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A great tradition
Cricket is one of the two main summer sports. Each year group fields two cricket sides that compete each Saturday during the summer term.
The school plays against all the best cricket schools in the country and regularly entertains cricket touring teams from abroad.
Mike Allingham, Head of PE (see photograph in right hand column), is a former Scottish International Cricketer. We should like to think that some of our pupils may one day succeed him in the national side.
2008 Season Match Reports
Saturday 19th April
1st XI v Fettes (a) 45 overs. Won by 3 runs
EA 165 for 8 (A. Blair 51, D. Rushworth 42)
Fettes 162 all out (N. Hunt 3 for 20, A. Murray 3 for 33)
It has been such a wet and cold start to the season that Saturday was the first time on the grass this term. Bearing that in mind it was a cracking game with plenty of good cricket and some inevitable rustiness. Blair and Rushworth performed well with the bat, which set a reasonable challenge for a strong Fettes batting line-up. Some steady bowling and fielding kept the pressure up and it went right the way down to the wire with the final Fettes wicket falling three runs short of our total with one over to go!
Sunday 20th April
1st XI v Staff (h) 30 overs. Lost by
Staff 117 all out (Mr Allingham 36, Mr Bruce 15, Mr Mair 13)
EA 77 all out (D. Rushworth 39)
On the Sunday the 1st XI had a practice match v the Staff, 30 overs a side with everyone having to bowl 3 overs. The Staff managed to amass 117 all out on a slow wicket. The school struggled against some tight bowling with only Rushworth getting going. Both matches have identified some important lessons for the season ahead.
Tuesday 22nd April
1st XI v Heriot’s (h) 30 overs Cup match. Won by 9 wkts. Heriot’s 48 all out (A. Murray 3 for 11, R. Allison 2 for 8, A. Blair 2 for 9) EA 51 for 1 (D. Rushworth 21 n.o. N. Hunt 17)
The cup match against Heriot’s was fairly one sided with only 48 set as a target, which we managed for the loss of one. The bowling had been fairly accurate against a weak opposition.
Saturday 28th April
1st XI v Watson’s (h) 35 overs. Lost by 7 wkts. EA 39 all out (N. Hunt 16) Watson’s 42 for 3
The roles were reversed on Saturday as we resembled a very weak batting line up with 8 players getting out bowled. Batting disasters can happen in cricket as it can be one mistake and out. Only Nick Hunt hung around for any length of time as we collapsed to 5 for 4. In fairness the Watson’s opening bowlers were impressive, but we were guilty of poor decision making and poor execution of shot. As ever, it produces an opportunity to learn and show some character.
Saturday 3rd May
1st XI v Strathallan (h) 45 overs. Won by 10 wkts. Strath 98 for 9 (R. Madden 4 for 16) EA 99 for 0 (N. Aspinall 47no, N. Hunt 47 no)
The 1st XI are proving themselves to be consistently inconsistent. It was an important toss to win and we bowled steadily with special plaudits to Rob Madden and Nick Hunt. Strathallan had struggled throughout, but did use up their full quota of overs. In reply the two Nicks batted very sensibly making good decisions on shot selection against a steady medium paced attack. The outfield did quicken up and we ended up passing their total in 30 overs.
Thursday 8th May
1st XI v Lothian Schools. 35 overs CUP Semi final. Won by 66 runs
EA 154 for 9 (D. Rushworth 40, N. Aspinall 28, N. Hunt 23)
Lothian Schools 88 all out (A. Murray 4 for 14, N. Hunt 4 for 20)
It was a very competent peformance in the Cup semi final against Lothian Schools. We batted intelligently with our openers building a strong base followed up with a good aggressive knock from David Rushworth. The bowling was steady with good spells in particular from Alex Murray and Nick Hunt.
