Year 8’s cricketers topped a highly successful season with a strong run in the Schools’ National Cup – and lost out on a semi-final place by only the narrowest of margins.
Having won the County Cup last year as Year 7s, they qualified to participate in the National Cup this year. Captained by Prayag Gandhi, the team comprehensively beat Bede’s in Sussex, needing only 13 overs to chase down their opponents’ 20-over total of 87. In the next round, having restricted Dartford Grammar School to just 38, the boys, playing at home, scored 42 runs in just 14 overs, securing their place in the quarter-finals.
Their opponents and hosts for that match – which was also the South East regional final – were the Royal Hospital School in Ipswich.
The spectators watching in the East Anglian boarding school’s historic grounds found themselves with a match to savour. The QE U13 team coach, PE and Games teacher Oliver O’Gorman, said: “It was the best and closest game of schoolboy cricket I, and many others who were present, have ever seen.”
“It went down to the last ball, with Royal Hospital needing one run off it. Unfortunately for us, they were successful,” said Mr O’Gorman. “Our boys were understandably gutted about losing in such a fashion, but they should be proud of what they have achieved in reaching the last eight in the country and coming so close to reaching the top four.” The final scores in the 30-over match were: QE 178-6; Royal Hospital 179-6.
Mr O’Gorman said the QE boys had also won praise from their hosts, Royal Hospital’s Director of Sport, Paul Hardman, and Head of Cricket, Paul Cohen: “They were very complimentary of both the standard of our boys’ cricket, but also the way in which they represented the School throughout the day.”
The boys have enjoyed a 100 per cent success rate in their regular, competitive fixture list. They beat:
- Berkhamsted School, by 9 wickets
- St Albans School, by 10 wickets
- The John Lyon School, by 10 wickets
- Watford Grammar School, by 7 wickets
- Highgate School, by 118 runs
- St Benedict’s School, by 129 runs.
They also had a strong run in this year’s County Cup, beating Greenford High School and Mill Hill & Belmont Schools, before losing to Avanti House in the semi-final.
The squad for the South-East Final was:
- Prayag Gandhi (captain)
- Ranvir Sinha
- Bilal Hassan
- Rishab Banerjee
- Karan Chauhan (Year 7)
- Kush Tailor (wicketkeeper)
- Ugan Pretheshan
- Krish Agarwal
- Rohan Belavadi
- Girish Radhakrishnan (Year 7)
- Vishnu Anil
- Aaryan Patel
- Madhav Menon