This has been a season of great fluctuations. At times we played some excellent cricket. There were wins home and away against a good Packwood side that lost to only one other school all term. We skittled Beaudesert and Birchfield for scores under 50 with Arthur Scott taking a memorable hat-trick in the Birchfield game. We scored 180 against Cheltenham with the excellent Max Carleton-Smith caressing 93 and then had them nine down in a high scoring draw. Winterfold and Horris Hill also succumbed to good all round bowling.

However there were also six defeats and certainly in the games against Bromsgrove, Bilton and Aldro there were chances for us to win. However we were guilty all too often of periods of poor concentration and intensity during a game which allowed the initiative to be seized from our grasp by good play from the opposition. This despite the constant encouragement and leadership of Max who was a terrific captain and who could be left to make virtually all the decisions on the field.

The statistics show that Max scored 426 runs, a feat only bettered by five other classy players in the last twelve years. If you add on 22 wickets from his left arm spin it is obvious to see how important he was to the team. He lacked support with the bat but with the ball, Jack Stansfeld took 19 wickets, Arthur Scott 15, Matthew Sanderson 14 and master partnership breaker Nick Burgoyne 12. Francis Burke took 14 stumpings, many off medium paced bowling standing up which was some feat.

Ed Palmer was a busy fielder in the deep and Alex Moore was involved in several direct hit run outs. His leg spin shows real promise but the chalet trip took the heart out of his season. Tom Siviter had his moment of glory at Packwood when with 30 runs needed and time running out, he proceeded to smash 24 in 7 balls including a glorious six off their opening bowler. Will Flower and Will Cornish show promise for next season to add to the other four year 7 boys who tasted action in the 1st XI.