Cricket News
Thankfully, the weather played its part and all cricket games scheduled for Saturday 15 October were completed. The 9A, 10A, 2nd, and 1st XI teams completed Round 1 of the CAS competition, while several other teams participated in valuable trial games against Newington College. Congratulations to the 8As on their comprehensive victory over Newington. Quite remarkably, the 1st XI was involved in a rare tied 2-day game – be sure to read the match report below to learn how this unfolded. While some teams experienced a loss in their first outing, they should take solace in the fact that it is still very early in the season. Congratulations to R. Gupta (11WJ) of the 1st XI who has been selected as a net bowler for the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, a fine achievement and an exciting opportunity.
Neil Smallfield | Acting Cricket Coordinator
1st XI
There have only been two tied tests in the history of Test Cricket, Australia vs West Indies in 1960 and India vs Australia in 1986. On Saturday 15/10/22, Trinity vs Cranbrook, Round 1 CAS 1st XI Cricket competition 2022/2023 season, a tie was played out. A very rare occurrence in long-form cricket, it was a tense day for all concerned, particularly the coach. Trinity began the 2nd day of our match at 5/85 after only 43 overs of play were possible on Day 1 due to rain. Due to overs lost on day 1, day 2 was gazetted for 114 overs, a 9 am start and in the end was a thrilling finish.
Trinity posted a total of 150 runs for the loss of ten wickets; T. Bermingham (9MU) 87 and S. Wadhera (11KE) 25. From that point on the game ebbed and flowed. Trinity got off to a good start with the ball and early on had Cranbrook 4/27. Cranbrook then rallied a little before another clump of wickets and were 7/49. Then they put together a couple of partnerships that were hard to break, 8/99 then 9/125 before they reached the Trinity total of 150 with one wicket in hand. At that point, the Cranbrook batsman clipped a ball off his pads into the air at backward square and diving to his left low down Manav Rindani (10MU) took a difficult catch to tie the match. An unbelievable game really. Best of the Trinity bowlers – C. Williams (10LA) 4/32, S. Newton (11WJ) 3/34 & S. Wadhera (11KE) 2/27.
Many thanks to P. Thomson (9ST), substitute fielder for the day and J. Acland (8FO) who was a field substitute for the last three hours after J. Scott (10WH) had to leave the field injured.
Andrew Payne | 1st XI Coach
2nd XI
The 2nd XI suffered a tight and unfortunate loss to Cranbrook. Trinity batted first with P. Dawson (10LA) and U. Yadem (8FO) putting on a 96-run opening stand in under 20 overs. Both players finished with half-centuries. Cranbrook bowled and fielded well in the final 12 overs to restrict Trinity to 5/152 off our 32 overs. The first hour of our bowling innings also belonged to Trinity, with Cranbrook requiring 97 runs off their second 16 overs with four batsmen already back in the pavilion. Unfortunately, due to a few mistakes, some umpiring drama, a large dose of misfortune, and an excellent cameo innings from the Cranbrook number 4, our total was not enough, as Cranbrook chased it down in the final over with three wickets in hand. It was a disappointing and frustrating loss in some ways but there were a lot of positives to take out of the match as we look to next week.
Nigel Cowell | 2nd XI Coach
10A
The 10As arrived at Trinity on Saturday morning, to a picturesque Number 1 Oval. The team was very excited to start the cricket season after a somewhat short pre-season. After winning the toss and electing to bat, the team lost both openers cheaply. After a fight to rebuild, Trinity found themselves 4/42; enter E. Fouracre (9WH) and N. Chau (9YO). The latter played spectator and valuable partner to a remarkable innings of 42 (97), including eight boundaries, from Trinity’s skipper, E. Fouracre (9WH), the pair just falling shy of a 50-run stand, seeing Trinity through to 4/90. But this is when the game changed. To Cranbrook’s credit, they bowled full and straight, targeting the stumps, and our defences were not good enough, losing 6/1 to be bowled out for 91.
