Sports: Report - Cricket
This season we won four out of six of our competitive matches, continuing on from our good run of form last year. We kicked it off with a dominant bowling performance against Corpus Christi, featuring a hat-trick and five-wicket-haul on debut for Shaheer Asim Gillani that saw them restricted to 40 runs, which was then concluded with a confident chase in our innings. In the next game, thanks to the efforts of Nathaniel Davey (2022)(2-10), Ben Harper (Mansfield, 2023)(3-9), and Ahmed Ittihad Hasib (Mansfield 2020)(3-12), University College were restricted to just 65, allowing our opener Ben Verdin (2022)(38*) to swiftly bring home the victory with a flurry of boundaries. In our third league fixture, a blistering 35 from our opener Christopher Sneddon (2023) brought us to 115, which was closed out by Ben Harper (5-18) to see St Hugh’s crumble to 88 in reply.
I speak for the whole team when I say that our favourite fixture of the season was our last game against New College – who ended as champions of both the League and Cuppers. Choosing to bat first on a difficult pitch, our top order collapsed to their opening quick. Then, our number 6, 7, and 8 batters led a vivacious counterattack, turning out 45 runs between them and helping us scramble to 95-6 in our 20 overs. Particularly amusing was a moment during the recovery when Alex Higson (Mansfield, 2023) hit a check drive straight to mid-wicket, with him and Suryansh Mehta (2019) managing to run 3 due to there being two overthrows! New fought well in reply, but terrific fielding, clinical bowling, and a determined attitude saw them skittled for 88, with 1.2 overs remaining.
The season should be remembered above all for the excellent team spirit that we displayed throughout. In a team of undergraduate and postgraduate students from all corners of the world, whether it was their first or hundredth match, each player gave it their all and showed unwavering support for one another. Special mentions should also go to Akshay Pendyala (2024) for his energetic fast bowling and cracking shots in the middle order; Vishnu Gorthi (2024) for taking wickets consistently when they were needed, including a magnificent partnership-breaking caught and bowled; Alex Higson’s excellent half century at the top of the order against Exeter and crucial stumpings against New; and Suryansh Mehta’s gritty recoveries with the bat. We ended term with an awards ceremony in Merton bar, which was a lovely way to close out another magnificent season.
Ben Harper (Mansfield, 2023)
Cricket Captain 2024-25
2024 was a season of both dominance and disappointment for the Mansfield & Merton cricket team (the Ms). We turned in a series of strong performances throughout the season, winning all but one of our competitive games including comprehensive victories over the 2023 respective league and Cuppers winners, New and Balliol. However, our one loss of the season came at a time when it mattered most as we were defeated by a strong Pembroke team in the cuppers quarter finals. Frustratingly, despite winning every game in our group of the league, an ill-considered bonus points system led to us falling short of the threshold required to advance to the quarter finals of the league.
On the pitch, the Ms showcased their brilliance in all facets of the game. We opened strongly at the top of the batting order, rarely conceding early wickets and regularly reaching scores of 120 and above, with our highest score of 144 being made against Balliol, thanks to an imposing 74 from cuppers veteran Tom Corner (2019). Our destructive bowling attack seldom allowed batting teams to score triple figures, proving especially unstoppable against New College, who were bowled out for just 51 in our first league fixture. Opening the bowling, Nathaniel Davey’s fast out-swingers consistently sent skilled opening batters back to the pavilion to give us an early lead and, later on in the innings, the off breaks by Christopher Sneddon (2023) frequently spun the game on its head to restrict the opposition’s total. Further successes could be found in our fielding, as superb catching and ground fielding were exhibited by all. Particular commendations must go to Cass McDonald (2020), who took a number of catches in the deep, Nathaniel Davey (2022) who took an unexpected and brilliant one-handed grab against Jesus College, and Christopher Sneddon (2023), who, in the last game of the season against St Catherine’s, took two diving one-handed screamers off my own bowling in the space of a few balls to make it seem like he was just doing it for fun!
Ably led by our captain Ahmed Ittihad Hasib (Mansfield, 2020) in his final year playing for the Ms, the spirit that we showed as a team was admirable, with each and every player displaying a competitive attitude while, above all, having fun. Even when things did not seem to be going our way, every player supported their teammates, allowing for great recoveries such as the game-winning lower order partnership between Alex Higson (2023) and Kieran Wetherick (2020) against Jesus College in what was to be the final league fixture of the season. Overall, every single player should be proud of what they have achieved this year, and we have built a great platform for future success!
Ben Harper (Mansfield, 2024)
Cricket Vice-Captain 2023-2024
Merton continues to be at the centre of a burgeoning climbing community. Rock climbing, and particularly bouldering, is increasingly popular, with Merton climbing attracting more participants this year than ever before. Impressively, Merton climbers have been surmounting climbs across Oxford, the UK, and far beyond. The Merton community has even roped up and helmeted to try their hand at climbing outdoors (despite the best attempts of the weather to deter us).
The younger Merton generations (the 2023 cohort) continue to develop their climbing skills and friendships. As avid climbers, they frequently meet up in groups to climb in the two main Oxford climbing centres: Oxford Brookes Climbing Wall and Gallery Bouldering, off the Cowley Road. Ivan Pulich (2023), Moli Birkinshaw (2023), Matthew Campbell (2023), Eddie Day (2020), and Eloise Partridge (2023) continue to triumph over difficult climbing problems across both Oxford climbing centres, joined this year by Luke Liang. The friendly cheers, morals support, and fist-bumps of these climbers are unavoidable sights in Oxford climbing centres: a huge well done for their continued dedication and friendly, welcoming approach making climbing the wonderful community it is.
The older generations of Merton climbers have not been resting on their laurels either: Ivo Elgueta and Marc Giroux de Foiard Brown (both 2022) and Eddie Day have been joined in raucous fashion by Charlie Hobbs (2022), providing a real nucleus of climbing among the finalists. Ivo and Charlie have dedicated many early mornings, late nights and pairs of climbing shoes to the climbing cause. But even older generations of Merton also deserve a mention: Aryaman Gupta (2019) has been frequently sighted at gyms across Oxford spreading his love of climbing beyond his stay at Merton, while our own Junior Dean for Welfare, Olivia Simpson, has also proved a keen climber.
Over the summer vacation we all go home to train in our local gyms, seeking to improve our technique, acquire new climbing gear and work on our strength. I am sure we will see many of these climbers in Oxford climbing centres at the top of challenging climbs come Michaelmas term.
Lars Hofflin (2022) Rock Climbing/Bouldering Captain 2024–25