Rain affects play
Unfortunately the weather has forced the cancellation of all cricket matches this week. Water logged pitches have meant that no play has been possible at home or away. Wednesday matches have already been cancelled. The 1st XI are still trying to arrange their two cup games against King’s Worcester and Malvern College. Possible dates are Sunday 13th May for Malvern and Wednesday 16th May for the King’s Worcester game.
Cricket at Monmouth continues to be very strong. The school is capable of running ten teams on a Saturday, and plays all the good cricketing schools in the area. All of the ‘A’ teams play against local County sides in both England and Wales, performing well. The two key aims are, for boys to enjoy their cricket and be the best that they can be. To this end all teams have their own dedicated coach who works with the boys throughout the summer. Indoor nets are used during the Lent term or when the weather is poor. Boys are also fortunate to receive 1 too 1 coaching from the more experienced members of the cricket staff, with regular access to the bowling machine. The school is fortunate to have three former professional cricketers on the staff, Graham Burgess (Somerset) James Boiling (England A, Surrey and Durham) and Andrew Jones (Glamorgan.)
The school is very proud of the recent professional cricketers it has produced, Steve James (England and Glamorgan), Ruben Spiring (Worcester), Huw Waters (Glamorgan), Kyle Tudge (Glamorgan) and Andrew Jones (Glamorgan.) At present there are two junior boys involved in the 14 man Glamorgan academy as well as numerous boys who represent all the counties that surround the school.
There are also a number of boys playing local club cricket who learnt the game at Monmouth. In a recent league game between two local sides there were fourteen Old Monmothians playing. This shows that playing the game is a life experience.
The school was very fortunate to host the Bunbury U.15 Cricket Festival in 2011. This was a fantastic event blessed with good weather and some excellent cricket. It was also an opportunity for the school to show off its excellent facilities and in particular the excellent wickets that are looked after by our very knowledgeable groundsman.