All reports are by the Cricket Coach, Mr Ryan Denyer, unless otherwise stated.
Sunday 13 June
U14 XI vs King Edward's School, Stratford
Report by Fergus R, Year 9
On Sunday we played King Edward's School from England. After a rained-delayed start King Edward's batted first. Vieraj P got two early wickets but this did not stop them from getting 155 runs. Archie H (Aberlour) and Vieraj picked up a couple more wickets. The batting did not get off to a good start as we lost two wickets early on. Vieraj then stabled the innings but it did not stop us from being bowled out for 60. We all had a great day and had a great barbecue afterwards.
Gordonstoun A XI vs the Common Room
The A XI proved too strong for an enthusiastic staff team on Sunday with Jake M and Rijvan A scoring freely with the bat against the bowling attack. Good fielding and bowling prevented the staff from really attacking the total set, though the staff were delighted to bat throughout their twenty overs.
Sunday 6 June
Gordonstoun School vs North of Scotland
Gordonstoun win by 130 runs
Again Gordonstoun managed to win the toss, an easy decision to bat first on a hard pitch, which would become more bowler-friendly throughout the day.
Jake M and Rijvan A made a positive start and looked comfortable at tea after an hour of batting together. Jake fell at 110, but both openers had provided a great platform for the team to push on and make a good score and declare in plenty of time to bowl our young opposition out.
We declared on 246 after 40 overs, giving ourselves 20 minutes to bowl at the North’s openers. Thankfully, after breaking through and collecting two wickets, Gordonstoun went into tea the happier of the teams. North of Scotland's J Mitchell batted well and made a quick 68, but he lacked support from the various other selected batsman and the North of Scotland soon found themselves losing wickets. They struggled to hold on and in the end were bowled out for 116 with 8 overs remaining.
Gordonstoun School won by 130 runs with James B taking four wickets for 18 runs.
Thursday 3 June
Gordonstoun vs Northern Counties
Gordonstoun win by 68 runs
Gordonstoun won the toss and elected to bat. Excited by the prospect of another large Twenty20 score, the boys set out to bat positively giving themselves a target of anything around 160. Jake M and Rijvan A were forced to graft hard on a difficult pitch and after 20 overs the team was forced to settle for 141, Jonathan R was the pick of the batsman, making a great score of 65.
Northern Counties clearly struggled and at 13 overs found themselves 30-6, not ideal for a run chase but it proved how hard batting was, especially against well-disciplined Gordonstoun bowlers. The match finally finished with Northern Counties making 73-7 and Gordonstoun winning by 68 runs.
Saturday 26 May
1st XI vs Old Gordonstoun (OG) XI
OGs win
Gordonstoun won the toss and chose to bat on a hard deck, which didn’t offer much for the bowlers. The forecast was for rain so our decision seemed wise, however with some of our team being borrowed by the OGs and others away for Leave-out, we felt slightly thin on the ground.
The OGs got off to a great start with opener Jake M caught expertly by Maths teacher Nick Fair in the gulley, shortly followed by the wicket of Jonathan R. Gordonstoun rallied and Will M showed great resistance to bat the majority of the innings for a respectable score of 32. However, playing the leading role was Rijvan A, who managed an exciting score well into the 80s when he was caught off the bowling of AHM Neil Wimberley.
The team finished on a score of 189-5 - well defendable but lacking much venom in our bowling attack, the school boys would have to field well.
The openers for the OGs looked solid and former cricket coach, James Rufey, proved his class by timing the ball beautifully throughout the innings, scoring 54 on a wet pitch. Neil Wimberley also contributed with the bat by smashing 53* before having to retire to help with the organisation of the Leavers' Ball!
The OGs eventually won with wickets to spare, both teams entered into the spirit of the game and the school boys will surely take much from the experience.
Thursday 20 May
U14 XI vs Robert Gordon's College
Gordonstoun win
Report by Mr Fair
On a sun-bathed King George V field the Year 9 XI enjoyed considerable success against a talented side from Robert Gordon’s College. After putting the visitors into bat, Fergus R, Vieraj P, Robert H and Fhinn McC bowled them out for 77, Vieraj taking four wickets. Against a determined bowling and fielding effort, the boys then knocked off the runs for only three wickets and with the minimum of fuss, Vieraj making 41 not out.
