The 2006 1st XI season proved to be a rewarding one, nearly half of the fixtures resulted in either a win or a (winning) draw for Berkhamsted. Memorable victories were recorded over St Albans and Bishops Stortford College during the second half of term. Further successes came when we hosted the Castle Cricket festival at the beginning of July, eventually coming an admirable second. All of the boys that contributed to the season should be commended for their hard work and positive attitude.
Despite a dedicated approach to practice during the winter months, the 1st XI once again found it a difficult start to the season, losing their first four fixtures. In each of the matches our bowlers lacked discipline and batsmen struggled for confidence.
Our first opponents, Aldenham should have been beaten. Some wayward bowling during the latter stages of the first innings allowed them to post more than they should have been allowed and their total of 177 never seemed to be in our reach. A middle-order collapse against John Lyon during the second game prevented Berkhamsted from setting a defendable total (113) allowing John Lyon to ease their way to victory.
Things improved a little against The MCC, only this time we started badly. The MCC posted a very generous total, declaring on 143 for 6; Oliver Haddock (43) and Toby Phillips (28) showed some noteworthy resistance in the schools reply of 123 all out.
The loss to Haberdashers marked the end of a difficult month of cricket. Haberdashers have, for a couple of years, been the strongest team on the circuit. They were therefore the last team we wanted to play following a difficult start to the season. They proved to be too strong posting 220 in their 50 overs and dismissing us for 141. James Stevens’ 33 was the highlight of a lacklustre batting performance. Partnerships are always the key to successful run chases and the 1st XI’s failure to build upon decent opening stands became their downfall throughout the first half term.
The UCS fixture marked a change in fortune for Berkhamsted, thanks mainly to a remarkable innings from Jack Kilgannon. His 173 not out broke the school record and was a truly destructive innings. The only disappointing aspect of the game was that, despite David Sidebottom bowling beautifully (4 for 15), Berkhamsted failed to get their last wicket and the match ended in a draw.
It seemed as if Berkhamsted had learnt from their mistakes at the beginning of the season and began to string together some good performances. The victory versus St Albans was very satisfying, with our attack managing to bowl them out with one ball to spare. Jack Kilgannon showed his ability with the ball taking 4 for 27 with his left arm spin. Berkhamsted then posted their best total of the season (212) against Enfield Grammar School; a game that ended in a draw. Oliver Haddock’s innings of 97 was superb and he certainly deserved to reach his hundred.
The only disappointment of the second half term was the loss to the Old Boys. Better performances were still to come. Our guests from South Africa, Kearnsey College, arrived to some typically wet English weather and to our surprise were more than keen to play. Berkhamsted bowled Kearnsey out for 189 and then made a great effort in chasing, eventually falling 9 runs short in an exciting finish; Tom Allnutt (56) and Jack Kilgannon (44) with another great opening stand.
The final game on the circuit was against Bishop’s Stortford College. Berkhamsted saved their most convincing performance until last winning by 7 wickets. This was thanks mainly to excellent innings’ by Tom Allnutt (77) and James Stevens (49). It was nice to finish on a high and an excellent way in which to lead into the Castle cricket festival.
Castle Cricket Festival
The Berkhamsted Castle Cricket Festival 2006 provided an excellent ending to an enjoyable season. Monmouth, Dean Close and Kimbolton Schools all travelled to Berkhamsted for the 55 over festival. Monmouth once again they walked away with the festival bowl for the fourth year running. Berkhamsted’s performances were encouraging, beating Dean Close in a closely fought contest on the Friday and Kimbolton on the Sunday, earning them a place as runners up.
Congratulations to Oliver Haddock, Jack Kilgannon, Tom Allnutt and Mike Senior who were all awarded their full cricket colours by Mark Butcher (Surrey and England) at the festival dinner.
1st XI Squad: O. Haddock (Capt.), T. Allnutt, J. Kilgannon, T. Edrich, D. Sidebottom, M. Senior, T. Phillips, J. Stevens, W. Fraser, B. Thompson, J. O’Neill, S. May, M. Hamblin, A. Weiss, M. Turner, C. King, T. Sambrook
D. J. Gibson
