Last Thursday, the cricket girls’ first team took on the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) in a 30-over match and claimed a brilliant hard-earned victory.
Not only is this a very prestigious annual fixture, but a special one which challenges our cricket girls in the many disciplines of the game. They competed against 11 experienced women who have played the game for many years.
The MCC won the toss and elected to bat first. Daisy G and Jess W set the tone early on with an excellent display of new ball bowling which made the batters play constantly. This good start was rewarded when MCC’s first wicket fell in the third over of the game with the score at 9-1. The Hurst team fielded and bowled well throughout the 30 overs and restricted the MCC to 148-4. Daisy G, Harriet M and Suzanne G picked up wickets in the first innings.
In reply, Jemima S supported by Eloise S set our team off to the perfect start. Having put on 72 runs for the first wicket, Jemima (46) was the first to go. Eloise steadied the ship as a few more wickets fell around her, until she was dismissed for a brilliant contribution of 30 runs for a total of 90-4. With the game evenly poised, Leila W (12) and Arabella M (31) put on 55 runs together for the fifth wicket, but they were unable to see us over the line.
Nerves started to kick in as our girls were approaching MCC’s total and with just two overs spare the MCC picked up a flurry of wickets. With nine balls to go, Suzanne G and Jess W were at the crease and required just four runs to claim victory, whilst MCC needed two wickets for the win. Jess W played a lovely drive which found the boundary to seal victory for Hurst.
“ As highlighted by the MCC, our girls were impressive, and the game was played competitively but within the spirit of cricket throughout. A fantastic afternoon was had by all. Well done girls! ” Matthew Reynolds, Head of Girls’ Cricket
Find out more about cricket at Hurst College