Newsletters

Tomorrow, we have cricket matches with Sherfield School for our Years 7 & 8s with Stroud School for Years 5 & 6, amongst our other activities.

On Thursday, we have Year 5 & 6 athletes in action at Radley School. Mr Cleaver is in the process of directly contacting those involved, as well as the team being published on SOCS.

Well done to our fencers who compete in the IAPS National Championships at Millfield School on Sunday. Year 7 pupils Leo L placed 5^th and Teddy E placed 9^th, both fantastic achievements from a field of around thirty competitors.

Please note: To help with the integration of our new music lesson scheduling system, we need to revert to pupils' full names on SOCS teamsheets, and so must re-instate password protection for access to them.

The password will be: 1645 - and will change each term.

Team	Opposition	Venue Details	Start	Return
Wednesday 22 May 2024
Multi-Sport	GAMES - Coaching	Home | Main School	14:00	15:30
Fly-Fishing	GAMES - Coaching	Home | Gater Field	14:00	16:30
1st XI	Sherfield School	Away	14:30	18:00
2nd XI	Sherfield School	Home | Bailey	14:30	17:15
3rd XI	Sherfield School	Away	14:30	18:00
4th XI	Sherfield School	Neutral | Gater Field, Winchester College	14:30	17:30
5th XI	GAMES - Coaching	Home | Cricket Nets	14:00	15:30
Colts A XI	Stroud School, Romsey	Home | Wolvesey	14:15	17:00
Colts B XI	Stroud School, Romsey	Neutral | Gater Field, Winchester College	14:15	17:30
Colts C XI	Stroud School, Romsey	Home | New Piece	14:15	17:00
Foals A XI	Stroud School, Romsey	Away | Wellington Sports Ground	14:15	17:00
Foals B XI	Stroud School, Romsey	Away | Wellington Sports Ground	14:15	17:00
Foals C XI	GAMES - Coaching	Home	14:00	15:30
Year 4 Games	Swimming & Cricket	Home | Pool & Grid	13:30	15:30
Sailing	Sailing at SWAC	Neutral | SWAC, Southampton. SO14 3FL	14:30	18:30
Tennis	GAMES - Coaching	Home | Warden's Garden	14:00	15:30
Athletics	GAMES - Coaching	New Piece | Sprints, Jumps, Throws	14:00	15:30
Thursday 23 May 2024
Athletics	Radley - Prep Schools Athletics	Radley College, Oxfordshire, OX14 2HR	14:30	18:00

Congratulations to...

Barnaby (Year 8), who has finished his rugby season at Andover RFC by being awarded Coaches’ U13 Player of the Season. Well done, Barnaby. We know you will be a great ambassador for the sport when you head over to Winchester College, where it continues to take root and grow!

Well done all of you and if you have any sporting news to celebrate, please share it with me at ashort@pilgrims-school.co.uk

Match reports

Wednesday 15 May

1^st XI vs Aldro
20 Overs
Pilgrims’ 125-5 (Sam Q 62, Aditya S 34)
Aldro 88 A/O (Aditya S 30-4, Olly P 14-3)
Pilgrims’ won by 37 runs
A superb performance from the 1^st XI this afternoon. Despite losing the toss, we got our wish and were batting. It was not the start we wanted with a very early wicket. Aditya S and Sam Q settled into the match, looking composed throughout. The duo batted sensibly, constructing what turned out to be a perfect innings. It was a steady start, and the runs did not flow straight away. Aldro bowled well and kept the run rate down. At 14 overs we were on 63 runs. A great platform, but would have been hard to defend. With five overs left the tempo of our innings swung. Lead by Sam, we started playing more positively, looking to rotate the strike more and get those all important boundaries. With the fielding side tiring, we took full advantage! Sam tee’d off! Aditya hit a few of his own, before being caught in the deep. Sam’s 62 was a great display of game management, steering the total to 125 and the team chipping in to add 62 runs in the final 5 overs! Awesome.

