Our First XI cricket team had great success over the summer break, winning all three elements of the Tri-Grammar Cricket Festival in January this year.
The Festival, which brought together Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne Grammar Schools, saw our team win the two-day match Shield, the T20 Cup, and ‘the Bat’, which is awarded to the winner of the Melbourne-Sydney two-day match.
“I thought the team played mature, disciplined cricket,” says Teacher in Charge of Cricket Mark Horsford. “It takes some time for a team to gel, but by the end of the first week, they knew what they needed to do and were disciplined in following that through.”
Bringing home ‘the Bat’
The annual two-day match between Melbourne and Sydney Grammar Schools dates back to 1876, more than five years before the Ashes were established. By defeating Sydney Grammar this year, our First XI were able to reclaim ‘the Bat’—a symbolic trophy struck in 1976 to celebrate the centenary of the first game between the schools.
“Going into the two-day game with Sydney Grammar, we knew a draw wouldn’t be good enough because that would mean that Sydney would retain ‘the Bat’,” says First XI Captain Ollie Will. “We played an aggressive but measured style of cricket. Overall, compared to the other teams, I think we showed the best ability to transition from playing T20 cricket to two-day matches during the Festival.”
Making time to be part of cricket history
Being part of the Tri-Grammar Festival often requires a substantial effort by players, coaches and groundskeepers.
“I travelled to and from my home in Bendigo every day to be part of the games, so I probably travelled almost as far as the Brisbane players in total,” says Co-Vice Captain Will Gilmore. “I wanted to be involved in this long-standing tournament and play against new people with different abilities. I also love the social side of cricket. Even if you have a really ordinary day as a batsman, you can enjoy yourself when you have a great team like this around you.”
“There’s a lot of history behind this Festival,” adds Co-Vice Captain Charlie Edwards. “In this tournament, you know you’re representing the School at the highest level. You also get the chance to play against the same team a couple of times and use what you learned the first time to play even better.”
With the tournament involving interstate travel, billeting, coaching and groundskeeping, our players appreciate the contribution of everyone involved.
“It was a pretty big ask, especially for parents, as some had five interstate players staying with them,” explains Ollie. “A big thank you to all those families, to Mr Horsford and all the coaches who took time out of their holidays, and the ground staff who put in a big effort to get the pitches ready for our games.”
