Royal School, Armagh

First Eleven

The 2009 cricket season turned out to be extremely frustrating with the appalling weather during May washing out many games. In spite of that, the team captained by Matthew Steenson managed to play seven games, losing four and winning three.

The season got off to a terrible start with a seven wicket defeat against Lurgan College. Batting first, the Royal School innings lasted for only 16 of their allotted 20 overs while scoring 42 all out. Harry Boyd with 14 was the only player to reach double figures. In reply Lurgan scored 43 for the loss of only three wickets and over ten overs to spare.

Ballymena Academy provided the opposition in the first round of the Schools’ Cup. Bowling first, the Royal School produced their best cricket of the season in restricting Ballymena to 107 all out in 28 overs. Matthew Wright with 3 for 14 and Duncan Steed with 2 for 23 were the pick of the Royal School bowlers. Matthew Steenson top scored with 47 as Armagh won by six wickets with 8 overs to spare.

The Schools’ Cup second round fixture against Foyle and Londonderry was always going to be a very tough game. Foyle batted first and some excellent bowling from Harry Doyle and Matthew Wright restricted the opposition to 20 for 1 in the opening ten overs. This quickly changed as the Royal School’s second change bowlers could not maintain the early pressure with Foyle eventually scoring 190 for 7 in 32 overs. The Armagh innings never really got going as excellent bowling from Foyle restricted the Royal School’s scoring chances. Wickets soon began to tumble as Armagh were eventually bowled out for 105. Harry Doyle top scored with 26 and Year 11 pupil Duncan Steed batted well for his 19.

The first Saturday morning fixture was at home to Friends’ School. Unfortunately, Armagh produced another well below par performance as they were convincingly beaten by 40 runs. Friends’ batted first and scored 140 in 20 overs with only Andrew Smyth showing any consistency with the ball, taking 4 wickets for 10 runs. All too often, easy runs were given away in the field or easy chances dropped. The batting performance was no better with a number of batsmen getting into double figures but unable to go on and get a score that would enable the Royal School to chase down their target.

Banbridge Academy provided the opposition in the first round of the Sherrygroom Cup. Although the Royal School won the match by a convincing 7 wickets, the performance was once again poor. Banbridge scored 70 in their allotted 20 overs with 34 extras given away by a very lack lustre Armagh fielding display. In reply, Adam Breakey scored 42 with some superb stroke play on both sides of the wicket as Armagh reached their target with ten overs to spare.

The Saturday fixture at home to Belfast High School was a very exciting game. Belfast High School batted first and scored 141 for 3 in 20 overs with Matthew Brownlee the pick of the Armagh bowlers taking 1 for 15. The Royal School innings quickly gathered momentum with Harry Doyle (25) and Adam Breakey (13) scoring freely. An excellent partnership between Annesley Cuttle (17) and Matthew Steenson (41 not out) set up an admirable victory as the Royal School hit the winning runs off the penultimate ball to win by 5 wickets.

Unfortunately the Royal School side that took to the field in the quarter final of the Sherrygroom Cup away to Grosvenor Grammar School was well understrength. For various reasons, a number of senior players were unavailable although the performance of the side was encouraging. The Royal School batted first and scored 96 for 9 in 25 overs with Harry Doyle top scoring with 32. Although Grosvenor chased down the Armagh total in the 20th over to win by 8 wickets, it was encouraging to see young players like Duncan Steed and Michael Hoey bowling with confidence and skill.

Overall this was a disappointing season from a very talented bunch of cricketers. The commitment and determination required to win was all too often missing and if they are going to achieve anything in cricket they must be prepared to back up their undoubted talent with a desire to perform and win.

First Eleven squad: Matthew Steenson, Harry Doyle, Matthew Wright, Andrew Smyth, Matthew Brownlee, Stuart Whitcroft, Mark McClatchey, Dale Montgomery, Harry Boyd, Adam Breakey, Alistair Dodds, Annesley Cuttle, Patrick Steed, Duncan Steed, Peter Rowntree, David Bingham, Daniel Macartney, Michael Hoey.