Half the job was done, but there was a real buzz and intensity throughout the team as we took to the field. Aldro has some good batsmen, who kept the scoreboard ticking along. Finn R got the breakthrough in the fifth over. The game was starting to turn our way, with Aditya picking up two wickets in his third over. Olly P continued his excellent form with the ball, trapping Aldro’s no 3. lbw. We had stemmed the run flow, we just needed to take the final few wickets. Charles N looked tidy behind the stumps, nearly getting a stumping. A great run out from Finn, followed by a wicket for himself sealed the victory! Well done everyone. This has been coming. MTG

2^nd XI vs Aldro
20 Over Match
Aldro 85 all out (Jacob H 13 for 3, Seb B 12 for 2, James P 5 for 2)
Pilgrims’ 52 all out (Jacob H 19, Fraser N 11)
What a corker!  Aldro won the toss and opted to bat.  We bowled and fielded superbly, with some especially good spells from Seb B (12 for 2 from 4 overs), Felix F (13 for 1 from 4 overs), James P (5 for 2 from 3) and Jake H (13 for 3 from 3).  Restricting Aldro to 85 was a good performance, and the boys were very pleased at the halfway point.  However, with the wicket-keeping low at times, it was going to need a Herculean effort to get to the total.  Our reply started seamlessly, with Ben A and Jake H (19) batting sensibly, and a mixture of the odd big shot, and some good calling and running saw us cruise to 41 for no wicket in the 9^th over.  However, when Ben Alfrey was run out, and then Seb B got a good first delivery, mayhem ensued.  Another sloppy run out was frustrating, and, to be fair to Aldro, some good bowling took wickets.  We had suddenly slipped from 41 for 0 to 50 for 6!  However, the cool head of Fraser N pieced things back together and some sensible running with a succession of partners got us back into it. The game was beautifully poised going into the last over, with the last over pair of Fraser N and Felix F needing 7 to win.  When the over started with a bye, and then a two, the boys needed 3 to draw or 4 to win from the last four balls.  Sadly, Fraser’s long resistance, and our hopes, came to an end when he was bowled trying to play the big shot that would have got us home.  Gutting.  However, it was a wonderful performance and a superb match.  If only every game was like this!

3^rd XI vs Aldro
20 overs
Aldro 120/4 from 20 overs
Pilgrims’ 100/7 from 20 overs
Pilgrims’ lost by 20 runs
Louis B continued his luck at the toss and elected to bowl this time. Aldro’s openers looked happy to run their singles and largely left the boundary rope untouched. Jayden L made the breakthrough in the fifth over and there was a real opportunity to put pressure on a slightly uncertain Aldro pair at the crease. However, we sadly saved probably our worst performance for the first match we could have, and probably should have won. Aldro’s batters offered seven very tackable catches, and we didn’t take a single one! The old adage of ‘catches win matches’ is a simple enough maxim, but was certainly true in this case and, coupled with a whopping 50 runs conceded in extras, meant we were rather up against it. Our batting was fine, but lacking any real intent, so to finish only 20 runs short shows what might have been if we’d been a little more accurate in our execution. One positive was Charlie S, who came in and gave us a glimmer of hope at the end, hitting freely and assertively, showing us all what might have been! One that got away, I feel, but we batted our 20 overs out again, so stick-ability is improving. WD

Colts A XI vs Aldro
20 overs
Colts A 119-8 from 20 overs (Patrick B 35; Elliot N 17*; Eddie Q 14)
Aldro 123-4 from 19 overs (Christian B 1-15; Archie W 1-19; Elliot N 1-24)
Pilgrims' lost by 6 wickets
In a closely contested cricket match, Colts A suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Aldro, losing by 6 wickets. Batting first, Colts A managed to score 119-8 in their 20 overs. Patrick B was the standout performer with a well-compiled 35, while Elliot N remained unbeaten on 17 and Eddie Q chipped in with 14.  Pilgrims' started their innings with a flourish, running well between the wickets and putting pressure on the Aldro fielders, who made numerous mistakes early on. This energetic start and sharp running by the Colts frustrated the opposition and gave Pilgrims' a slight edge. However, despite these early advantages, Pilgrims' struggled to capitalise fully on the half-chances that came their way.

