3 July 2023
Scarlett C, Year 9
Two Woldingham teams took part in the U15s Smash It Cricket Festival at Kenley Cricket Club on Tuesday 22 June. As soon as we arrived, my fellow U14 cricketers and I (pictured) began sizing up the opposition. Everyone was practising and doing drills, so we could easily see what we were up against. Soon we began to notice something. These other teams, they were…taller? Wait a minute…we were up against Year 10s! How could we ever beat them? Another thing that threw a spanner in the works, was that the boundaries were tiny. We decided to use two wicket-keepers in each game.
Our team started warming up, before moving on to a bowling exercise, as we waited to find out who we were playing first. Claremont, a team that just sounded like it was good at cricket. But, even though we were against players a year older than us, Woldingham prevailed. We won by three runs in a tough match, with lots of runs scored and lots of catches made. Three cheers ensued and we headed for our water bottles.
We were next up against another team of Year 10s from Farnham Heath End, who we had watched play against Claremont. Although slightly distracted by delicious chocolate chip cookies, we saw them win and they were SO good! But we took them on and won again, this time by a bigger margin. We celebrated by eating lunch.
Finally, we came to our last match of the day, against Lingfield College, and… we won. In fact, we beat them massively, thanks to Leonora hitting at least four sixes!
Our U15 team had a great festival too, winning two out of three matches. Back on the bus home, armed with ice cream and Taylor Swift songs, and with our brand new, shiny gold medals, we partied all the way back to school.
A huge thank you to Miss Arch for being such a fantastic coach. We all hope you enjoy your time at your next school. We will miss you.