The boys knew that if they bowled well and targeted the stumps they could make the Cranbrook chase very difficult. However, a rusty fielding performance combined with not a lot of luck with edges flying through the slips saw Cranbrook chase down our score in 17 overs. Notable mention to H. Clegg (9DU) who made the most of the facilities to claim Trinity’s first wicket of the season. The boys will be looking to bounce back next week against Barker.
Jordan Gupta | 10A Coach
9A
Following an abbreviated 2021/2022 season, the 9As were keen to get back into cricket with their first match of the summer season. The day started well with captain J. Acland (8FO) winning the toss and electing to bowl.
Unfortunately for Trinity, some loose bowling early on, coupled with mistakes in the field, allowed Cranbrook to race to 45 runs in the first six overs. There was a need to slow the flow of runs. A change in bowlers brought on A. Yee (8TA), who had an immediate impact. His injection of pace challenged the batsmen and resulted in a wicket on his third ball. He was well accompanied by debutant J. Fudeh (8YO) who bowled a consistent line and length. He bowled a beautiful in-swinging delivery to claim the wicket of the other Cranbrook opening batsman. A. Yee (8TA) ended up with figures of 2-18, while J. Fudeh (8YO) finished with 1-9, each of their spell of three overs. Of note were spin bowlers J. Acland (8FO) and S. Narayanan (8HI). The former ended up with figures of 2-16 off five overs, with a highlight being a Shane Warne-esque delivery to bowl the batsman around his legs on a sweep shot. S. Narayanan (8HI) also troubled the batsmen and ended with 2-20 off three overs. Cranbrook finished with a score of 7-164.
The batting innings started slowly with the Trinity boys struggling to score against a disciplined bowling attack. As a result, we quickly fell behind the required run rate and were never able to catch up, despite Cranbrook missing some fielders for the last hour or so. The player of the day was A. Kountouris (8MU). He demonstrated composure, particularly when wickets were falling at the opposite end, to stay in for the majority of the innings and be the cornerstone of the Trinity batting lineup. He ran well between the wickets and showed patience and skill to wait for bad deliveries and punish them when they arrived. He ended with a score of 40 runs. Another highlight was H. Turner (8TA), who ended not out on 16 runs. Trinity ended up with a score of 9-94 at the end of 32 overs.
This match highlighted a need for all-round improvement from the Trinity boys. They will need more discipline with bowling and fielding, and greater intent to score runs early on. It is unfortunate that various disruptions prevented these skills from being honed last season, but the boys have shown an intent to work hard at training and the remainder of the season presents the opportunity for these improvements to be made.
Thomas Thorpe | 9A Coach
8A
After a prolonged off-season, the 8As were itching for a game of cricket. With weeks of training banked, blue skies and warm temperatures, Saturday’s trial match against Newington college was set to be a glorious occasion.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl, the boys rubbed in their sunscreen, warmed up their shoulders and had a team chat. It was decided that applying consistent pressure would be a collective goal. For this reason (and others) it was particularly exciting to see F. Byrne (7MU) take out the middle stump on the 4th ball of the innings. As a coach, what impressed me most was that every bowler took at least one wicket; these boys included T. Wood (7WJ), A. Lee (7TA), C. Viola (7ST) and H. Ingram (7SC). This speaks to the depth of talent in the group and their ability to apply pressure throughout the entirety of the innings. That said, special mention must go to T. Blackman (7DU) for his incredible figures of 5/17 (5) and T. Henry (7TA) for aiding his namesake in this process with an incredible airborne catch at first slip.
After bowling out our opposition for 60 runs, the boys strapped on their pads in preparation for the run chase. Despite only having a small total to reach, the boys batted in a sensible manner: shots were selected well, the strike was consistently rotated and the scoreboard ticked over at a cruisy rate. Special mention goes to E. Huynh (7KE) who finished the day on 23 not out in a power-hitting masterclass, 87% of his runs came from boundaries.
Ultimately, Trinity chased down Newington’s total in 14 overs. It was a clinical day on the field and one that points to a promising 2022/2023 season.
Sam Vickery | 8A Coach
