Canterbury reign in Spain

Comprehensive school triumph in inaugural The Cricketer Schools 100 tournament in Andalucía

Kent is the garden of England but a school team from there triumphed in surroundings that could not have been more different. Canterbury Academy were the inaugural winners of The Cricketer Schools 100 tournament in Andalucía, Spain, edging out Scarborough College, Winchester College and Radley College.

The battle ground for the 100-ball competition was Desert Springs Resort, boasting an international-size grass pitch – constructed to ECB standards and specifications. Nestling amid a backdrop of mountains, palm trees and cacti, it was certainly a setting with a difference.

Canterbury fell to defeat against Scarborough but wins over Winchester and Radley were enough to see the Kent school sitting at the top of the table at the conclusion of the group stage thanks to their superior net-run rate.

With the semi-finals tantalisingly poised, Spanish skies unleashed rain for two straight days to force an early end to proceedings.

Canterbury opened the tournament with a 14-run victory over Winchester thanks to a fine all-round performance from captain Harry Fulton.

Fulton played a steady hand with the bat with an unbeaten 27 from No.6 before taking 2 for 6 with the ball.

Alexa Stonehouse – who will represent Trent Rockets in The Hundred this summer – impressed opening the batting. The allrounder was aggressive from the off, looking strong down the ground, striking two fours in a run-a-ball 17.

Wilf La Fontaine Jackson was the star man with the bat for Winchester, falling two runs short of the competition’s first half-century. He displayed impressive power, hitting three fours and two sixes.

With the ball, Winchester’s Paddy Fisher was particularly miserly, finishing with figures of 2 for 10 from his 20 deliveries.

In Saturday’s second fixture a superb knock by Scarborough captain Duncan Brown set up a 31-run victory over Radley.

^{Canterbury Academy}

The skipper played fluently from the off, smashing nine fours and five sixes in a stunning 44-ball 82.

On Brown, Scarborough coach Piet Rinke said: “He’s a star in the making, that showed in his innings on a difficult deck. He’s a matchwinner.”

Alfie Wood struck twice in four balls to have Radley on the back foot at 22 for 2.

Rory Acheson-Gray and George O’Connor provided a spirited fightback in a partnership of 71 before Wood returned to pick up his third wicket of the innings, bowling O’Connor for 39.

Ferdinand Spicer became the fourth and final Radley wicket, falling to Romario Brathwaite – who has recently been selected for the Caribbean Premier League draft.

Scarborough were straight back into the action in day one’s final game, chasing down 100 with 10 balls to spare against Canterbury to make it back-to-back wins.

Opener Cian Dickinson – who marshalled the chase with an unbeaten 44 – was supported by his captain, Brown (25 off 20), and Lewis Porter (19 not out) as Scarborough negotiated what could have been a tricky chase against a Canterbury team who defended 101 in their opening match.

Tom Easterby claimed 2 for 5 with both wickets coming via stumpings by skipper Brown. That brace completed a hat-trick of stumpings for Brown who had earlier seen the back of Christian Roberts as the batsman looked to come down the track to Wood.

Day two opened with a fluent half-century from opener Harry Roberts leading Canterbury to their highest total of the tournament. Roberts’ innings was well-paced, reaching a run-a-ball 35 before accelerating from 35 to his half-century in just four balls. From there the bowlers put in a highly disciplined display which saw Radley fall well short of their target.

Spinner Jayden Denly picked up two early wickets – Emile Haratbar showing some rapid glovework to stump Rollo Harrap, before having George Reynolds caught by Ben Burgess at slip – to see Radley reduced to 16 for 2.

^{Scarborough's Duncan Brown}

Two balls later Radley were three down and spin continued to do the damage as George O’Connor fell to Josh Julian – Burgess pouching another.

Joe Coleman had Spicer caught behind before Denly returned to remove Radley’s top-scorer Frederick Judd (20), assisted once again by another sharp stumping from Haratbar.

Winchester put in an excellent all-round performance to earn their first victory of the tournament and inflict a first defeat on Scarborough.

La Fontaine Jackson – who hit 48 against Canterbury on Saturday – struck a 32-ball 40 which was constructed with a pleasing blend of textbook form and all-out aggression. The opener put on 70 with Chris Batten (26) for the first wicket to give their side a perfect platform.

Winchester showed great control with the ball to stifle the chase early on with Fisher impressing again, conceding just one run from his opening 15 deliveries.

Fisher would finish with fine figures of 1 for 8, which would have been 1 for 2 had it not been for Romario Roach launching his penultimate ball for an enormous six down on one knee over long off.

Roach unfurled another massive leg-side six as he threatened to resurrect Scarborough’s innings.

Enter Zach Roberts. On a day which had seen spin inflicting a lot of the damage, seamer Roberts had Roach caught behind and removed Dickinson for 1 in the space of five balls.

Brathwaite was the third and final man to fall to Roberts – who finished with 3 for 7 – as Scarborough’s chase stuttered to 93 for 8.

Winchester made it back-to-back wins, chasing down 104 with five balls to spare against Radley.

Radley’s 103 for 4 set up an exciting chase with Winchester needing to knock it off in 90 deliveries to leapfrog Scarborough into second place in the league table on net run-rate.

^{Trent Rockets-bound Alexa Stonehouse}

Winchester’s Fisher continued his fruitful tournament - taking 3 for 15 to put the opposition on the back foot at 17 for 3.

Jack Cotterell anchored Radley’s innings with an unbeaten 33 and captain Rollo Harrap played nicely for his 31.

With run-rate pressure on, Zain Malik (26) and Henry Nicholls (11) put Winchester on their way.

Nicholls was caught behind off Edward Horsfield and in-form batsman La Fontaine Jackson fell cheaply for the first time in the tournament before George Gardiner (5) and Malik fell in quick succession as the chase faltered.

It fell to Batten and Seb Morgan – who played one exquisite reverse sweep for four – to get the chase back on track. Together the pair added 44 to the total and managed to get the net run-rate equation down to five off five before Batten edged through to Acheson-Gray.

Five off five became four off two but Winchester couldn’t edge over the required line.

In a speech made to the four teams, Canterbury’s Fin Myers referred to the rain: “This is not the way we would have liked to have won.

“Being the only comprehensive school, we understood we had an underdog role to play,” Myers continued. “We have thoroughly enjoyed it and are incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity.”

Canterbury head coach and former Kent captain Dave Fulton added: “The standard of play, and talent on show has been fantastic.

“Our squad have a never-say-die-attitude and unbelievable team spirit. To mix it with traditional, established cricketing schools has been a privilege and it’s wonderful to see our team develop. It has been a top-class trip and a dream come true for our guys.”

Scarborough’s Rinke echoed Fulton’s words, saying: “It was a fabulous tournament, we are very honoured and privileged to be involved. The boys loved it. The camaraderie and general focus of improving cricket has been the highlight for me.”

The Cricketer would like to thank Durant Cricket for their ongoing support of our schools cricket coverage. For more on Durant Cricket, including booking a site visit, please click here