Soham Grammarians - Cricket, School Year 1950-51

This team was without doubt the most distinguished side ever to play on the School field and for the occasion the School side was strengthened by the inclusion of three players from the King's School, Ely.

The County side was captained by Mr Taylor, who obligingly lost the toss and was put in to bat on a drying wicket. In spite of this the opening batsmen, AG Morton and Witherington, put on 115 for the first wicket.

Neither Sargent nor Kendall seemed to worry them unduly and Bennett and Rouse were equally unsuccessful. Kendall was then brought on at the opposite end and he quickly had Morton caught in the slips for 31. Witherington stayed while Jeeps came in and was bowled by Scarfe. Witherington then was caught by Ray off Kendall when he had made 86. He was followed by Gooden, who after making 2 was given out lbw to Scarfe. Ridgeon and Chalk batted till teatime, when Mr Taylor declared with the score at 135 for 4 wickets.

After tea Bray and Scarfe opened slowly but confidently. They had put on 13 when Bray was bowled by Wilkinson for 9. Ray was out next when he played back to T Morton and was caught at point. Sargent, Fuller and Currie fell by the wayside, Sargent being out to a very good catch. It was left to Turvey and Kendall to retrieve the situation. Together they added 39 runs before Turvey was bowled by Mr Taylor for 20.

Bennett came and went and it seemed that there might be a definite result. But in the last minute Kendall and Rouse managed to stave off defeat and the School's team finished up 75 for 9. It had been Kendall's day; he had bowled well, taking 2 for 22, and he had scored a magnificent 29 runs.

SCHOOL 1st XI v KINGS' SCHOOL, ELY, 1st XI

The Kings' School, who had won the toss and decided to bat, got off to a shaky start when they lost Turvey with only 9 runs scored. Three overs later Holland, the other opening batsman, was lbw to Sargent and the score was 14 for 2. Philbedge and Jones were now together and they took the score to 25, when Jones was bowled by Sargent. Philbedge was joined by Ray and they put on 11 runs before Philbedge was caught by Fleet off Sargent.

Rouse now came on to bowl. Freezer played the first ball correctly enough, but paid the penalty of not getting to the pitch of the next ball and gave an easy catch to Currie. Roseberry was out to the fourth ball of Rouse's over in a similar manner. Ray was next out to a good ball from Sargent which kept low and turned. Cowley was now joined by Clements, who contributed 2 before he was lbw to Sargent. The score was now 59 for 8 and the prospects were not bright for Kings' School. It was evident that if the Kings' School were to save the match something drastic had to be done.

Something drastic was done! Bennett obliged with a few cow-shots and Cowley hung his bat out to such effect that the impact of ball on bat was sufficient to carry the ball past the fielder and on occasion to the boundary. This partnership was brought to an end when Cowley played a ball from Sargent with his bat slightly inclined from the usual horizontal position. Bennett followed later when he was bowled by Kendall and the innings closed at 92.

Bray and Scarfe immediately went for the runs and both rose to the occasion commendably. Scarfe was first out, to a brilliant piece of fielding and a superb throw-in. Fleet was sent in first wicket down and overawed by his promotion, came out when he had scored only 6. Bray was out next when he was caught by Freezer off Boorman for a faultless 42. Sargent and Fuller were now at the wicket and they put on a quick 21 runs to bring the match to a sudden close.

SOHAM TOWN v. SCHOOL 1st XI

The match with Soham Town provided a fitting finale to the School's Festival Week. The match in which the initiative frequently passed from one side to the other proved to be the most thrilling of the season. The first phase of the match was the opening partnership during which the batsmen seemingly laid the foundations for a big score. However, it was obvious that all was not well, for Bray and Scarfe, in complete contrast to their batting on Thursday, took over an hour to score 21 runs.

The next few overs changed the game completely, for the wickets of Scarfe, Currie and Sargent fell without another run. The initiative passed still further into Soham's hands when Bray, Ibbott and Fuller were dismissed after 6 more runs, with the score at 27 for 6. Fleet and Kendall, who both seem to revel in crises, now showed how forcefully they can bat. Fleet, the more aggressive of the two, reminded one of Mr Podder, from Dickens' "Pickwick." "He blocked the doubtful balls, missed the bad ones, took the good ones and sent them flying to all parts of the field."

Kendall, even less orthodox, but quite as effective, drove and hooked until together they had taken the score from 27 to 97 and the School captain was able to declare at the fall of Fleet's wicket, leaving the Town 98 to get in 75 minutes.

The advantage was now with the School, and we appeared to be pressing it home when Sargent had Slea caught off the second ball of the innings, However, Wells and Cooper put on 23 and Cooper and Peacock took the score to 64. At this stage the game seemed to be swinging in favour of the Town, but hostile bowling by Sargent made the score 83 for 7. Watts and Spencer managed to play out the few remaining minutes to make a draw of the game - a result in keeping with the deserts of both sides.