Defending their total, Pilgrims' began with high energy and a spring in their step. Christian B was effective with the ball, taking 1-15, while Archie W and Elliot N contributed with figures of 1-19 and 1-24 respectively. The game was finely balanced, and between the 6th and 10th overs, pressure mounted on Aldro, shifting the initiative towards Pilgrims'. However, a resilient fifth-wicket partnership from Aldro, which amassed 85 runs, gradually tipped the scales.  Despite dominating various phases of the game, Pilgrims' were unable to break this crucial partnership, which saw Aldro edge closer to the target. In the end, Aldro reached 123-4 in 19 overs, securing a hard-fought victory. The defeat was tough for Pilgrims' to swallow, as they had moments where victory seemed within grasp, only to see it slip away in the closing stages. AA

Colts B vs Aldro B
Colts B: 61/6
Aldro B: 62/3
Pilgrims' lost by 7 wickets
Gater Field is fast-becoming the home of Colts cricket here at Pilgrims', and it is always a pleasure playing down there. The Pilgrims' boys were excited to play against Aldro, and it was a fixture played in good spirits. Aldro sent Pilgrims' in to bat, and the boys made 61 runs in their allotted 20 overs. The highest scorer on the day was Felix J, who batted bravely, and scored 9 runs off the bat. Aldro did not have a huge target to chase, but after starting cautiously, they soon gained steady momentum with the bat. Hal H, Harry C and Albert T took a wicket each to stem the flow of runs, but Aldro managed to reach the target in 15 overs. All in all, it was a great afternoon of cricket, and both teams enjoyed the opportunity to play. CXC

Colts C XI vs Aldro
Pilgrims’ 295 – 2
Aldro 238 – 4
Pilgrims’ win by 87 runs
A smashing effort from Pilgrims’ who were in control throughout. Alexander Li kept wicket expertly well and some fantastic bowling from Ivor and Albert Fu saw Pilgrims’ get some excellent wickets. Pilgrims’ also scored well with the bat. A convincing win and a fantastic performance. Well done. JB

Foals A vs Aldro
Aldro 164-2 (Finlay 1, Rafe 1)
Pilgrims' 36 All Out
Aldro won by 128 runs
Cricket sometimes presents matches where the final scorelines sound a lot more brutal than the reality and, whilst there was a gulf between us and a strong Aldro side, there were plenty of positives to take from today’s game, and I was generally very happy with our team’s performance.

Bowling first, Pilgrims’ got off to a strong start with our opening pair of Alex & Finlay regularly beating the outside bat, and a couple of very close shouts for lbw against the Aldro openers. Finlay’s appeal was finally successful on the last ball of his first over. Giving every player a chance to bowl their opening over, Aldro’s big-hitting number 3 got the better of us and the scoreboard started to race along. However, I was extremely impressed with how our players stayed positive and tried their best, with a big burst of positive encouragement bringing Rafe a wicket clean bowled at the end of his second over. There were other chances as well, Alex almost taking a caught-and-bowled when he came back on, and some pieces of excellent fielding from the likes of Oscar and Charlie. Aldro finished with a high opening score, with Pilgrims’ players urged to make the most of their 20 overs and gain from some valuable time in the middle. I was really pleased to see the resilience from each batter and, although the final wicket fell in just the 10^th over, no player ‘gave away’ their wicket, and certainly some valuable batting experience will have been learnt.

Looking ahead to Twyford’s fixture on Saturday, I hope we can maintain the positivity and encouragement that we did so well today, and it would be great to see if we could show real improvement in just a short amount of time. CAL

Foals B vs Aldro B
Aldro 344 for 4 (William S 2-11)
Pilgrims’ 308 for 9 (Daniel M 26)
Aldro won by 36 runs
Foals B travelled to Aldro and played their B team; a pairs/hardball match on an astroturf and grass pitch. Aldro batted first and scored 344 runs for 4 wickets. Foals fielded particularly well, making a lot better decisions about throwing and backing up which was encouraging.

Now in bat, Pilgrims' could not match the Aldro score due to two particularly strong Aldro bowlers who had clearly played at a higher level. Pilgrims' batters were regularly clean bowled due to the speed of the deliveries at times and finished 308 for 4. Again, I was pleased with some of the decision-making and shot-choices that the boys made.