The boys were a pleasure to be with throughout the game and it’s wonderful to see great cricket in this Year group.
U15 XI vs Robert Gordon’s College
Gordonstoun win by 6 wickets
Robert Gordon’s batted first and looked good at 42-0 with their opening batsman taking full advantage of some loose bowling from Gordonstoun’s openers. This prompted a change of attack and George M was brought on after only 6 overs and managed to make an instant impact. He picked up wickets at regular intervals, never allowing RGC to gain any momentum, finally finishing with 5-14.
Robert Gordon’s finished on 89 all out with the last six batsman all scoring 0. Gordonstoun approached the run chase in a positive manner but also found themselves losing regular wickets, until an extended stay from opener James A and George M allowed Gordonstoun to assert their dominance on the game.
The game was finally won by Gordonstoun by six wickets with James A still at the crease, having seen his team home, with a good score in the 50’s not out.
Gordonstoun A XI vs Fochabers CC
Gordonstoun win by 63 runs
Jake R and Jonathan R opened the batting and were confident of scoring runs on a good, hard batting pitch but, unfortunately, a moment of miscommunication saw Gordonstoun lose their first wicket, Jonathan R gone, run out without facing a ball. A very depressing way to go! Fochabers bowled well and Gordonstoun soon were 30-3 and struggling to make runs and retain wickets. Phil E came into bat and, although feeling slightly out of form, he batted well to push the balance back in our favour. Jake R played sensibly, realising the poor situation the team had gotten themselves into and hit a good 104* when he was retired. Gordonstoun finished on 220-3 with Eaton scoring a valuable 50*.
Fochabers top order scored well, all making good starts but not pushing on. At 123-3 after 12 overs they looked set for the win but, unfortunately, a slight lack of middle order batting prevented the visitors from maintaining a good rate while keeping wickets in hand, finishing 156 -8 after 20 overs.
Saturday 15 May
Gordonstoun School vs Glenalmond College
Gordonstoun win by 74 runs
The Gordonstoun boys arrived full of hope and excited at the prospect of playing another school for the first time this season. As we arrived, finally completing our full morning of travelling, everyone was very surprised to see the sun had gone and the snow was coming down! We had a good lunch and got to work with a quick warm-up, preparing ourselves well for the match. Peter A won the toss and elected to bat, which seemed a strange decision given the conditions and state of the pitch. However, we trusted our batting line-up to achieve a good total and went about the day with a positive mentality.
Early wickets fell and we suddenly found ourselves 20-3 with Rijvan A and Nathan R in to bat. This was a good chance to see what the team was made of and how such a young side would respond to the loss of early wickets. Luckily both batted well and we finished with a score of 179 with both batsmen making good 50s.
We got off to a slow start when bowling and Glenalmond seemed comfortable with our opening bowlers. We were interrupted once again by the weather, with huge hailstones pelting down on the sides, but restarted soon after and the Gordonstoun team regrouped and bowled well to finish the game bowling Glenalmond all out for 105. Nathan finishing with four wickets and George M also bowled well to collect three good wickets.
Thursday 13 May
Gordonstoun A XI vs Buckie CC (T20)
Gordonstoun batted first and made a good score in the high 170s which was largely thanks to a good 102 made by Jake M. Buckie replied well and, although they lost some early wickets, the score gradually crept up on Gordonstoun. A couple of good overs for the batting team meant Buckie needed just 13 off the final over. Luckily, Farhan A kept his nerve and bowled well, picking up a crucial wicket and adding up the dot balls, making it impossible for Buckie to score off his tight bowling.
Gordonstoun School won a tight and exciting match.
Sunday 9 May
Gordonstoun v MCC
Gordonstoun School win by 4 wickets
Morale was high leading into this much anticipated MCC match, the wicket looked beautiful and the sun was shining with few clouds in the sky. A perfect batting track, primed for hundreds of runs and full of life, was ready for Gordonstoun’s in-form batsman to take the attack to the experience of the MCC. Unfortunately, tradition has shown that the MCC rather enjoy the relaxed start to a morning and, winning the toss, they decided to bat first, allowing their full side to arrive from different parts of the country.