CRICKET

At the commencement of the season the weather was against us and three consecutive matches had to be scratched. Since then only one match has been lost, Saffron Walden Friends' School beat us after a fair declaration; we felt the absence of Sargent keenly that day.

During Festival Week the School, assisted by three guest players from the Kings' School, held a strong County Club side to a draw; beat the Kings' School the following day and drew with Soham CC after being 6 wickets down for 21 runs.

Bray and Scarfe, our No.1 and 2 batsmen, have usually given us a good start and Sargent and Kendall have had some good bowling spells. The wickets have been better this year and the cricket has improved accordingly; there seems to be a nucleus of boys at school who could now take their place in good club cricket.

CRICKET RESULTS

FIRST ELEVEN

May 16th - LOST. School 99 for 7 dec. (Currie 25, Fuller 21), Friends' School, Saffron Walden, 101 for 3
May 29th - DRAWN. School 50 for 4 (Sargent 16, Bray 15), Newport Grammar School 89 for 8 (Sargent 3 for 30, Rouse 3 for 39)
June 2nd - DRAWN. School 103 for 4 dec. (Scarfe 57 no., Sargent 17, Bray 15). March Grammar School 48 for 7 (Kendall 5 for 14)
June 16th - DRAWN. School 76 for 6 dec. (Fleet 20 no., Bray 18), King Edward VI. School, Bury, 37 for 3 (Kendall 3 for 13)
June 28th - WON. School 94 for 3 (Bray 42, Scarfe 24, Sargent 14 no., Kings' School, Ely, 92 (Sargent 7 for 40)
June 30th - DRAWN. School 97 for 7 dec. (Fleet 36, Kendall 28 no., Soham Town CC 83 for 7 (Sargent 5 for 26).

Also played:
June 27th - DRAWN. Combined Schools XI 75 for 9 (Kendall 29 no., Turvey 20), County Club and Ground XI. 135 for 4 dec. (Kendall 2 for 22)

CRICKET AVERAGES

1st XI BATTING

* Denotes not out	Innings	Not Out	Runs	Highest Score	Average
Scarfe	7	1	119	57*	19.83
Bray	7	0	121	42	17.29
Fleet	5	1	69	36 1	7.25
Sargent	5	1	50	17	12.50
Currie	6	1	45	25	9.00
Fuller	7	2	43	21	8.60
Also batted:
Kendall	4	3	65	29*	65.00

1st XI BOWLING

	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average
Sargent	77	18	139	17	8.18
Kendall	56	11	129	14	9.22
Rouse	31	5	110	6	18.33
Also Bowled
Scarfe	40	8	107	3
South	9	0	44	1

2nd XI BATTING

* Denotes not out	Innings	Not Out	Runs	Highest Score	Average
Woodcock	3	0	68	28	22.66
Bullman	5	2	62	37*	20.66
King	5	0	32	14	6.40
Peacock	5	0	31	15	6.20
Bishop	4	0	21	18	5.25
Roe, P	4	0	20	10	5.00

2nd XI BOWLING

	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average
Bishop	24	7	52	14	3.71
Bullman	23	8	50	10	5.00
King	24	9	44	8	5.50
Tassell	22	2	89	5	17.80

1st XI PARTNERSHIPS FOR EACH WICKET, 1951

Wicket	Score	Batsmen	Opposing Team	Venue
1st	49	Bray and Scarfe	Kings' School, Ely	Home
2nd	24	Bray and Fleet	Kings' School, Ely	Home
3rd	46	Currie and Fuller	Friends' School, Saffron Walden	Away
4th	21*	Fuller and Sargent	Kings' School, Ely	Home
5th	12*	Scarfe and Ibbott	March Grammar School	Away
6th	4	Kendall and Woodcock	Bury King Edward VI. School	Away
7th	70	Kendall and Fleet	Soham Town CC	Home
8th	29	Roe and Ibbott	Friends' School, Saffron Walden	Away

RECORD PARTNERSHIPS FOR 1st XI, 1946-1951

Wicket	Score	Batsmen	Opposing Team	Year
1st	49	Bray and Scarfe	Kings' School, Ely	1951
2nd	45	Bray and Whetstone	Newmarket Grammar School	1949
3rd	74	Routledge and Franklin	Newmarket Grammar School	1948
4th	41	Reed and Baker	Old Boys	1946
5th	46	Routledge and Sargent	Newmarket Grammar School	1948
6th	45	Peed and Peel	March Grammar School	1949
7th	70	Kendall and Fleet	Soham Town CC	1951
8th	29*	Ibbott and Roe	Friends' School, Saffron Walden	1951
9th	20	Baker and Sallis	Newmarket Grammar School	1946
10th	13	Bumpsteed and Ward	Headmaster's XI	1949