What a week for our senior pupils…the Narrative Poetry Competition, The Pilgrim’s Piano Competition and finally a sporting occasion as we hosted the U13 Orley Farm Ten10 Tournament…all requiring ambition as well as a healthy dose of hard work.
Our opening game was against St. Martin’s and we set our stall out with aggressive batting and a real desire to keep the scoreboard moving which was a reoccurring feature of the games to follow. We fell 2 runs short of 100 after ten overs and our bowling attack followed up well ensuring a comfortable win by 26 runs. Westminster followed a similar pattern as we built a good score and then restricted them with the ball, winning by 17 runs meaning that we faced Belmont after lunch with the opportunity to be outright winners…provided that the weather held and that we fired on all cylinders!
Belmont did well to restrict our scoring but we still managed a healthy 87 runs. Storm clouds were gathering as we took to the field and there was a sense of urgency as we set about defending this total. Our bowlers did well, removing 8 batsmen giving us a clean sweep winning by 23 runs.
The highlight of the day was the sporting manner in which all teams played the game. There was a real sense of competition but there were touching moments as players from other teams congratulated batsmen and bowlers for strong performances. I always find this aspect the most impressive making it a genuine joy to give up a Saturday to watch top sport played in the highest spirit. A very big thank you to the gentlemen involved, their respective coaches and parents and finally Mr Bloom for an outstanding tournament.
Tim Calvey