10 overs. Seven boys registered ducks and only 5 runs were scored off the bat. Ultimately, until we can improve in this department, this season will be a long one.
Our bowlers didn’t really have much of a target to defend! However, Minwoo C, Neil C and Seb B all bowled tidily, with Seb picking up a consolation wicket in his over, but Twyford got there comfortably in 4 overs. There were a couple of chances in the field, but both were put down, sadly, although it wouldn’t have made a difference to the outcome. If we can get our batting up to the standard of our bowling, this team could be competitive, but cricket requires both skill sets to be proficient, and currently, this isn’t the case. A bit of a tough result to take but plenty of things we can go away and work on! WD
4th XI v Twyford
20 Overs
Twyford 160 for 1
Pilgrims’ 77 for 8
Pilgrims’ lost by 83 runs
Pilgrims’ began the afternoon in the field and looked tidy, and at times impressive. Bertie C bowled 3 overs tremendously, having only 9 runs scored against him, with George S also keeping the run rate down. Twyford formed a dangerous partnership early on however and gradually the runs began to flow. 160 for 1 at tea.
Pilgrims’ knew that chasing down such a high score would be a challenge, but they gave it a good go! Quite a few extras from Twyford helped the boys along, but they struggled to reach the boundary, sneaking the odd single here and there. Pilgrims’ wickets began to fall, but they managed to see out the innings with a total of 77. A grand effort. JB
Colts A v Twyford
20 overs
Pilgrims’ 78 all out from 18.4 overs (Charles N 46)
Twyford 82/3 from 13.0 overs (Rian D. 1-15; Bertie B. 1-15)
Pilgrims’ lost by 7 wickets
Prior to the match, we sat down as a team and discussed our strategy for our innings, having won the toss and choosing to bat. The goal was clear and simple, build an innings and value your wicket. A jittery start saw the top four in and out in relatively quick succession, and with the score at 7-4 from fours overs, it appeared the team talk had never happened! That is until Charles stepped forward and did what we had agreed: build an innings from scratch – no need to cheaply throw away one’s wicket. After a measured start, he gradually grew in confidence and increasingly hit the ball sweetly, especially with anything on middle and leg being powerfully pulled to the boundary. Twyford were very sporting in their increasing appreciation of his shot repertoire and the score began to head in the right direction, but defending sub-80 was always going to be a tall order.
One aspect that has been lacking in this team of late has been their support and encouragement of each other in the field, an important part of any good fielding team – make the opposition feel as if they are on the back foot. The team started vocally in the field, but as the runs started to come, it was evident they were caught in between trying to stop the boundaries and the quick singles – the reality of defending a modest total. Despite the loss, the positives keep coming, and the team continues to develop and move in the right direction. AA
Colts B v Twyford
Pilgrims’: 58 all out
Twyford: 184/0
Pilgrims’ lost by 126 runs
This was a very tough outing for the Colts Bs, and it gave us a lot to think about. Our fielding on the day was not as precise as it could have been, especially against a team that were exceptionally handy with the bat. Twyford scored at will from the outset, and lost no wickets on their cruise to 184.
The Colts Bs then came into bat with much enthusiasm, and a desire to score quick runs; however, the collapse started early on in the innings, and we were only able to accrue a total of 58 runs in reply. There is much to work on ahead of our next fixture against Ludgrove. CXC
Foals A v Twyford
Twyford 145-6
Pilgrims’ 36 all out
Pilgrims’ lost by 109 runs
A difficult afternoon’s work for the Foals As today, left the boys with much to reflect on, and some good lessons to be learnt going forwards. Pilgrims’ bowled accurately and tightly, with fewer wides and no balls than previous games – one of our main targets going into the game. Theo also kept well behind the stumps, leaking away very few byes throughout the innings. Archie struck with a wicket in the fourth over, however a strong Twyford partnership took the momentum away from Pilgrims’, who struggled to beat the bat. Some promising spin bowling from Seb, Christain and Edward kept the run rate lower than it could have otherwise been, but a couple of dropped chances, missed run out opportunities and some excellent batting meant Twyford finished with a very respectable 145 off their 20 overs.
