A catch up with Ben Walkden

As we are now a couple of weeks into the College Season, we thought it would be good to catch up with 1st XI Captain, Ben Walkden.

we played a successful cricket week where we challenged our students against strong university opposition, several midweek fixtures, our traditional fixture against the MCC as well as a good start to our cup competitions.

cup wise, we have progressed onto the third round of the U17’s cup - with a conceded game in round one and a home victory against Manchester Grammar School in the following round.

We have progressed well in the National T20 cup, with two victories in Round One and a further two victories in round 2.

we have also progressed in the 2nd XI, 15 over competition - with some enjoyable cricket on show there as well.

We await confirmation of opponents and dates in the next rounds of these competitions.

Ben had the following to say about our start to the season…

‘First of all, I’m delighted with the start to the season and the wins we have got along the way. We have had some tests in our way early on and we have shown our strengths to get past that.

A game that sticks out noticeably was at Manchester Grammar. It was one of the first positions where we had to defend a low total and we handled it perfectly. We have stamped our authority so far this season and I’m looking forward to the remainder.

There has been some fantastic individuals performances this season they have showed some great quality. Looking around the squad we have a lot of talent and players improving each game. There’s a fantastic buzz around the group at the minute.

We know we will be coming up against a strong Denstone side tomorrow. However we feel confident we can get the result we want and continue this great form.

Personally and as a team we can get very caught up in trying to score too quick. We must learn as a side the best way to place different formats and win in a better way.

I think many have impressed me so far but I think in a short amount of time it would be Max Fisher. He’s scored runs consistently playing a particular way and he knows his strengths to get on top of bowlers. He’s a focal point in the side and the younger players look up to the runs he’s scored so far.

There has already been some outstanding highlights between Max and Dan stock aswell as the partnership at Merchants last week. It’s great to see and we will only improve each week we play.’