The Herts School games were held on Thursday 26th June at Wodson Park in Ware. After an unforgettable opening ceremony the cricket team headed out to find their pitch. This proved to be rather disappointing after the well maintained pitches of Letchworth Cricket Club. However it was the same disadvantages for all teams and the boys were raring to go.
The first game was against Cassiobury and having won the toss William Ransom opted to field first. The bowling was magnificent seeing as there was no time to warm up. With 9 wickets taken and only 3 wides given away Cassiobury finished their innings on 197. The William Ransom innings saw the loss of 7 wickets and the accumulation of 44 runs, not an immense score but a win!
The second game against Reedings saw William Ransom lose the toss and have to bat first. Once again the runs built slowly with everyone keeping calm. The loss of 5 wickets for 245 was not as high as we had hoped for but once again strong bowling and fielding saved the day. With 4 wickets for 196 the score reflects some excellent bowling with only 1 wide. Another win for William Ransom who went through as winners of the group to meet Crabtree.
Another toss won and William Ransom opting to field first saw a score of 215 for 5 to beat.Tyler and Jamie managed 215, Charlie and Jamie added another 8, ben and Edward another 9 and Leighton and Oliver a grand 30 to make the final score 262 and into the semi-finals.
Ralph Sadlier our opponents, tall and strong and dressed in their cricket whites looked a formidable team to beat. Leighton opted to bat first and the score was slow to build but with only 1 wicket lost William Ransom ended on a ‘controversial’ 249. Ralph Sadlier made a great opening with a 6 off Ben but due to excellent fielding only managed to add another 6 runs and lost a wicket. Jamie’s innings saw 5 scored and a wicket taken. Edwards only gave away 1 run, Charlie took a wicket for 12 runs, Oliver took 2 wickets. The final score was William Ransom 249 for 1 and Ralph Sadlier 217 for 6+ wickets.
The final and a long wait to find out the name of the opposition which turned out to be Bengeo. Reverting back to fielding first and knowing what score was needed was a far more comfortable feeling! Ben opened by taking a wicket and once again the whole team excelled themselves with their bowling. With 226 for 5 to beat William Ransom made a great start with Tyler and Namay scoring 16. Charlie and Jamie defended well against some strong bowling and added another 6 runs, Ben and Edward followed the same tactics adding another 7 runs and Leighton and Oliver rounded up the batting by adding the final 15 runs to make 244 for 0. A win for William Ransom and through to the North East London National final at Cambridge on 9th July.
Once again thanks to the parents who transported the children and stayed to support.