• Shot of the day was by Honoré who directed a shot down over the fine leg boundary off a fast high delivery.
• Bowler of the day was William who had been called up at the last minute into the team, taking 2 of the 4 wickets, whilst conceding just 11 runs.

Jacob S's second over should also be mentioned – it would have been a maiden had the final delivery frustratingly not gone for 4 runs. Connor's bowling was also strong, bowling 9 'dot balls' from his 18 deliveries. PDJ

Friday 17 May

U9A vs Elstree
Pilgrims’ won by 10 runs
U9B vs Elstree
Pairs
Pilgrims’ 282
Elstree 253
Pilgrims’ won by 29
Pilgrims’ looked a tidy outfit in the field. Each boy bowled well, sticking to line and length and not giving the Elstree players much to work with. For a fast-paced, pairs game of cricket, I was really encouraged to see the number of dot balls our boys strung together. This scoreboard pressure can sway a game. We contained Elstree to just 11 runs in their last 6 overs! A brilliant team display. Well done! Our batting innings was full of excellent running between the wickets. In contrast, this allowed us to keep the score ticking over and kept the momentum going in our favour. Zachary P and Caspar M scored 20 runs in their visit, which gave us a real hold on the game. The final pairs just had to come out unscathed. That they did! A great all-round performance and a deserved win. Well done all. MTG

U9C vs Elstree
Elstree 280
Pilgrims’ 280
Match drawn
As the score reflects, a very even and well contested game. Elstree batted first and our opening bowlers kept the score down well - Elstree were restricted to single runs here and there. By the time their second pair came into bat, Elstree were on 214. However, a great over by Ezekeil saw him take two wickets and put them down to 206. Our bowling remained steady, but we were giving away a few too many wides and no balls. By Elstree’s fourth pair, the score had crept up to 242. Some great bowling followed and led to wickets from Scipio, Artem and Max in the next few overs. Elstree only managed one boundary, a four, late on in the game, and finished on 280.

We began batting well and were scoring steadily. In fairness, Elstree were suffering a similar problem to us and giving away lots of points from wides and no balls. We built steadily, but by the last pair of Artem and William we were on 243 with 27 points to find off 18 balls. It was not looking likely, and I will admit to thinking we may be staring at a loss. However, Artem and William had other ideas. They scored 12, and 11 of the first two overs, including four 4s. Going into the last over, we were on 262, meaning we needed 19 for the win. An astounding effort from the pair, including two fours and a glorious 6 from Artem meant we finished with an unbelievable draw! What an effort and what a match. An outstanding effort from all the boys, with special mention to the closing batsmen. Artem was man of the match for his unforgettable, never say die, performance.  SXT

U8A vs Elstree
Pilgrims 286 for 2 (Teddy W 11, Tristan G 10)
Elstree 309 for 4 (Oliver E 1-18, Aarav I 1-25)
Pilgrims' lost by 23 runs
Pilgrims’ batted first and looked alert to the quick single, which was brilliant – some really positive teamwork and running between the wickets. The boys made 44 off the bat, with another 8 in byes, demonstrating their good ability to capitalise on fielding errors. Elstree gave 44 away in wides and no balls, bringing our total to 96. Elstree took just two wickets, equating to ten runs off and, starting on 200 runs, this brought the final total to 286.

In reply, Elstree demonstrated a canny knack for finding the boundary. Their score off the bat came to 83, with four byes. We gave away 42 runs worth of wides and no balls. However, we did take 4 wickets – worth twenty Elstree runs. Oliver and Aarav hit the stumps with their bowling, and we came together to affect two run-outs. This brought the final reckoning to Elstree 309, Pilgrims’ 286 - a fine cricket match and an enjoyable afternoon. AJS

U8B vs Elstree
Pilgrims' 105 for 2 (15 overs)
Elstree 113 for 4 (15 overs)
Elstree won by 8 runs
U8B’S fielded 6 players away at Elstree against the 10 players of the home team. We decided to play 15 overs per side – 5 balls per over – softball -pairs - on a beautiful grass wicket. Pilgrims' batted first, with each pair facing 5 overs each. A great batting performance all round with only 2 wickets being conceded and both by run-outs, which is a sign actually that the batters are running and taking risks to increase the score. Some great calling and stealing extra runs, which was pleasing to see. Pilgrims' finished their 15 overs on a super 105 for 2.

