Colyton Grammar School staff vow to carry on with 'Collyball' approach

News - Jun 26

It is the time of year when the staff of Colyton Grammar School take to the cricket field once more. The annual CGS Staff vs Alumni and Parents match is looming with the game due to take place on 1st July.  

In order to be match ready for this important game, remembering that staff are the current holders of the little ‘urn’, an additional fixture was added to the calendar. We were delighted to be invited to play a Seaton XI in a 20:20 match. In glorious conditions, the Seaton team opened the batting, and it was soon obvious that only playing one game a year is no preparation to do anything very well. Seaton raced into creating a handsome score and at one point it looked like the Colyton Grammar School team may be chasing down over 200 runs.  

Thankfully, the score was pegged back by some excellent bowling by Mr Radcliffe and by a fortuitous umpiring decision from the bowling of Mr Harris. At the end of the 20 overs, Seaton had scored 136 runs and the game was on!  

Colyton’s batting order was created using an under-used tactic of youngest players first and so Mr Harris was relegated to last batter. In an attempt to copy England, our openers decided to go for boundaries only. This may have been to simply copy England, or it may have been due to fatigue after fielding and were simply too tired to run! The innings began well but due to a succession of quick wickets, Colyton was under pressure and defeat looked inevitable. However, a brilliant 48 from Mr Rowe (PE) and a quick 28 from Mr Whitfield made a victory possible. As Mr Harris made his way to the crease, the school needed over 30 from the last three overs. Playing his ‘Jimmy Anderson’ role, the strike was handed to Mr Rowe, but in the end, Colyton fell 16 runs short of the target, leaving Seaton victorious. However, we must stay with our style of play, and ‘Colyball’ will remain, basically as we have no other way!  

It was a great event and a perfect illustration that taking part in a sport in the most important thing. We are looking forward to the parents and alumni match, and the team selection meeting will be a challenging one. A big thank you to Seaton CC for their hospitality and support and we look forward to playing you next year.