The First XI comfortably retained the Read Trophy on their tour of one of England’s cricketing heartlands.
The boys won all three of their matches during the annual QE visit to Lancashire, batting first and setting formidable targets for the opposition to chase. QE’s superior bowling attack then ripped through the opposition batting order, resulting in three victories – each by more than a hundred runs.
The matches were played at Penwortham Cricket Club and New Longton Cricket Club in Preston against Hutton Grammar School, Liverpool College and King’s School Chester.
“All the boys performed to an extremely high standard both on and off the field and we received many compliments both for their cricket and conduct,” said Head of Games Mark Peplow. “It was pleasing to see that our batting finally matched the quality of our bowling, which was the outstanding feature compared to the other teams. At one stage we had 10 fathers supporting the team, which was fantastic.”
The players were: Nir Shah (captain), Anton Bridge, Paarth Darber, Divyen Patel, Kunal Shah and Viyaasan Umachandra all in Year 13; Jonathan Bradshaw and Drew Williams (wicketkeeper), both in Year 12; Sarim Jafri, Neil Gujar and Chandi Uduwawala of Year 11 and Year 10 student Sebastian Feszczur-Hatchet.
In the first match QE scored 325-9, bowling Hutton Grammar School out for 84, with Uduwawala taking 5-15. Against Liverpool College N Shah scored 101 not out in a total of 247-3. Liverpool College collapsed to 60 all out, with Darbar taking 5-13. In the final against Chester, QE scored 213 and then dismissed Chester for 72, with Bridge taking 4-18.
“Almost for the first time in the season the boys constructed three good batting innings with excellent contributions from a number of boys. Without doubt we possessed a considerably stronger bowling attack than any of the opposition. That, backed by some excellent ground fielding, made us far too strong for our opponents. It was a fitting finale for the six Year 13 boys who have represented the 1st XI for three years,” added Mr Peplow.