U11C Cricket v Stamford JS - Wednesday 16th May 2018

Copthill U11C played very competitively against a strong Stamford Junior School side, but unfortunately came away with a loss.

The boys, however, made a fantastic account of themselves, demonstrating a great sense of character and some cricket skills that might be missing on an adult pitch!

SJS batted first, and showed some textbook batting technique, and put on a high opening partnership. However, some superb fast bowling from Henry Wickham pinned the hosts back. Wickham earned himself a wicket from his probing line and length, removing the SJS number 3s bail from the off stump.

This began a promising spell for Copthill, through four excellent runouts. Logan Todd kept confidently behind the stumps, catching great throws from Tom Gray and Seb Graves. Peyton Turner, in particular, fielded brilliantly and ran a Stamford player out with a direct throw from the boundary - you would struggle to find an adult cricketer with a throw at that level!

Despite these strong moments, Stamford managed to score 120 runs (partly due to an inconsistent line from Copthill bowlers costing wides).

After a stop for match teas, Copthill went into bat. For some of the boys, it was the first time they had faced a hard ball in a match situation. You would not have known this by watching the match, though, as Copthill’s batsmen defended resolutely, rarely giving away their wicket against the disciplined SJS attack. They also managed to score some runs, Elis Rubins-Thomas, Ralph Berry, Logan Todd and, in particular, Ed Grooby being the main contributors. Cumulatively they scored 35 runs in total, an excellent total given the lack of prior experience in pads.

The Players of The Match were Henry Wickham for his consistent bowling throughout his three overs and Peyton turner for his dynamic and aggressive fielding. A huge thank you goes to Elis Rubins-Thomas for his passionate, encouraging and determined captaincy, keeping Copthill’s discipline and commitment high throughout the match. Well done to all involved, a valiant effort indeed!