The MCC batsman batted with control and went about seeing out the first couple of overs, wary of the pace from Nathan R, they showed good discipline and obviously recognised a threat from the young bowler. As MCC skipper Matt Hays began to relax into general polite chitchat, his attention would surely have been diverted to S. Nanthakumaran’s off stump being comfortably dislodged by a sharp in-swinger from Nathan early in the third over. Another wicket fell soon after, again by Nathan, leaving the MCC slightly concerned about how the day would pan out.
However, the batting team managed to rally and began to make good scores, comfortably reaching milestones along the way and showing why they have been chosen to represent the strong traditions of the MCC. They entered tea at 111-3 and M Hayes was well on his way to making a good score for the day. The MCC continued to bat through the sunshine pushing on into the 200’s and finally, with cameos from all, managed to post a decent score of 235 declared. Notable scores coming from P. Wood (45), M. Hays (59) and W. Paterson.
Unfortunately the majority of MCC batsman didn’t make big scores, despite the wonderful conditions, due to the fine bowling of James B which included The Ball of the Decade that somehow managed to find Mr Denyer’s off stump! Jaw’s dropped, babies stopped crying, birds were silenced and there was a long walk back for one disappointed cricket coach!
Gordonstoun approached their batting positively and raced along to 78-1 at tea. Two quick wickets and Denyer had redeemed himself, the top three were gone and Rijvan A and Nathan R continued to bat. 63 from Nathan proved very helpful but he was well supported by Rijvan who batted wonderfully throughout the innings, guiding Gordonstoun School to victory and withstanding wickets falling at the other end. The match was eventually won by Chris K hitting a straight six with 4 overs and 4 wickets to spare, Rijvan finished on 57* and victory belonged to youth.
Saturday 8 May
Gordonstoun vs Aberdeen University
Gordonstoun win by 139 runs
Gordonstoun batted first and, on an exceptionally damp wicket, Jake M and William M batted well together to make a solid 90 off 17 overs, however Will soon fell on 15 as Jake continued to bat well for his 78 off 26 overs. Set up well, Gordonstoun, with 8 wickets in hand, were sure to post a large score. Jonathan R continued where Jake had left off and picked up the tempo scoring a great 136, Rijvan A was caught on 30 and Gordonstoun posted a mammoth total of 302-4 off 40 overs.
Wickets fell regularly throughout the Aberdeen innings, which showed really how hard this pitch was to bat on. All six Gordonstoun bowlers contributed and Aberdeen were bowled out for 163 in 30 overs.
Wednesday 5 May
U15 XI vs Huntly CC U15 XI
Gordonstoun lose by 22 runs
Gordonstoun Under 15s found themselves up against a well-drilled Huntly XI. Winning the toss, captain Callum A chose to bowl first and make full use of the swinging pink ball and damp conditions. Huntly batted well and were never really troubled by Gordonstoun’s bowlers, although had they been taken, the four dropped catches would surely have told a different story. Huntly scored a whopping 172-3 off their 20overs leaving Gordonstoun to chase down in the dark with rain beginning to come down harder.
James A opened with Dev P but wickets tumbled fast. With the score still in single figures for the loss of three wickets, times looked desperate until a stunning partnership from Callum A(36) and George M (74*) saved face. Callum batted well and made a quick 21* allowing Gordonstoun School to finish on a respectable 152, just short of Huntley’s large score
Sunday 2 May
Gordonstoun vs XL Club (H)
Gordonstoun School win by 7 wickets
Poor weather had threatened our much anticipated match against the XL Club which is always considered a prestigious fixture in the Gordonstoun School cricket calendar. However, early signs looked good and, with only a damp outfield and slightly gray skies to contend with when the XL club arrived, nothing could stop this match from going ahead. Captain Peter A marched out to do the toss, knowing we wanted to bowl first on a damp but firm wicket. The clouds then parted and the sun poured onto the magnificent North Lawn setting.
