On Friday 1st May, Central Foundation’s Year 7 cricket teams arrived at City of London’s sports ground very excited for their first school cricket matches, and represented the school impeccably on a beautiful afternoon in South East London.
The A team played out a thrilling game on City’s main pitch; bowling first, twins Willoughby and Malin opened the bowling to great effect – limiting the opposition’s run scoring options and taking three wickets between them. The bowlers were backed up by some brilliant and brave fielding, with Saalih and Yusuf both particularly active in the field.
Captain Willoughby was able to choose from a number of bowling options, with Nathan, Jack, Sinit, Roman, Saalih and Jordy all bowling brilliantly. Two more wickets came via some brilliant fielding – a direct hit run out from Willo and a superb catch from Jack. Special mention must also go to Samir for his wicketkeeping.
After 16 overs City ended up scoring 90/6, and Central openers Willo and Samir immediately went about chasing it down. Samir hit his fourth ball high over the leg side field for six, and both boys played some brilliant shots while running with great intent as well. Samir was finally bowled for 23, bringing Timo to the crease. Willo was retired when he reached 30, with Central still needing 15 to win. A couple of quick wickets fell but Malin and Timo saw Central over the line – Timo hitting consecutive boundaries to seal the win with 8 balls to spare.
The B team also impressed in their first ever fixture, holding City of London to 83-5, with captain Jake leading the way with 2 wickets. In reply, contributions came from Ollie, Ketema, Zack, Khaalid & Luel as they finished on 72—just 11 runs short. A fantastic effort from a group all making their debuts.
Both CFBS teams showed great commitment and sportsmanship throughout the day – gracious in both victory and defeat with good fun had by all! A brilliant start to the season—plenty to look forward to with fixtures ahead against Arnold House School, Highgate School, The Latymer School & Chigwell School.