Eltham College has enjoyed unprecedented cricket success this season winning over 80% of its fixtures against local schools and teams. Winning a Kent Cup is always a highlight of a school’s season but to win four in one season is fantastic achievement and reflects extremely well on the pupils and coaches alike and on the college’s outstanding facilities.
The 1st XI finished their season on a high by recording an excellent win over Harvey GS in the final of the Kent Cup. The side had reached the final by playing some of their best cricket of the season; Skinners, Borden GS, St Olave’s and Judd were all well beaten on route to the final. David Roffey was the star of the show in the final scoring 103 out of 239-8 in the allotted 50 overs. Richard Pearse, 3-18 and Saif Sait 4-32 bowled superbly and Harvey were dismissed for 140 leaving Eltham victorious by the handsome margin of 99 runs. The Under 13's have had a fantastic season, winning all 16 of their matches, including the Kent Cup Final. This success was based on the destructive batting of captain Charlie Speller, Jack Robertson and Noir Gordon, all of whom scored over 450 runs. Jack (twice) and Noir both scored hundreds, and Charlie and Noir put on 187 runs for the first wicket in the Cup Final. Although it was the fast bowling of Ben Sales and Jack Robertson which unsettled many opponents, off-spinner Rikesh Patel finished as leading wicket-taker with 322.
The Under 12s have had an excellent season with the final game seeing them win the Kent Cup in a closely fought match with B.E.T.H.S. Their success has been down to their tremendous team spirit and consistent team effort with all of them contributing effectively to varying degrees in different matches. Alex Tate has opened the batting with great success and Harry Thompson has been the pick of an accurate bowling attack. The team has been efficiently organised and led by captain Jonathan Radhakrishnan.
The Under 11s first match in the Summers Kent Cup saw Eltham pass St Michael’s Otford score of 109 largely due to an excellent knock of 57 not out by George Haley. George’s run of form continued in round two against King’s Rochester where he was once again unbeaten on 64 out of a score of 94 for 1. Accurate bowling by James Morrison, David Lawrence, Krish Desai and Luke Boynes led to King’s being dismissed for a mere 26. Despite being 5 for 2 against Dulwich College Prep School Cranbrook, chasing 82 for victory in the semi-final, another undefeated 46 from George Haley and 24 from James Morrison saw Eltham home. In the final, a strong New Beacon Prep School set a challenging 110 and despite the fall of early wickets Eltham’s middle order batsmen held their nerve; David Lawrence scored a very valuable 30 not out with Josh Parry who scored 18 not out. With one to win off the last ball Josh crashed it for four to secure the Summers Kent Cup for the first time in their history.