The 1st XI cricket team had a busy start to the season, with its first game against Stowe ending in a draw. Stowe made 235-4 dec while Oundle made 171-4. There was some good bowling from Toby Warner (StA) and James Fischer (F). Oundle’s batting was solid with Ben Graves (F) the top scorer with 106, and Charlie Fletcher (Sc) making 28 not out.
Their second match was a two-day game against Uppingham, which was drawn due to unfavourable weather on Sunday. Oundle’s performance was fantastic all round. Oundle’s first innings saw 210-6 dec with Ben Graves yet again scoring another century with 103, and Ben Curry, 32. A terrific opening bowling spell from both Fischer and Warner made serious dents into the Uppingham top order, backed up by the other bowlers and fielders, in particular Ben Curry with a great catch at short leg. Oundle put up a valiant effort with good contributions from Graves, Fletcher and Fischer, but just fell short by 13 runs. It was a positive start to the season, which will see the opening of the new pavilion and farewells to Mr Wake.
Following a pre-season match against Stowe, the 2nd XI cricket team knew they were up against some tough opposition. The first official match of the season was a T20 match in which Oundle opted to bat first and scored 103 for 9 of 20 overs. Top scorer was Charlie Fletcher (Sc) with 36 while Freddie Anstey (L) scored 19 not out with a spectacular 6 and a 4 to finish the innings. Thomas Lambton (B) and Doug Russell (Ldr) were impressive with their bowling and both took 3 wickets. Unfortunately Stowe won by 4 wickets with 4 over to spare.
Boys tennis enjoyed some success this week with five wins and only one loss in a fixture against Haileybury. The 1st team had a close match against a strong Haileybury side, and the win would not have been possible without Ryan Cheng (Ldr) and Harry Evett (B) who deserve special mentions for their perseverance in the final set tie break decider which they won 10-6.
Meanwhile, the girls tennis enjoyed further success. The 1st VI played Uppingham away for their first fixture of the season. The first round started off very well with all three pairs winning their respective matches 6-0, 6-2 and 6-3. Kitty Petrides (D) and Flo Garnett (D) gained another solid victory after a well-fought match. Annie Hall (N) and Millie Marks (D) unfortunately lost theirs 2-6, having played some tense points which particularly showed off Annie's constant volleying. Grace Easterbrook (Sn) and Lucie Baker (L) also played a tough second match and despite having three of their own match points, lost 6-7 following a close finalising tie-break. Kitty and Flo continued their winning streak as 1st pair of the team to end with another win (6-2), which was undoubtedly contributed to by Kitty's perfectly disguised drop-shots which time after time tricked their Uppingham opponents. Grace and Lucie won their last match 7-5, as did Annie and Millie, 6-2.
The U16B team also played well and reported a solid victory against Uppingham’s tough opposition, 7-2.
Dylan Martens (L)