Author: L. Crankshaw

From the very first ball bowled on Wednesday, 18 February, it was clear that Union High School’s junior cricketers’ 2026 𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗘𝗠 would be about 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝟭𝟭𝗔 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮, claiming a superb 8-wicket win built on a breathtaking spell of 6/5 – including a hat-trick that had teammates erupting in celebration. It was the perfect start and a moment of pure joy.

Over the next few days, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱𝗹𝘆 – by strong Grey College partnerships, by a tense chase against St Andrew’s halted cruelly by bad light with the game still in the balance and by a final-day thriller where they restricted Saints to just 72, only to fall one agonizing run short. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝟭𝟯𝗔 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺, the tour was a journey of grit and growth. A narrow two-wicket defeat to Willem Postma after posting 112 showed just how competitive they are and even in the tougher matches that followed, the team never dropped their heads.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯, 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵.

Perhaps the most special moment came off the field on Friday, 20 February, when the players met members of the Knights Cricket Team at St Andrew’s. Watching the young cricketers light up as they asked questions and listened intently to the professionals was a reminder of why tours like this matter – dreams were sparked and horizons widened.

This tour will be remembered for special performances, hard lessons, shared laughter and the bonds strengthened between teammates. The scorebooks will record the results, but they won’t capture the heart shown in every match. 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 – 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲.

What a special Saturday it was as Union High School’s senior cricketers played their final match of the season against a visiting Graeme College.

Union’s 1st XI won the toss and elected to bat first, but found themselves under early pressure, losing wickets and battling to build momentum. 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 94 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴.

Taking to the field, Union’s bowlers showed admirable discipline and fight. 𝗬𝗮𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝘇𝗶 led the attack superbly, claiming 3 wickets in his 10 overs for just 37 runs, while the team worked hard to keep the pressure on and took five wickets in total.

Two dropped catches proved costly, however, allowing Graeme to steady their chase and ultimately reach the target, securing victory by five wickets. 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻.

In the U15 fixture, Graeme College won the toss and posted a strong total of 210 runs. 𝗞𝘄𝗲𝘇𝗶 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗮 stood out with the ball for Union, taking an impressive 3 wickets in 7 overs. In reply, Union’s U15s struggled to build partnerships and were bowled out for 95, with Graeme claiming a 115-run victory.

Well done to all our cricketers for their dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the season. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