Cricket Surrey Cup near misses for the Girls and the 1st XI boys enjoy a dominant season

This is the first season that Caterham has fielded a girls 1st XI cricket team, and at the end of what has been an enjoyable and successful summer term, they came agonisingly close to a remarkable achievement. On the back of a wonderful run in the Surrey County Cup Competition, they were drawn against Charterhouse in the Semi-Final, which unfortunately clashed with university open days ruling out most of the L6th players. A young team comprising two year 8 players, four year 9 players along with 3 year 10’s made the journey to Godalming. A good all-round bowling performance restricted Charterhouse to 123-6 in their 20 overs, with the pick of the bowlers being Lucy B 1-10, Ella D 2-16 and wickets also falling to Martha P and Sophie S. A rollercoaster of a chase ended with Caterham on 115-8, resulting in a loss by 8 runs. This will have been an amazing learning experience for the players, and with hindsight a little more aggressive running between the wickets could have resulted in a different result. Congratulations to all the 1st XI players who have shown wonderful commitment and been great role models.

The U14 girls have followed in the 1st XI’s footsteps and have also enjoyed a brilliant season, coincidentally falling at the same hurdle in the County Cup. Coming up against a strong St. Johns team on Homefield, nerves seemed to get the better of the batters as they scrapped their way to 81-6 in our 20 overs. After a valiant effort in the field and with the ball, which for the first 10 overs gave the impression that Caterham could pull off an unlikely victory, the game ended with a loss by 5 wickets. Hopefully the players belief in themselves and their team mates can grow from here and the team can go even further in 2026.

The Boys 1st XI have also had a busy term, and I’d like to thank the U6th boys in particular for using it as a refreshing break from their exam challenges, and contributing so much in the most successful season that the 1st XI has enjoyed in the last decade. The competitive spirit within the team has been remarkable and has lead to only one loss against school opposition. Max T has lead the side brilliantly for the second year in a row, and also made valuable contributions with both bat and ball, particularly pleasing was his calm 62no to lead the side home against Sevenoaks, along with his two five wicket halls earlier in the season. Ethan VH has consistently been the spark in the team whether batting or fielding and has been pivotal in the team’s performance this year. Meet P, enjoying his second year in the 1st XI while still an U16 showed huge growth with his batting and keeping, forming a formidable opening partnership with Zac L also an U16. Rajan P enjoyed his most successful season with his leg-spin and batting both playing the part in match winning performances. Most remarkably though the emergence of Henry D and Sam M (both in 4th year) towards the end of the season, who both looked right at home in the 1st XI, shows the strength of the whole Caterham cricket program. Our most enjoyable results were significant victories over Sevenoaks, Kings Canterbury and Eltham College. While we will be saying goodbye to several U6th pupils, the youngsters have shown that the future is looking very bright at Caterham

During the final week of term the U13 boys embarked on their annual tour to Suffolk. The week started in blazing heat, with a tough game against Colchester Royal Grammar School, which resulted in a loss with Caterham not quite scoring enough runs against a tight and disciplined bowling attack. The boys never game up and made the opposition work hard for their victory. Day 2 saw us take on St. Josephs, and a hostile opening spell from Charlie A and James H had the opposition on the ropes. However a fightback ensued with our fielders losing concentration in the 33 degree temperatures. A total of 155 looked chasable, and despite a couple of good partnerships and a lively innings from Charlie A, Caterham fell agonisingly short. Tuesday evening saw the boys recuperating with the annual Ten-Pin Bowling challenge, and Team Batty defeated Team Lewis to take home the trophy. The final day of the tour saw us take on New Hall, with some over night rain cooling things down much to everyone’s relief. Caterham were unstoppable with the ball with another brilliant opening spell between Charlie A, who somehow remained wicketless, and James H who bagged 4 for 5 from 4 overs, before Greyson S came to the party with 5 wickets for 5 runs from 3 overs. New Hall skittled for 28ao. In reply Caterham cantered home to win by 8 wickets, a great way to end the tour.

2025 has been a season to look back on with huge amounts of pride for all the pupils that took part in a remarkable 198 fixtures during the summer term. Thank you to everyone who contributed to it, from our wonderful coaches, the ground staff, the catering team, and most importantly the pupils and parents.