Nathan R took the first ball and early signs indicated good swing. Suddenly, getting a big inside edge, the opening batsman Anderson had played onto his own stumps bringing rejoicing to the Gordonstoun team and despair for the XL Club. The first over belonged to the home side. With positive intent the boys pushed hard for the next wicket but experience proved to have the upper hand and the XL side dug deep and ground out the first session only losing two more wickets leaving them 72-2 at lunch. George M was in a spritely mood and was handed the ball to tempt the experienced batsman with some deadly spin. Still getting warm, a long hop proved very effective as XL's A Keith, having batted so beautifully, carved the ball straight into the safe hands of Rijvan A. This signalled the beginning of the end for the visitors and, although wickets didn’t fall immediately, they did so regularly for the rest of the innings. Soon the XL Club found themselves 110-4, then 137-5 and 172-6. However, a challenging score crept up on the slightly sun dazed, inexperienced Gordonstoun team as the XL Club finished on 199 all out. Wickets were shared amongst the bowlers with Jake M taking three, Aaron C and Chris K taking two each.
Missing regular opening batsman Will M, the captain Peter A confidently stepped in to fill the void. Unfortunately, he was unable to replicate the same heroics that he had shown while keeping wicket earlier in the match, scoring a modest five, being dismissed LBW for leaving a ball that pitched on middle and hit his back leg. Jake M, however, continued to bat quite wonderfully and at a good pace while being supported by Jonathan R at the other end. Fielders looked on in disbelief as the young South Australian flicked good bowlers off his legs for six and produced some excellent placement of shots. Despairingly, on a pitch that played beautifully all day, Jake got a ball that kept a bit lower, possibly highlighting the difference between Australia and Scotland, but very frustrating for the young batsman as he was given out LBW for 68.
Rijvan A then arrived at the crease to help Gordonstoun resume control of the match and batted sensibly while supporting Jonathan R who was soon stumped on 49, which brought hard hitting Nathan R to the crease. A sudden mix up and lack of communication was the only chance the batsman gave their more experienced opponents. After the visitors missed the opportunity of a run out, Rijvan and Nathan managed to remain at the crease till the end scoring 21* and 49* respectively. Gordonstoun School won by 7 wickets, having enjoyed the day immensely.
Many thanks to all the XL Club members that made the special trip from various parts of Scotland. We look forward to entertaining you again next year.
Saturday 1 May
Gordonstoun vs RAF Lossiemouth Twenty20
Gordonstoun win by 9 wickets
Feeling buoyed by the seasons T20 curtain-raising success against Elgin CC, the Gordonstoun team felt ready and well prepared for revenge against RAF Lossiemouth who had comfortably beaten us earlier in the term.
Previous errors had been discussed and a solid game plan had been put in place to provide added confidence. Gordonstoun now had additional depth in their batting where possibly they had struggled before and also a strong bowling attack that would be led again in Twenty20 by Farhan A and James B.
Gordonstoun lost the toss and were asked to bowl. With our IPL style tactics of opening with a spinner and finishing the game with death bowling pace, teams are likely to achieve big scores against us. This rang true with RAF Lossiemouth who were pegged back to 26-1 after 8 overs, Barton had picked up the school’s only wicket but with both openers only conceding 12 runs each RAF Lossiemouth’s progress seemed slow.
Sensing a below par score, the next few overs would prove vital for the RAF. Straight away Patton was run out and Gordonstoun felt very much on top. Wickets continued to fall with Charles L claiming his second for the season and then Jake M, in his first taste of Scottish cricket, had the visitors struggling at 48-3 off 12 overs. Rijvan A and Nathan R took full advantage of this mountain of pressure and showed their class by wrapping up the tail. The South African Nathan R finished with 4 wickets, which pleased the large partisan crowd.
The RAF were restricted to 92 all out and Gordonstoun made quick work of chasing down this score. Although the school lost an early wicket with experimental opener Chris K scoring 9, Nathan R started with intent and scored a fast 50*. Keen to return for prep, he retired and allowed Jonathan R and Jake M to get some much needed time in the middle, finally polishing off the match comfortably. Gordonstoun chased down the RAF’s score in 9 overs but continued to bat the full 20 which allowed Jonathan R and Rijnan A to achieve excellent scores of 50 retired.
Thursday 29 April
U13 XI (Aberlour House) vs Robert Gordon's College (A)
Aberlour 130-7 Robert Gordon's 114-5
Report by Mr Wimberley
The U13 boys travelled to Robert Gordon’s for their first competitive match against another school this summer. Ollie S was appointed Captain and his first job was to win the toss - we lost and were put in to bat.