Elstree then batted with their 5 pairs each batting 3 overs each. As we were low on fielders, Elstree always provided 2 extra fielders (rotating their players for us). Despite being 2 fielders less than Elstree, we allowed them to bowl 3 overs of our innings, such was the spirit of the match.

It was too close to call throughout the innings and could have gone either way. At the start of the 15^th over, Elstree had 107 runs so Pilgrims' just needed a wicket to take their total behind their 105. The wicket failed to come, as Elstree added another 6 runs off the final over to finish on 113 for 4.

It was so, so close, but no Haribo. Despite this, I was a very happy coach down the A34 home. PDJ

U8C vs Elstree
Pilgrims' won

 

Saturday 18 May

1^st XI vs Twyford
25 Overs
Twyford 119 A/O
Pilgrims’ 83 A/O
Pilgrims’ lost by 36
Rewind a couple of weeks, and the scores were very different. Today just showed the boys' ability and potential. We competed throughout, and on another day, could have got more out of the game! Pilgrims’ won the toss and put Twyford in. Sam Q picked up our first wicket in the third over. A vast improvement was our fielding. We were on it today and the ring of steel made it hard for Twyford to capitalise on any loose deliveries. At one stage, we had the hots at 48/5. We kept turning the screw and the wickets did fall, but as you can imagine, the score climbed a little as the overs ran down. Finn R bowled very well. He was the pick of our bowlers, swinging the ball late and well! 119 is a competitive score, but achievable. Openers George S and Aditya S started strongly and built a solid partnership. We were 30/1 but slipped to 38/3. Plenty of time and wickets left, but we would have to grind it out! An unfortunate run-out and tricky off-spinner saw to the end of our run chase. A little cameo from Olly P gave us a shout, but it wasn’t to be. There are many positives to take from this game. Huge strides forward. Well done. MTG

2^nd XI vs Twyford
20 Over Match
Twyford 137 for 6
Pilgrims’ 57 for all out (Jake H 18)
After Wednesday’s superb performance against Aldro, hopes were high going into the return fixture against Twyford. Things started well with a won toss, and the first four overs were solid – a strong opening Twyford pair were restricted to 23 for the loss of a wicket.  However, from there, things unravelled.  It wasn’t that the bowling was bad, it most certainly wasn’t. However, on the field we were poor, with multiple catches put down.  Some were tricky, but a couple of dollies were missed, and as the old saying goes – catches win matches.  I have no doubt that we could have restricted Twyford to something around the 90 mark, and that would have been an interesting chase.  As it was, the score was just too big.  Jake H again batted very nicely at the top of the order, but again, our thought processes seemed a bit scrambled with three run-outs.

As already stated, after what felt like a significant step forward on Wednesday against Aldro, it was just so disappointing to come back down to earth with a bump, and against our local rivals too. ASD

3^rd XI vs Twyford
Twyford 120/7 from 20 overs
Pilgrims’ 55 all out
Twyford won by 65 runs
It’s the hope that kills you! Having been asked to have a bowl, I was unbelievably excited to look at a very promising scoreboard that showed 24/4 off 6 overs. Surely we’d keep things tight and mop up the middle order and monster through their tail? Well, no. Whilst wickets did keep falling, our bowling accuracy deserted us at the worst point, and we ended up haemorrhaging runs, conceding nearly 50 in extras. Again. Still, 120 felt like a gettable target, but we needed someone to anchor the innings and put some pressure on a) the Twyford bowlers and b) the boundary rope! Sadly, we failed to do either of these things. John G looked good before being run out, as did Arthur H. Louis M looked busy and ran with urgency before he was bowled. Hugo C was unlucky to get a ball that didn’t bounce, but we generally didn’t look after our stumps carefully enough and ended up comfortably short. The boys can play good cricket, but only in fits and starts, and until they can put passages of play together that have some kind of meaningful impact on the flow of a game, we’re going to keep on losing. Bowling straight(er) and defending straight balls when batting are basic requirements but still, sadly, works in progress. Fingers’ crossed things will start to click next time round. WD

