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The Stopfordian 2011–2012
1st XI Cricket Squad
with bat in hand, if they were to compete with some of the
school’s bigger rivals during matches. The squad’s commitment
to practice was excellent throughout the year and while not
every member of the 1st XI squad had the opportunity to play
in matches, their attitudes were exemplary nevertheless.
As one generation departs, the likes of David Wright, Oliver
Hall, Mark Isherwood and the outgoing captain Chris Marshall
will leave a hole in the team and especially the batting lineup.
The introduction of Joe Ganley-Yates and Mark Orpen has
given them an early taste of 1st XI cricket and hopefully they
can use this season’s experience and join Max Murphy,
Michael Schofield and co. on a regular basis next year. On the
bowling front there were some fine performances and the
stand-out bowler of the season was Al Jones. He was ably
supported with the new ball by David Wright, who had a
strong season with both bat and ball. Adit Kulkarni bowled his
brand of offspin with great maturity, especially against the
MCC. Matthew Proctor found his feet later in the season and
showed good pace. Overall, the bowling and fielding was
impressive and Michael Schofield behind the stumps put in
some outstanding performances.
There is plenty of cricketing talent at the school and I look
forward to seeing how these promising cricketers develop
over the coming seasons.
J. Ormond
UNDER 15 CRICKET
bowling from Provan, Samarji, Jones and Stollery, Macclesfield
were restricted to a modest total. Traditional batting frailties,
however, ensured that this total was not seriously threatened.
Impressive wins against Cheadle Hulme and Audenshaw
followed and Joe Ganley-Yates started to fulfill his undoubted
potential with the bat. A solid 32 in the first of these fixtures was
followed by an outstanding unbeaten 130 in the second.
Similarly, Adit Kulkarni’s bowling really progressed this season and
these two individuals, alongside James Samarji, Tom O’Mahony,
deserved their promotion to the 1st XI when it arrived.
Under 15 Cricket Squad
This turned out to be an extremely frustrating season for an
enthusiastic group of individuals. Duke of Edinburgh
commitments, awful weather and even the appearance of
Blackpool F.C. at Wembley, all conspired to rob the team of
fixtures in what was already a very short time slot. Early games
against Manchester, Bolton and King’s Macclesfield were all
lost to clashes with DofE, although the latter was thankfully
rearranged to become a midweek fixture. The game when
eventually played revealed traits all too evident in the
previous season. Sharp in the field and with penetrative
In an abridged season such as this, a good cup run is a real
bonus, but this was not to be. Almost predictably, our first
round opponents dropped out after much delay and this set
up a fixture against a solid, but not spectacular West Hill team.
Again Stockport ended up shy of a two figure total despite
resistance from Duffy and Hanson. Later fixtures against
Altrincham, Chester and Sandbach fell victim to the inclement
weather and the season somewhat fizzled out.
The challenges of Senior cricket now lie ahead and there is
enough ability for many of these individuals to make a real
mark given sustained application.
R. Howarth
UNDER 14 CRICKET
After a summer blighted by rain, the Under 14 cricket season
did not finish until September with the much delayed County
Cup final against Birkenhead. After an afternoon dodging
heavy showers, at the mid-way point the game was in the
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