Having travelled for two hours to Aberdeen the boys were not set back by this. Unfortunately, we lost a wicket in just the second over but Archie H and Edward G held firm and started to build a solid partnership for the team with Archie making a blustery 14 and Edward 17. The team then had a wobble with our middle order losing quick wickets leaving us 89-6 after 15 overs. However, our last 5 overs of batting yielded 41 runs for the loss of only one more wicket on the last ball of the innings. This was thanks to Ruari C and Cameron P who both batted brilliantly making 22 and 19 respectively. This gave Robert Gordon's a total of 131 to win.
After a quick turn around Aberlour were in the field. Our bowlers did a brilliant job of keeping things tight, with admirable support from the fielders with no less than four run-outs and a catch accounting for the wickets. One of their batsman played out of his skin, scoring a mighty 60 Not Out. However, this was not enough for Robert Gordon's to reach the Aberlour total. They finished after 20 overs on 114-5 as opposed to our 130-7.
All-in-all it was a great game, played in good spirit. The boys thoroughly deserved to win their game and all seemed to enjoy it. It was a wonderful team effort and hopefully they will go from strength-to-strength for the rest of their matches.
U15 XI vs Robert Gordon’s College (A)
Win to Robert Gordon's
Report by Callum A
We lost the toss and were put in to bat first. We started of the batting well not losing many wickets but it was bit slow for a 20/20 game averaging only about 5 an over. Then things started to speed up at around 10 overs as more fours were being hit. We finished our 20 overs with 97 for 9.
We started bowling and took two wickets early and four more wickets were taken in the first 10 overs before the home side found their form and no further wickets were taken. Robert Gordon's snatched victory in the 17th over.
The team played to the best of their ability and gave it their all.
Wednesday 28 April
Gordonstoun U14 vs Aberlour House (A)
Gordonstoun win by 20 runs
The Under 14s batted first and were bowled out for 80, Cameron P took four wickets for Aberlour House. Robert H batted well, retiring and returning to bat, scoring the majority of the Gordonstoun runs. Aberlour were then bowled out for 60, Charlie B made 19 runs and Vieraj P bowled well and took wickets. Although Aberlour lost, they played well and seemed to have the more disciplined bowling attack, only conceding 4 extras, compared to Gordonstoun’s 35.
Sunday 25 April
Gordonstoun vs Aberdeen Grammar School (H)
Game abandoned
Many thanks to Aberdeen Grammar for making the long journey up to Gordonstoun School but unfortunately due to none stop nagging rain the match was abandoned after 4 overs with Gordonstoun on a steady 28.
We look forward to a rematch in June.
Saturday 24 April
Gordonstoun vs Glenalmond College (A)
Game cancelled
Unfortunately due to poor winter weather the Glenalmond covers suffered defeat at the hands of the snow. I noted on our recent squash tour to Wellington College that their school nets had broken at the hands of the snow with steel poles bent under the strain of such an incredible weight. We are very lucky at Gordonstoun School to have a warm safe indoor centre, great covers and a wonderful ground staff that has allowed us to play on through this harsh weather with no fuss at all.
Hopefully a rematch will be played later.
Thursday 22 April
Gordonstoun vs Elgin CC Twenty20 (H)
Gordonstoun win by 83 runs
Thursday afternoon's Twenty20 match at home to Elgin was a good chance for our young batsman to enjoy some freedom and a lack of pressure in this fun form on the game.
Gordonstoun won the toss again and Nathan R opened with Philip E. Unfortunately, after a year out of the game, Philip didn’t trouble the scorers and Gordonstoun lost an early wicket. Nathan showed his class and batted with strength and experience to hit a well timed 52 until he was bowled by Elgin’s young Hastings. Rijvan Amin and Peter A both chipped in with 17 and 23. A score of 153 looked attractive but there still much work to be done in the Gordonstoun batting line up as 38 of our 153 came from extras.