Colts B vs Twyford B
Twyford B: 161/7
Colts B: 31 all out
Pilgrims' lost by130 runs
Our second fixture this term against Twyford was a tough one, and I am tempted to write about the beauty of the day, the warmth of the sun, and the soft caress of birdsong in the air. However, I must report on the match played... It was tough out there! Twyford went in to bat first and made a rather spectacular 161 runs in their 20 overs. Our boys bowled bravely, and they must be commended for not dropping their heads. Felix J took one wicket, and Theo M and Pascal Y took three each. Pilgrims' then went in to bat and lost wickets early and regularly, only managing to secure 31 runs. The top scorer for Pilgrims' was Harry C (5 runs). The Pilgrims' boys took the loss on the chin, and have focussed on what they could learn from the game - a very mature approach. CXC

Colts C XI vs Twyford
Pilgrims’ lost (Albert F 2-14, Ivor l 1-3)
The Pilgrims’ boys batted well but couldn’t really get the momentum going in building runs. Too many wickets on Twyford’s low bouncing pitch caught us out and kept pegging our score back.

In the field, the first over was a cracker. Albert F bowled the Twyford batter second ball and then Ethan Y took a catch at wicket keeper just two balls later. Later, Alex L took a tremendous catch at square-leg and Albert F, another good catch at mid-on. Alex also bowled a Twyford batter out and the team worked together to get three run-outs. So, it was a better performance with the ball than with the bat and, for some, what with the Wednesday programme of sports, their first cricket match this season. AJS

Foals A vs Twyford
Twyford 144-4 (20 overs)
Pilgrims' 67-7 (20 overs)
Pilgrims’ lost by 6 wickets
The beauty of playing the same team twice in a relatively short period is that we can use this as a barometer to judge improvement if it is there. This weekend’s performance against Twyford was certainly an improvement, with many of our players improving with every match we take.

Bowling first, our players bowled in spells of 5 overs, with our first pair – Alex & Finlay keeping a tight line and helped in support with some strong fielding and support from stand-in keeper William W. Alex managed a wicket clean bowled in the third over, and we were truly putting up a strong fight against Twyford. Ensuring that every fielder had a chance to bowl at least one over, it was great to see improvement and enthusiasm from the likes of Charlie, Marek, Benji and surprise attack of Rio who bowled 2 overs, managing 1 wicket for 15 runs. Finlay and Alex remained their energetic selves, both achieving run-outs as we drew Twyford’s innings to a close. Although Twyford still managed to post an impressive score, I made a point of letting the boys know how proud I was of their improvement this week, with the score in many ways second to the fact that we put on a great show.

My aim for the batting unit was to continue in the fashion in which we had batted thus far, putting the opposition’s score far from our heads and concentrating on playing ourselves in and not giving away our wickets too easily. This target was again achieved, for the most part, by all players and every time a wicket fell, the new batter did what he could to come in again and steady the ship. Lasting our 20 overs against Twyford is no mean feat and hats off to the boys for what has been the most complete performance they have put in so far. CAL.

Foals B vs Twyford
Twyford 328 for 4 (Jacob 1-7, Honore 1-7, Kimi 1-7)
Pilgrims’ 282 for 6 (20 overs)
Pilgrims’ lost by 46 runs.
All the Foals teams travelled to Twyford for the second visit of the season. The B’s fielded 9 players for a softball – pairs match.

Twyford batted first. After a sluggish start (scoring only 16 runs from the first 5 overs) they began to make consistent progress despite some good bowling performances and a much better team fielding performance with only the odd overthrow.

• Bowlers of the Match: Jacob and Kimi
• Fielder of the Match: Honore who threw a direct hit on the stumps and was quick in the outfield.

