Cricket report

Cricket at John Lyon started way back in the autumn term – the first time our winter programme has got under way right at the beginning of a school year. The reason for doing so was to satisfy our students’ keen appetite for training and practice in the sport they love.

With expansion of our cricket provision comes the hope that we will see even greater results on the field once the season begins in earnest – and we look forward to helping develop and strengthen the skill levels of everyone taking part. Under the new leadership of Head of Cricket Mr Chris Peploe, we have increased our out-of-season provision to include preschool, lunchtime and after school sessions as well as small group sessions for Year 11 within PE and for Sixth Form students in their free periods.

Once the dark nights, cold mornings and gloomy days finally passed, the cricket season was finally upon us. With students returning from a well-earned Easter break, we kickstarted the games with a whole school pre-season day at Sudbury Fields attended by a third of all pupils. We’re pleased to say that we have quite a number of very strong cricketers throughout the school, including six Sixth Form students who are currently on their County pathways.

With gleaming new whites and freshly oiled bats at the ready, we completed some 60 fixtures in the first half of the season alone, across 13 boys’ teams and two girls’ teams. In line with the Sports department’s ethos, ‘Sport for all in the pursuit of excellence’, we have introduced ‘All Inclusive Monday’: years 7 and 8 both playing in competitive fixtures with A-D teams, alongside fixtures for our new Year 7 girls. On that one day we arranged a total of 10 fixtures!

With too many individuals to mention, students’ impressive achievements include a hat-trick, five-wicket hauls, numerous halfcenturies and the first senior hundred for a number of years.

The team leading the way with the highest win ratio are the U13As with 73%, with a further three teams boasting a 60%-win ratio. However, it is the U15A and 1st XI who have really triumphed – both had fantastic County Cup runs and at the time of writing are both soon to compete in their respective finals. report that every girl within Year 7 has represented the school this summer. Special mention goes to Nishka K (7ADH) who made history by becoming the first female pupil to represent the boys’ cricket squad with Zlata M (7MLT) closely behind. All the girls must be commended in their engagement and enthusiasm in taking on the considerable challenge of playing what is a new sport for many of them. We very much look forward to the further development of the girls’ programme over the coming years. n