Janie and I had never been to Wormsley before. I was especially keen to spend a chunk of the Knight-Stokes Cup Southern Semi-Finals day there, as I am a keen advocate for and supporter of state schools cricket, not least through my role as a Trustee of the (soon to be concluded) London Cricket Trust.
Janie and I also pencilled in two or three additional dates for Wormsley this season, in the hope that weather and other commitments would allow us to attend for a while, by way of a reconnaissance mission.
2 July 2026: Buckinghamshire v Middlesex
2 July presented a suitable window of opportunity for us, with the weather and appointments diaries both allowing. Buckinghamshire v Middlesex – presumably a warm-up friendly for Middlesex to prepare for the 50 over cup. It was certainly seriously warm up there in the Chiltons.
By the time we arrived, Middlesex had dispensed with Buckinghamshire and the small but loyal crowd were enjoying the interval at that beautiful ground. But soon the cricket restarted.
Middlesex seemed to be making short work of Buckinghamshire’s modest total.
But nothing much seems to cheer the loyal Middlesex fans these days, not even the realisation that there is a quality gulf between first class and minor counties. I suppose we/they have always known that.
Here’s a link to the scorecard, in case anyone reading this wants to know. Janie and I made a polite, early exit soon after Middlesex reached 100 for nought.
16 July 2026: John Hampden Grammar School v Queen Elizabeth’s School Barnet, Chelmsford County High School For Girls v Bournemouth School for Girls
Our time window on this day was a bit longer than it had been on 2 July, but the boys match started early, such that our pre-noon arrival at the ground still meant that we had missed out on the John Hampden Grammar School’s innings in this 20 over tournament. (128, seeing as you asked).
Unsurprisingly, given John Hampden School’s location in High Wycombe, just down the road from Wormsley, the small crowd almost entirely consisted of friends and families of that local team. Janie and I sat amongst them in the tree-shaded area. We were made to feel most welcome.
Queen Elisabeth School batted well at times, but mostly looked behind the required rate given the regular falling of wickets. At one point, one of the John Hampden boys shouted out to his playing mates, “you’ve got this one nailed”, at which point the QE batsman hit a couple of fours to make the target seem possible again. “No-one should ever say that in a cricket match”, yelled one of the grandads, partly in faux-anger but also, I suspect, a tinge of nerves for his grandson’s team.
In the end John Hampden Grammar School did prevail, by 11 runs if I remember correctly.
There was quite a long interval between the two matches, while the girls teams warmed up and we strolled around .
We met some non-plussed and/or grumpy-looking model cricketers…
…possibly fretting that they too were excluded from the Garsington high tables
When we returned to our shady spot, the High Wycombe locals had been replaced by a posse of mums and grandmas from Chelmsford, supporting their girls against the Bournemouth ones, who appeared to have come by coach without a posse of supporters.
As with the High Wycombe folk, the Chelmsford women were very welcoming towards us, in our capacity of independent observers. They seemed quite accepting of the fact that we were only going to be able to watch about 10 overs of the girls match, which started a bit later than advertised, as I needed to get back to Lord’s to curate tennis club night.
Chelmsford were fielding, and the mums/grandmas were in a state of great excitement for almost every ball, even at this early stage of the match. “Stop the ball”, “throw it in”, “back it up”…
The match seemed well poised when we left at the 10 over mark. We learn from this Bournemouth School Facebook posting that Bournemouth scored 125/7 in their 20 overs and took the match to a last ball finish, from which Chelmsford prevailed. I dread to think what a state those Chelmsford mums and grandmas were in by the time it got to that last ball, given their level of excitement in the early stages. Just as well that defibrillator is at hand, plus a St John’s Ambulance presence, despite the small crowd.
We had a lovely time. Wormsley is a beautiful ground. And it was great to support the Knight-Stokes state schools competition in its inaugural year.
Unfortunately Janie and I cannot be at the Lord’s final this year, as we shall be at the Edgbaston test match that week. But I would thoroughly recommend that people attend if they can. The quality of the cricket, both boys and girls, was pleasingly high. We also met some really engaged and engaging cricket enthusiasts watching on, who will no doubt be at Lord’s in numbers, on Finals Day, 10 September 2026.