Pilgrims’ then batted and managed to be ahead of Twyford after 4 overs, but then couldn’t maintain the run rate and fell away where they were always chasing the Twyford score, not helped by regular wickets falling.

Casper batted particularly well, striking the ball confidently and hitting the shot of the day; a great sweep for 4 in the final over.

Despite not yet securing a win this season, I am really pleased with how the team is improving. I loved hearing both Teddy and Nicholas in the field encouraging their team-mates constantly. Go Bs!  PDJ

Foals C vs Twyford
The rematch!
Mr Rainer made Soichiro captain and what an inspiring call this proved to be. Soichiro looked to the heaven’s and assessed the conditions of the clouds, air pressure (would it swing?) and the slope on the pitch. ‘We’ll bowl first’ he said confidently. Soichiro then called for Jacob to bowl the first over. He couldn't, could he......

Jacob's first ball was something Shane Warne would have been proud of as it hit the wicket, turned a mile and the wickets went flying! It took Twyford a further 2 overs to recover and get back to parity. Pilgrim’s were up for this and supported by an excellent crowd, we all settled in for a great afternoon. Julian took a terrific wicket and Toma got his first wicket with a beauty.

Twyford posted 80 and Pilgrim’s were up for the chase. Julian and Harry got off to a wonderful start with a solid partnership of 24 and looking comparatively at the scores, Pilgrim’s were ahead. Ryan and Jacob took over and at the end of their innings Pilgrim’s were 3 runs ahead. Edward and Soichiro kept the momentum up, though in the last over, Twyford came back. It wasn’t quite neck and neck, but Twyford were still 1 behind! As the last 3 overs were played, Twyford nudged ahead. Pilgrims' needed 14 of the 3 overs to win and after the first three balls, the tension mounted. Disaster was to strike not once but twice as Twyford took 2 wickets in 2 balls. Despite some excellent last over batting from Toma, Twyford were to run out the winners by 12 runs.

What were the takeaways? An excellent game which could have gone either way, some improved performances with the ball and bat, much improved focus in the field and broad smiles. In the end, it was 2 balls that made the difference and anyone who thinks cricket isn’t exciting would have to think again!

We set off happily for match tea and when one of the boys asked, ‘when is our next match sir’, we knew it had been a good day.

U9 A vs Twyford
On Saturday, the U9 A team faced Twyford in the second match of their series having won the opening exchange. Pilgrims’ batted first and faced accurate and at times pacey bowlers. Despite the boy's best effort, we found it tricky to get into our flow, and runs were hard to come by. Abhinav and Edward did score some boundaries, but unfortunately these were somewhat negated by the loss of two wickets. This was the story throughout the innings, with any runs gained being lost through conceding careless wickets. At the end of the innings, we had scored 43 runs.

The boys were told how important our fielding would be if we were to limit the number of runs Twyford scored. Pleasingly, the boys rose to the challenge and put in their best fielding performance of the season. George B and Rufus took outstanding catches to keep Twyford within grasp. However, they did end up scoring more than we did, ending on 61 runs. The boys should be proud of their efforts in an exciting game. With one victory each, the series is set up nicely for the third instalment later in the term.

U9 B vs Twyford
Pairs: Twyford 277, Pilgrims' 241
Pilgrims' lose by 36 runs
Twyford won the toss and elected to bat first. I was impressed with our bowling, and we were certainly more accurate and consistent than I have seen recently. We were putting in some great deliveries and giving away very few extra points. Twyford scored a few boundaries during the innings, but we got a few wickets too from the deliveries of Rafe, Teddy, and Baxter. Casper also took a great catch to put pressure on.

With the bat, we could not really seem to get going. The first few overs were low scoring and Twyford were accurate – giving very few extra points away. They were also able to find a few wickets, meaning building a score became difficult. We also found boundaries hard to come by on the day, although Anthony and Baxter managed to find couple of 4s.

Although we were disappointed by the defeat, we recognised that Twyford were a good side and were very consistent. There were positives to be taken though, and our bowling has improved throughout the team. Great sportsmanship and team spirit on display, and all the boys enjoyed the match. SXT

Andrew Short
Director of Sport