Four Bushy Park Girls played for Waldegrave School in the Under 13 Lady Taverners Girls’ Cricket County Final last week (22/02/2017). The top five schools in Middlesex fought it out in a round robin tournament to see who would be crowned champions at the county indoor school in Finchley.

Waldegrave’s first match was their toughest, Godolphin and Latymer School have consistently been in the top echelons of girls schools cricket. Godolphin batted first and set a high total in their allotted 6 overs (4 balls per over). In response Waldegrave were steady in reply with Jess Low carrying her bat throughout the innings and Ella Carran batting well at the denouement. Unfortunately they were 3 runs short of their target, and the title had all but slipped away.

Waldegrave are made of sterner stuff, and they had pride and silverware still to play for. Their opponents in the second match felt the backlash as Paige Goodwin opened her bowling spell with 3 dot balls, forcing their player to chip a catch to long-off. Waldegrave’s batswomen knocked off their batting target in only 12 balls to record their first win. The third match saw Waldegrave post a good score and once again put the squeeze on their opponents with Evie Davies keeping a tidy wicket and restricting their batters.

The fourth and final match against St Martha’s (Hadley Wood) was the girl’s chance to grab a medal, whether that be silver or bronze. After an early wobble Jess Low and her partner Holly put on a 40 run partnership to set a healthy score. Once again Paige Goodwin stormed in, bagging another wicket, while Jess Low backed her up with one too.

A well deserved silver medal was awarded to all the Waldegrave girls. County Runners-up is the highest level that Waldegrave School has ever achieved in cricket, so well done to the girls involved.