Year 6 competed in the annual Thame Schools Partnership cricket festival at Thame Cricket Club. Enjoying the glorious sunshine both teams kicked off the morning with thrilling victories, both scoring at will with the bat – the boys scoring 72 and the girls scoring 38 - and skittling the opposition when bowling (boys conceding 25 runs whilst the girls conceded just 16!). Egged on by this fantastic start to the day both sides produced similar results, with the girls stunning St Joseph’s with an excellent display of bowling to restrict them to 24 runs and then smashing a superb 42 runs! The boys team continued this rich vein of form in their third game with a superb display with the ball, taking wickets at ease. The girls through to the final once again played St Joseph’s, buoyed on by their previous result went in with spirits and heads held high. In an effort to overturn the previous result St Joseph’s fielded excellently and restricted the girls to just 22 runs – albeit it with some contentious underarm bowling! Taking to the field the girls knew the task that lay ahead of them and bowled admirably. St Joseph’s were up to the challenge and batted aggressively, scoring with some sumptuous shots. A string of wickets brought the scores back to within single figures; however, St Andrew’s were denied the trophy following an onslaught from the final pair finishing with a total of 38.

The boys looked to continue their scintillating start and quickly dispatched Tetsworth with another excellent display of bowling and batting prowess. Capping off the win in style with two wickets in the final over to put the result to bed. St Andrew’s 54 runs and Tetsworth 27 runs. This meant that the unofficial final came down to the final round of matches with a winner takes all game between St Andrew’s and John Hampden “B” team. The boys knew they faced an uphill battle against a side boasting 8 county players, many of which they were familiar with. An aggressive salvo from the opening pair saw runs flowing, however precious wickets fell. The “Bazball” style had held up so well all tournament but the pace and accuracy of the John Hampden bowlers. St Andrew’s finishing with a respectable and defendable score of 35. Taking to the field the boys bowled and fielded with courage and determination knowing they had to protect the boundaries and take chances when they arose. An excellent stand from the middle pairing put John Hampden in the driver’s seat. With the game seemingly slipping away an excellent over taking two valuable wickets brought St Andrew’s back in contention. The final over produced a few half chances for a game-changing wicket, unfortunately the boys were unable to capitalise, and John Hampden clung on for victory with a total of 48 runs.

The final results of: the girls playing 3, winning 2 with 1 loss. The boys playing 4 winning 3 and losing 1. Although disappointed in not quite clinching victory in either competition, the display, attitudes and sportsmanship from all who represented the school cannot be commended enough.