As the County Championship enters its final, doubtless rain-affected week, it seems a good time to report on the 1^st XI’s thrilling win in the ONA match back in July and some welcome recognition for the progress of Y12 keeper-batter Poppy Camplin, who – in breaking news! – has been called up to the Southern Vipers Emerging Players Programme for 2023/24.

After bowling the ONA out cheaply, with all the bowlers performing with credit, and Jimmy Herdman sending down rockets that must have touched 80mph, the school seemed confident of victory at the halfway mark on the last Wednesday evening of the Summer Term. Jack Davis, once again, was the only ONA batter to hold us up after skipper, James Bird, had been bowled by a rapid Herdman yorker. It was great to see Y13s, Elliot Crouch, George Greenwood, Nathan Delavere and Dan Rutt returning for a final time to wear the new school caps. This fantastic foursome have done so much to put senior cricket on the footing that it is, post-pandemic, and current players owe them a debt of gratitude. However, before we knew it, St Bart’s were four wickets down with zero on board as Callum Johnson, in particular, bowled with bite and guile.

Step forward Herdman and Bart’s Captain, Harrison Blakemore, who were not only calm in the storm but made the weather themselves with an astonishing unbroken partnership of 120 – full of forthright drives, crunching pulls and clever sweeps, which had to been seen to be believed. (Fortunately, Mr Robbins was a witness.) Thanks to all who took part and especially Mike Hart for umpiring and adjudicating player of the match (it went to Y9 Ben Lawson for his relentlessly accurate bowling), Will Herrington for organising the ONA side and, most of all, Tricia Ray for the ONA’s sponsoring of food in the Falkland clubhouse afterwards.

With a strong Y10 cohort and some new players in Y12, next season holds plenty of promise – and it will be hoped that Poppy can turn out for us in the second iteration of the Toby Radford Trophy, which received national press coverage in The Cricketer over the summer, if her commitments with the Vipers, the leading women’s side in the game, allow. Many congratulations to her and best of luck.

Our U16’s girls’ football team have been in action against Bohunt School.

Firstly, a special thank you goes to Matilda (Y10) for coming to play in goal at short notice and playing so well.

The game started strong from both sides but St Bart’s were stronger. We had a few chances before Mya found the back of the net with a powerful strike. 1-0 St Bart’s.

Although Bohunt were able to work the ball down the pitch, they could not break past our defence.

Half time – 1-0 St Bart’s.

In the second half Bohunt started fast and equalised, 1-1.

Our girls fought hard and worked together phenomenally, just like the first half. Their hard work paid off and Mya scored again to take us back into the lead.

2-1 St Bart’s.

Bohunt kept pressuring our defence, but again, Scarlett, Anna and Eleanor did a fantastic job and did not allow them many chances on goal.

In the last 15 minutes, both teams remained persistent but a fast break from St Bart’s overloaded their defence where Isla shot from just outside the box to hit the crossbar and in. 3-1 St Bart’s.

To secure the win, the girls continued to play tirelessly with Immy, Lyra and Carys holding strong in the middle, Chloe and Isla dominating the wings, and Meg and Mya putting pressure on their back four.

Once again, their teamwork and resilience resulted in another two goals from Mya, earning her a hat-trick for the game and securing the win.

Final score 5-1 St Bart’s.

Everyone played exceptionally well. The girls remained composed, held their own and never gave up.

We took Year 13 historians on a trip to Hampton Court. They had a fun day exploring the Tudor palace, taking in sights that included the Great Hall, Tudor kitchens, and the world’s biggest vine. The highlight of the day was taking part in a seminar on the English Reformation that combined historical sources with a tour of the palace by an expert curator.

Harry (7C2) has just started St Bart’s but his music career is taking off fast! He got spotted at Carfest by Chris Evans and was asked to play a DJ set in the main club tent to over 500 people on the Sunday night. His story has been picked up by the Newbury Weekly News.

His mum says “It’s all gone a bit crazy since then, and his story has been picked up by national TV, radio and newspapers. He’s also being supported by the UK’s top Drum and Bass stars Chase and Status and by the mighty Ministry of Sound in London. We are talking to agents and getting requests for gigs at more festivals and venues, so it looks like his music career is going to be taking off much earlier than we thought!”

Well done Harry, we look forward to following your progress.