Saturday 10th May
1st XI v Merchiston. 50 overs. Match abandoned. Merchiston 293 for 4 EA 77 for 4 (A. Simpson 33 no)
The Merchiston challenge is always a tough one with the quality of their South African exchange student usually a strong determining factor. He was certainly influential with a brutal and classy 123 not out. Their 19 year old West Indian, in his third year, pitched in with an impressive 68 and their opener stroked an equally impressive 58. Playing against quality batsmen is a true test for a bowling attack and we held it together pretty well in the pre-lunch session. Post-lunch was carnage as the first 5 overs went for 65! Pick of our bowlers was again Nick Hunt with good accuracy and variations. Unfortunately our batting reply was disrupted and eventually foiled by the weather, but not before a swashbuckling knock from Adam Simpson.
Tuesday 13th May
1st XI v Forty Club (h) 35 overs. Won by 8 wkts.
Forty Club 71 all out (R Madden 4 for 4)
EA 72 for 2 (D Rushworth 36
The Forty Club struggled to reach any sort of total against some steady bowling. The performance of the day came from Rob Madden with his best spell of the season so far.
In response we knocked off the runs in fairly quick order with an aggressive knock from David Rushworth.
Saturday 31st May
1st XI v Glenalmond (a) Time. Won by 105 runs.
EA 265 for 3 dec (A. Blair 152 no, A. Simpson 50 no, N. Hunt 40) Glen 160 all out (A. Blair 5 for 41, A. Murray 2 for 16)
It was a glorious day for cricket in the picturesque setting of the Glenalmond 1st XI square. Winning the toss was a good start, being 4 for 2 after 4 overs was not. Alex Blair came in to face the hat trick and was still there 39 overs later to declare the innings on 265 for 3. His 152 not out was an outstanding knock, full of cultured shots, and he was ably assisted by Nick Hunt and Adam Simpson. It was Adam’s first fifty at 1st XI level and contained nine 4’s and a 6. It proved difficult to get Glenalmond all out and it was the slower bowlers that proved most effective. Alex Blair turned himself into a left arm spinner and took 5 wickets to round off a good day’s work!
Saturday 14th June
1st XI v Dollar Academy (a) 40 overs. Lost by 31 runs.
Dollar 184 for 9 (A. Gordon 4 for 24) EA 153 all out (N. Aspinall 58, A. Blair 36)
An excellent game that could have gone either way. On a beautiful morning Dollar won the toss and batted on a good pitch. Dollar looked a good batting unit, but only their West Indian made it count with a well played 78. Our bowling was fairly steady, but we leaked too many runs with some careless fielding. Our reply was interrupted by numerous rain showers and a lunch break. Despite this we got into a good position, needing 6 an over off the last ten overs with 6 wickets left. Unfortunately we played a number of injudicious shots and crumbled under the pressure of the chase. The highlight of our innings had been a solid 58 from Nick Aspinall, his maiden fifty for the 1st XI.
2007 Season
Squad:
M.M. Banks (captain), A.P. Blair (vc), R. McElearney, C.Y. Ragg, A.H.Ross, J. W. Christie (wk) , N.J.H. Aspinall, R. P. Madden, J. Davis, A.W.R. Gordon, D.R. Rushworth, N.C.G. Hunt
Awards
Batting: M.M. Banks Bowling: A.P. Blair Fielding: C.Y. Ragg
2007 Season Report
Batting Averages
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Pre-seasonOur pre-season indoor work took place during the Easter term and our coaching team was bolstered with the arrival of James Pillinger, who was previously in charge of the Dollar Academy 1st XI. A training squad ranging from the 4 th form to the 7 th form was invited to attend. The numbers attending throughout the term were excellent, showing real enthusiasm for the game and desire to improve. Early seasonApril was surprisingly dry, which made for plenty of runs in our opening weekend. A lack of self belief left us short in our run chase v Fettes. We were up with the run rate, but gave away our wickets with poor decision making. There were still thirteen overs left when our final wicket went down. The Australian gap students were very impressive in the social staff match smashing our bowling attack all over the ground. Mr Enos bowled a decisive spell to finish off the school’s run chase. Mid SeasonOur match v Watsons was a disappointing result as we had bowled and fielded well to restrict them to 140 before collapsing to 57 for 7 in reply. A late rally with Chris Ragg hitting an exciting 35 nearly had Watsons worrying. The Strathallan match was a cracker. We declared at exactly half time on 218 for 7 with more runs from Banks and Hunt. The Strathallan response was impressive and it went right down to the second last over. Cricket had been the real winner with plenty of moments of tension. The team performed efficiently against the Forty Club chasing down their target with plenty of overs to spare. Cup quarter final
