Inclusive Kwick Cricket Festival

Squad: 

The weather, student behaviour and attitudes were all impeccable throughout the entire event and it was a pleasure to take part in the day. From the way the squad were talking though…they weren’t there just to take part. The day was split into skill development sessions and fixtures, this was fantastic fun and all the students really showed development in their skills. The games all started at 200, with 5 points being deducted if a wicket was lost.

Game 1: St Mary’s

The opening fixture was a nervous affair which went right to the final ball. St Mary’s set a challenging run chase of 228. Myself and Mrs Watson knew it would take all our craft and guile to get anything out of the game. Step up Jack, Jay and Ben who all performed superbly with the bat. The final word, however, wen to Bethany Newdick who not only scored the winning runs but also batted through to make sure no negative points were incurred for losing a wicket. Off to a flyer!

St Mary’s 228 – 230 SAW

Game 2: Tweendykes

After a fixture off for the skills sessions for batting and fielding it was back to business. Tweendykes won the toss and elected to bat, a decision which proved fruitful as they ran out 209-204 winners. Tweendykes did well to restrict West to very limited runs with some excellent bowling meaning we never looked likely to overhaul what seemed an achievable target. We needed to pick ourselves up and quick!

SAW 204 – 209 Tweendykes

Game 3: Tweendykes

They say an animal is most dangerous when it is backed into a corner. With 1 win and 1 loss, a positive result was a must. Due to our squad rotation policy it meant a couple of our big hitters were missing from the starting 8 but we knew the rest had the nerve to perform well. West certainly did perform and gave a herculean effort, racking up a total of 261. With a calm control being displayed with the bat, only a calamitous fielding display would stand in West’s way. The bowling was ferocious and West quickly sent several Tweendyke batsmen back to the pavilion. In truth the win never looked in doubt with Tweendyke scoring 220 in reply despite having some very dangerous  batters, our smart fielding and important run outs secured the win which somewhat made up for the loss the same team prior to the lunch break.

Tweendyke 220  v 261 SAW

Game 4: Ganton

The final fixture was against our neighbours at Ganton. Despite the white hot atmosphere of a local derby, the game was played in great spirits…even Ganton staff gave some outstanding performances in the field with some highlight reel catches! Given the previous performance and result West may have taken their foot off the gas which allowed Ganton to set a very good target of 223. This was another thriller going don to the final ball. With Sirius sat on 228 and seemingly about to claim another victory, the final ball was delivered…HOWZAAAAATTTTT!!! Disaster!! In a bid to put an exclamation mark on the victory West’s batsman (who shall remain nameless to save a social media/press backlash) took a wild swing and sent the ball up, up, caught! In truth it was a remarkable catch and it was nice to see Ganton get points on the board.

SAW 223 – 223 Ganton

Final League Standings:

SAW 7pts

Tweedykes 6

St Mary’s 3

Ganton 1

By finishing top it means the team has qualified for the next round in Cleckheaton on Thursday 13th July. Congratulations!

Overall it was a fantastic day with all the students from all the participating schools behaving superbly and throwing themselves into all the games and skills sessions. A huge thank you goes to the organisers and those who led the sessions and umpired the games, they were brilliant with the students. Finally, an enormous thank you to Julie Watson who, as always, was brilliant helping to organise and run the team with me.