Hooper guides Stowe to victory over Berkhamsted

Berkhamsted School took on Stowe School in a match that allowed both sides to give their departing players a proper farewell

Berkhamsted School: Berkhamsted School 81-9 v Stowe School 84-7 - Stowe School won by two wickets (10 a-side)

A composed innings by George Hooper steered Stowe to a two-wicket victory over Berkhamsted.

The match itself was a victory for the schools game. After such an unusual summer, where there has been doubt over whether any upper sixth cricketers would get to represent their school one more time before heading for pastures new, Berkhamsted and Stowe agreed to field players who had recently left their respective schools. 

Stowe fielded a side that would have been last summer’s 1st XI, while Berkhamsted’s XI was entirely made up of those to have recently left. The match was 10 players a side.

^{Berkhamsted's Will Halliday celebrates a wicket}

It was a green wicket at Berkhamsted and the home side opted to bat upon winning the toss. The thinking was the seam-friendly wicket would only get more difficult to bat on as the match progressed.

Stowe utilised the conditions and bowled superbly, taking regular wickets and never allowing the home batsmen to settle. 

Chipper Shore-Hollingworth was the pick of the Stowe bowlers. The right-arm seamer hit the seam and consistently generated movement off the pitch. He bowled traditionally, pitching it up and challenging the stumps. Of his four wickets, two were bowled and another lbw, showing the value of straight persistent bowling. 

While wickets fell around him, Berkhamsted opener and captain Scott Rolfe calmly went about his work. The captain, who is also a part of the Buckinghamshire academy, assessed the conditions and valued his wicket. He and Ben Harris (11 off 22) put together a useful partnership to set up a defendable total.

After batting for well over an hour, Rolfe was eventually removed by Shore-Hollingworth for 28 off 56 deliveries. 

Of those 56 balls faced, 41 were dot balls, such was the difficulty of the surface to bat on and the quality of bowling faced. Harris too was earlier removed by the Stowe right-armer.

Berkhamsted were bowled out for 89 in 25.5 overs. Shore-Hollingworth finished with 4 four 19 off 7 overs, while Ollie Taylor was equally productive, taking 3 for 15.

The bowling-friendly surface would make any chase a tough ask and the home side knew they needed early wickets.

And that is exactly what they got. After Stowe enjoyed a busy first couple of overs, the opening bowling partnership of Will Halliday and Finn Morkmore took three wickets without conceding as Stowe slipped to 13 for 3. Morkmore’s dismissal of James Cronie was the highlight as he got one to cut back off the seam and bowl the Northamptonshire and England U19 batsman just as he was getting going.

Medium pacer Halliday (3 for 15) is made for these conditions. The right-armer took 39 wickets in 2019 and with the wicketkeeper standing up can really cause problems for batsmen. 

^{Ben Harris sweeps for Berkhamsted}

Nat Cunnold (2 for 13) and Jonny Baron (1 for 22) joined the attack and each took wickets as Stowe found themselves 32 for 6, and feeling a long way from their target.

However, Hooper and Taylor came together at the crease and batted superbly. Both maintained real composure, assessing the situation and capitalising when run-scoring opportunities were presented.

In particular, Taylor’s 25 came from only 12 run-scoring deliveries. He faced 43 in total. Hooper too scored his 35 from 22 run-scoring deliveries, out of 71 balls faced in his innings.

Cunnold bowled Taylor to open the game up once again. 16 were still required with only two wickets in hand but Hooper held the strike, denying singles and protecting his partner. Shore-Hollingworth’s innings, surviving 25 minutes and 12 balls without scoring a run, should not be understated.

Hooper took his side over the line at the conclusion of the 30th over, a fine innings in difficult batting conditions.

Stowe may have snatched victory in a low-scoring thriller, but that we are enjoying any schools cricket at all is testament to the dedication and hard work of the cricket staff as well as commitment from the players of both schools.

The Cricketer caught up with George Campbell, head of cricket at Berkhamsted, after the game.

“For both myself and James Knott, head of cricket at Stowe, it was great to see cricket played again. For my boys who have now left school, it was lovely for them to be there. A number were awarded their full colours for services to cricket so being able to do that was quite special after having the summer wiped out.

“Hooper batted beautifully to see Stowe home, his was the match-winning innings.”

The Cricketer would like to thank Durant Cricket for their ongoing support of our schools cricket coverage. For more on Durant Cricket, including booking a site visit, please click here