The success of the four competitions this year was bolstered by the fantastic weather and the amazing facilities. All four events were held in Leicester. For the first time the Y6 and Y8 events were held at Syston Rugby Club, Queniborough and the Y9 and Y10/Y11 events were held at the University of Leicester, Oadby.
Overall, we welcomed 27 schools from as far away as Guildford, Surrey to Ashton-In-Makerfield, Greater Manchester. Six new member schools debuted at the 2018 competitions which covers four age groups.
Read on for the match report from the day.
Y10/Y11 Girls Open School Competition – 9 Schools entered – Friday 6th July
Bedford Girl’s School (Bedfordshire)
King Edward VI High School for Girls (West Midlands)
Royal Grammar School (Worcester)
The Oxford Academy (Oxfordshire)
Our Lady& St Chad Catholic Academy (West Midlands)
Ratcliffe College (Leicestershire)
Wolverhampton Grammar School (West Midlands)
Royal School Wolverhampton (West Midlands)
Ormiston Sudbury Academy (Suffolk) – new entrant for 2018
WINNER King Edward VI High School for Girls, West Midlands
Group Stages
The group stages were set across two groups, so each team had a variety of matches played against four opponents. Clear winners from the group stages Bedford, Royal Grammar and King Edward VI went straight through to the semi finals. A consistent spate of games meant that the remainder of the challengers for the title went forward on *rounders difference.
Quarter Finals
With Our Lady & St Chad knocked out in the group stages, the remainder of the teams got the chance to battle it out on the field in the quarter finals, meeting teams that they had not yet played against during the day.
Pitting Ormiston against Bedford, the lowest and highest scorers in the group stages, saw Bedford run the game with a whopping accumulation of 14 rounders.
Oxford had demonstrated a mixed bag of high and low scoring games during the group stages so the quarter finals would really require them to come together as a team to outperform Royal Grammar, who had played consistently all day.
Unfortunately the reality did live up to the expectation, with Royal Grammar collating a reasonable 5 rounders against Oxford’s 4 rounders.
Wolverhampton Grammar also tallied a respectable 5 rounders in their quarter final match with the opposition, Ratcliffe College, new contenders in the competition, only able to build up 2½ rounders with all batters out by ball 18.
The match between King Edwards VI and Royal Wolverhampton got quite tense as both teams demonstrated a strong ability to place the ball around the field and outwit the oppositions fielders. With a few fumbles from the Royal Wolverhampton fielders, King Edward VI rallied 7 rounders.
Once in to bat, Royal Wolverhampton tried in vain to recover but a stronger fielding team by King Edward VI, kept them to 6 rounders.
Quarter Final Results
Ormiston 3½ v Bedford Girls’ 14
Oxford 4 v Royal Grammar 5
Wolverhampton Grammar 5 v Ratcliffe College 2½
King Edward VI 7 v Royal School Wolverhampton 6
Semi Finals
Bedford Girls’ went through to play Wolverhampton Grammar in the semi-finals. An evenly matched game, Bedford Girls’ could only drag 3½ rounders out of Wolverhampton Grammar. Knowing that only some excellent fielding would keep their competition dreams alive, Bedford stuck to their guns and produced an excellent fielding display, limiting Wolverhampton Grammar to only 2½ rounders, sending Bedford Girls’ through to the finals.
The second semi-final consisted of King Edward VI taking on Royal Grammar. King Edward VI came out on top and also booked their place in the finals.
Semi Final Results
Bedford 3½ v Wolves Grammar 2½
King Edward VI 4 v Royal Grammar 3½
Finals
The final game of the day was going to be tense to watch as two teams, equal in every way, had to bring something new to the field, something that was going to make them winners.
Getting to the finals for the first time gave King Edward VI the energy and the optimism they needed to see the game through. The match was played to a very high level. King Edward VI scored 6½ rounders and Bedford Girls’ were only able to respond with 5 rounders.
Final Results
King Edward VI 6½ v Bedford Girls’ 5
*Rounders difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish on equal points in a league standing. Rounders difference is calculated by subtracting the number of Rounders conceded in all matches from the number of Rounders scored.
Rounders England Squad Trials are open to anyone who has shown an outstanding ability in Rounders. They take place throughout September and October. Individuals can register online. Check out this webpage for further information.