Cup semi finalOur cup semi final v Stewarts Melville was played in gale force conditions. The wind was so strong that we could not use bails! It was another exciting finish with Stewarts requiring 6 runs off the last over with two wickets left. Chris Ragg held his nerve and two wickets were taken in next three deliveries. Cup FinalWe had made it through to the Lothians Schools Cup Final for the fourth time in five years. We were to face our old adversaries, Merchiston in what was the 150 th year since the first match was played between the two schools. With all the poor weather we had to play on a practice strip, which was the driest option. It played quite well considering, but it was hard work scoring runs. We bowled reasonably well and backed it up with a couple of outstanding catches from Nick Aspinall and Bertie Allison. However, the Merchiston bowling attack was a good level above us and we suffered a disastrous collapse from 26 for 1 to 28 for 8. Game over. |
Up to the monsoon!The good run of form continued against Loretto. 148 was a fair score on a two paced pitch. Loretto had a fifteen year old Australian who was certainly the quickest that I have seen on the circuit with an athletic thirty yard run up. Max Banks played him out with great skill and scored a quick 51. His wicket fell to make it 65 for 2. Two further wickets lost had us 70 odd for 4. Rory McElearney came to the rescue with a very mature innings of 37 to bring us to a deserved victory. Glenalmond were brushed aside with another stylish innings from Max Banks. Stewarts Melville managed to exact their revenge on us as we were unable to chase down 135 on a slow pitch. It was at this stage of the season when the monsoon struck! In the last two weeks of term the squares were flooded on a fairly regular basis. The poor groundstaff spent loads of time removing the water, but our matches v Dollar and MCC had to be cancelled. Late SeasonThe Accies match was played in the usual friendly manner with everyone getting a chance to bowl. We pegged Accies back well having initially conceded 89 for 0 in the first 10 overs. Our chase was spirited with some good hitting from Andrew Ross and Rory McElearney. We had been fortunate to get a game at all with the way the weather had been. We were minus a number of players, including captain and vice captain for the Festival trip to Ipswich. This gave an opportunity for some younger players to experience 1st XI level and for some of the sixth formers to have a go at captaincy. Sadly, the weather scuppered most of these great hopes. We did manage some bowling on day one v Brighton College. Alex Gordon bowled a tremendous opening spell to reduce Brighton to 6 for 4. They recovered to post 118 on a tricky surface. Our reply was halted by a thunderstorm, which flooded the square, in what was a delicately poised match. Kings School Macclesfield looked a good batting team, but they had to battle hard against some steady bowling, in particular from James Munro and Alex Murray. Sadly, a freak thunderstorm, this time including hailstones brought proceedings to a close. The square was reduced to a pond and it was no surprise that day three was cancelled first thing in the morning. ConclusionLooking back it has been a good effort from this year's 1st XI. Max Banks led the team well with sound field placements and bowling changes. His batting was tremendous showing great consistency and scoring at a very good run rate. Our bowling was generally steady, although there were still too many easy balls to score off. The pick of the attack was Alex Blair with his left arm medium pacers. Nick Hunt showed great promise batting at number three and bowling off spin with improved consistency. James Christie had a good season as wicketkeeper and played his part in a happy team spirit. Next year promises to be another interesting season with increased competition for places. Our school season is short and I hope that our pupils can get involved in club cricket during the holidays to broaden their cricket experiences. Mike Allingham |
The cup quarter final v Heriots saw a magnificent century from captain Max Banks and an excellent debut by fourth former Nick Hunt hitting a half century on debut. This page is: Edinburgh Academy/sport / cricket.htm
