The parents and staff took to the cricket field this week for a competitive and highly enjoyable fixture. Thank you so much to all who attended, especially to the brilliant pupils who cheered on all the players regardless of which team they were on.
Given the opportunity to bat first the parents made a steady start in the face of some very good bowling from Mr Flintoff and Mr Van der Peet. It wasn’t long until the parents got going with some calculated and cultured run scoring from the bats of Mr Packer and Captain Munro. Nevertheless, wickets tumbled with Mr Bowler gaining appreciable turn and Mr Leigh holding two exceptional catches. There was some positive stroke making towards the end from the parents, Mr Willcocks in particular enjoyed sending Mr Flintoff to the boundary on a few occasions.
Over a fizzy drink and some of those nice Japanese spicy crackers, both teams felt confident at the half way stage.
The parental bowling artillery proved lethal as Mr Harris, Mr Davis and Mr Leigh were all shot out in no time at all. Mr Packer, Mr Thompson and Mr Leek all doing some damage. Mr Martin and Mr Francois changed the tempo, and the staff were looking well placed after ten overs. However, with Mr Martin’s departure wickets fell quickly to the unnervingly straight Mr Sendall, whilst Mr Francois did the right thing by local health and safety regulations and retired.
So, it was left to Mr Bell and Mr Turner to see what was possible, and for a while it seemed like nothing was. Then suddenly Mr Bell sprung to life with a flurry of fine shots that brought victory back as a possibility.
It all came down to the last over, 16 were needed. Mr Packer returned but it appeared that Mr Turner had a plan. The first ball was speared in, Turner missed it (he clearly didn’t have a plan) and the wicket keeper, Mr Berry, nipped the bails off in a flash. There was a raucous appeal, the vibrations from which registered somewhere on the Richter scale, the square leg umpire raised his finger and the parents claimed a well-deserved victory.
-Mr Turner, Deputy Head: Co-curricular, Partnerships and Admissions