Going into bat, the boys were asked to put the Twyford score to their back of their minds and focus on getting some valuable time in the middle. Partnerships were often on the brink of blossoming, but a couple of mix-ups running between the wickets and, again, some very accurate bowling meant the batting unit could never really get going in the chase. Pilgrims’ finished well short of the target, but I was pleased to see eleven boys still smiling at the close, leaving the team to walk away with more valuable experience – albeit one to not dwell on too much. Drills for our next practises will be on taking catches in the inner circle, and on running and calling between the wickets. Well done boys. CAL
Friday 12 May
Emerging athlete event
Hosted by Perins School at Winchester Athletics Track
The event was aimed at those athletes who are not a schools regular competition squad. We were invited to compete against Perrins, Mountbatten, Tonybee, Eggar’s School, St Swithun's, Swanmore, and Weydon School. Most schools understood the assignment and selected the appropriate level of athlete; however, some may have selected some slightly stronger athletes.
Our athletes represented themselves well, and we had some great results, and many boys ran personal best times. The enthusiasm and enjoyment from our athletes was really rewarding, and I was so pleased with our team selection to be able to give boys opportunities to compete on top class facilities against other schools. Unfortunately, our Year 8 200m runners were so caught up in the atmosphere of the occasion that they missed their event. Luckily, they were allowed a run out in the relay!
Please see below for results and times.
Event
|
Pupil
|
Time
|
Position
|
Personal bests/Seasons best ESAA award scheme
|
Yr7 600m
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adityia S
|
2:14
|
6th
|
SB
|
|
Tobi O
|
2:17
|
7th
|
PB
|
|
Orlando S
|
2:23
|
9th
|
PB
|
Yr 8 800m
|
|
|
|
|
|
James P *
|
2:52
|
3rd
|
PB
|
|
William C
|
3:04
|
5th
|
PB
|
Yr8 300m
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tristan Z
|
53
|
5th
|
|
|
Orson S
|
54.4
|
6th
|
PB
|
Yr7 200
|
|
|
|
|
|
George S
|
32.71
|
2nd
|
PB
|
|
Louis M
|
37.39
|
6th
|
SB
|
Yr 8 100m
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joe W
|
14.6
|
2nd
|
|
|
Kelvin R
|
15.62
|
4th
|
|
|
Alex H
|
15.7
|
5th
|
PB
|
|
Henry B
|
19.3
|
7th
|
PB (by an incredible 4 seconds!)
|
Yr 7 150m
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zander F
|
24.79
|
5th Heat 1
|
|
|
James P
|
24.95
|
5th Heat 2
|
|
|
Orlando S
|
28.73
|
7th Heat 2
|
|
Yr7 80m
|
|
|
|
|
|
Neil C
|
11.8
|
2nd Heat 1
|
|
|
Sammy P
|
13.48
|
5th Heat 2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yr 7 4x100m
|
|
|
|
|
|
Neil C, Sammy P, Tobi O, Zander F
|
01:05.8
|
3rd
|
|
|
George S, James P, Louis M, Orlando S
|
01:09.2
|
5th
|
|
Yr 8 4X100m
|
|
|
|
|
|
Conrad B, Patrick C, Ben T, Kelvin R
|
01:01.6
|
3rd
|
|
|
Alex H, Michael K, Orson S, Tristan Z
|
01:05.3
|
5th
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gold ESAA award
|
|
(*entered as missed 600m)
|
|
|
Silver ESAA award
|
|
|
|
|
Bronze ESAA award
|
Saturday 13 May
Ludgrove reports to follow next week.
Monday 15 May
The Ski Team made their debut at the IAPS Indoor Skiing Championships. I look forward to sharing news and photos next week. Congratulations to all those who competed.
Andrew Short
Director of Sport