Academy celebrate brand new cricket pitch

A cricket match held in school on Thursday night to mark the official opening of a new artificial cricket strip at Ballymena Academy, part funded by The Lords Taverners.

The occasion was in celebration of Academy’s new 30-metre non-turf cricket pitch, which was installed earlier this year.

The Lord’s Taverners, an official Charity whose aim is to encourage greater youth participation in grass-roots cricket by providing grants towards quality cricket facilities, deserves much credit for its generous award towards the funding of the project.

The Academy Old Pupils Association also made a substantial contribution towards meeting the cost.

Coming as it does 25 years after Ballymena Academy won the cricket Schools Cup in successive years, it is hoped that the new facility will help re-kindle the glory days.

It represents one of the first manifestations of the School’s new Physical Recreation Strategy, which aims to increase pupil participation in physical activity and enhance performance.

The match itself proved a worthy advert for the new pitch, with 400 runs being scored in just 20 overs a-side.

There seemed little likelihood of a close finish when the Old Pupils amassed 198 for 7, with Matthew Dick and Fergus Taylor reaching compulsory retirement (25) and Jack Gibson, Nicholas Jolly and Ethan Archer all scoring over 20.

Two wickets each for Jack Archer and Philip Scott and a remarkable flick-back catch on the boundary by Josh Bill could not disguise the difficulty of the task facing the School XI.

What had seemed difficult appeared to have become impossible when the School side slumped to 32 for 6, with two wickets apiece for Reuben Bailie and Ethan Archer.

But an unforgettable innings by Josh Scott was to sweep Academy to an astonishing victory by one wicket in the final over.

In just 15 overs Josh scored an undefeated 113, including 7 sixes and 13 fours, and in so doing almost single-handedly wrested back the Old Pupils Cup for the School.

Few who were there will ever forget this performance, and, if the new pitch facilitates more of the same, the money spent by Ballymena Academy, generously supported by its Old Pupils Association and by the Lord’s Taverners, will prove to have been a worthwhile investment in the development of its young cricketers.