Hugh Gerrard was the pick of the bowlers for Elgin and, with figures of two wickets at the expense of 7 runs, it was clear Gordonstoun had targeted the remaining Elgin bowlers as an opportunity to score quickly. Hastings did his utmost to prove Gordonstoun wrong with a promising 2 wickets for 19 from his allotted 4 overs, but unfortunately the rest of the bowlers were not as convincing.
Farhan A’s experience and great ball control earned him the new ball, which today was an exciting pink, ready to bowl in tandem with spinner James B. Both bowled beautifully and soon had Elgin 14 runs for the loss of five wickets, Farhan collecting three and James bagging two wickets for as many runs. Wickets continued to fall rapidly and with little resistance as Elgin battled through to the 17th over scoring only 70 all out. The final wickets came from Charles L, George M and two from Toby F-N.
Again many positives came from the Elgin match - decent batting and an improved bowling display ensured a comfortable win and Gordonstoun are finally off the mark in the 2010 season and looking forward to the coming matches.
Wednesday 21 April
Gordonstoun vs RAF Lossiemouth (H)
Gordonstoun 111 all out, RAF Lossie win by 73 runs
We had previously hoped that Aberdeen University would be our first match of the season and prove to be a good warm-up for the RAF champions, RAF Lossiemouth. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case and our first taste of cricket in the Scottish summer was against a very well-drilled RAF team that havd been playing competitive cricket for the last month.
Peter A, the new Gordonstoun School cricket captain strolled to the middle in a stride that screamed confidence and won the toss. He decided to bowl, a relatively easy decision after South African exchange student Nathan R’s heroic trip around England where he clean bowled Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott and Monty Panesar, something the Australians struggled with this year! However, with a lack of depth to our bowling attack the RAF boys would surely put up a strong fight.
Nathan R and Rijvan A led the bowling attack and had control of the Navigators, who ironically seemed to be struggling to find the boundary. Rijvan took two early wickets and seemed to enjoy the tight lines his partner was bowling from the other end. After a spell of four overs each it was the turn of others to bowl and a great reply from Rijvan's younger brother Farhan awarded him two wickets at an expense of only 7 runs. Amongst the highlights was a stunning slip catch from his brother Rijvan, which was appreciated by everyone at the match, except the Rose who was batting at the time.
A number of wickets fell after that with contributions from Jim T, George M and James B though, as we feared, inexperience on Scottish pitches showed moments of brilliance but also led to some short bowling and a good opportunity for the RAF to get back into the game. They duly rallied from a gloomy looking 70-odd for 7 to make a strong 184-9 on a tough slow pitch, mainly thanks to the defiant batting from Wolton, Boardman and Nash.
Having set ourselves an optimistic target of defending anything under 180 this score would surely prove achievable.
However, the home team really struggled as the pressure of a large total took its toll. The openers offered little resistance (as with the RAF’s top order), but a lack of depth in our batting department would prove a tough challenge for top order. Farhan A proved himself to be a Gordonstoun seasoned pro and followed up his good bowling display with a resilient 26, although second top scorers behind him were Nathan R and Peter A with some brief cameos, scoring a welcome 14 runs each. Gordonstoun eventually crumbled to 111 all out but will take many positives from the match ready for Elgin CC in a Twenty20 tomorrow and ultimately Glenalmond away on Saturday.
Tuesday 20 April
Gordonstoun vs Aberdeen University (H)
Game cancelled
The Gordonstoun cricket team finally managed to kick off the 2010 season although the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull had hit pre-season preparations hard. Only nine of the twenty-four boys managed to get back for Sunday’s start to pre-season training but a lack of flight availability meant that Mr Denyer was grounded on the sunny south coast.
Eventually, thanks to overnight sleepers, there was a group large enough to take on Aberdeen University in the first match of the season. Preparations were good and spirits were very high, (mainly thanks to Jim T's large film collection and a big screen in the Sixth Form Centre, which made evenings very easy work for Mr Denyer and Mr Wimberley!).
Unfortunately poor weather meant that the game never actually began. This was most frustrating for everyone who had thus far been involved in the start of the 2010 season, even more so as we couldn’t even blame the volcano for this disruption, just the poor Scottish April weather.
However, it enabled us to work hard for the rest of the afternoon, playing some good indoor cricket and enjoying some fielding outside when the sunshine finally came out in the late afternoon.