The Founder’s Day cricket fixture between the old boys and the current First XI was a keenly fought affair this year – with the School team winning with just one ball to spare.
The Old Elizabethans batted first, amassing 139-6, with Sebastian Feszczur-Hatchett (OE 2007-2014) making an unbeaten 67 and his contemporary, Nikhil Patel, the next highest OE scorer, on 27.
For the School team, Harry Riley and Shahil Sheth both ended their innings not out, with 59 and 40 runs respectively. Between them, they thus put on almost three-quarters of the boys’ final total of 140-4 and saw the School XI through to victory.
The fixture is the annual Stanley Busby Memorial Cricket Match. A similar School vs Old Elizabethans game was played regularly in the early 20th century, but fell into abeyance. It was revived in 1984 for one year only as a retirement ‘gift’ to teacher Eric Shearly. Born in 1920, he was a former pupil who was closely associated with the School for 76 years and devoted much of his life to it. He died in 2005.
Then in 2012 the match was revived permanently by the Headmaster, Neil Enright, and given its present name in honour of the late Mr Busby, who was a QE parent and also a Governor from 1989-2011.