THE HARROVIANVol. CXII No. 8 November 14, 1998

GLEES & TWELVESSPEECH ROOM

22 OCTOBER

A certain neatness surrounded this year's choice ofadjudicator for the Glees and Twelves competition. Inhis last year at Uppingham the Head Master entertainedRHW as adjudicator for that institution's singing/es/; inhis last year here, the Head Master entertained Mr NeilPage, the Director of Music at Uppingham - a man withan almost legendary reputation for music making in 'thepublic school world'.

As ever, the afternoon session, which heard all elevenhouse glees, was sparsely attended. Most HouseMasters made it on time to listen to the offerings thatmost houses had been working on for a month. A fewloyal parents and beaks were also there along with somesupportive matrons and, of course, all the boyperformers. The recital kicked off with a trio of brokenvoices from Newlands, who sang East's How MerrilyWe Live. Despite the worried faces of the performers,this was a very well, balanced and blended performancedelivered by three strong voices. It was, in Mr Page'sview, an excellent choice - as were many of the items heheard. Indeed, he was at pains in both his adjudicationsto comment very positively about the range of songs onoffer. The Grove performed second with Farmer's FairPhyllis. This began with a sharply-held treble line thatwas joined by the other parts to create a warm andblended sound. Some of the intonation was unsure, butthe dynamics were good though a greater range there, aswith many of the other glees, could have been ventured.Kendalls followed with Arcadelt's Voi ve n'andat' alcielo - a gallant choice: the tuning of the top linewobbled a bit here but the ensemble effected a goodrecovery. At times, the diction was not clear enoughand a more forward approach to the words would havehelped. The Park, in another bold choice, gave us aSchumann drinking song, Lasst Lautenspiel undBecherklang, which takes the form of a round. This wasa confident and extremely secure performance, made upof impressive solo voices which combined to produce'confidence and perspective'. Again, more dynamicvariation could have been attempted. The Knollfollowed with a very challenging arrangement ofSherwin's A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square whichthey brought off with some style and with realassurance. A few insecure patches still neededtightening up, but this was an excellent performance ofa difficult piece - and the red button-holes clearly

helped. West Acre next sang Stanford's well-knownfavourite, Heraclitus. This was a smooth and somewhattouchingly naive rendering which demonstrated a goodchoral blend and which had, according to Mr Page,'good atmosphere and shape'. The diction could havebeen more pronouncedly handled, but the total effectwas professional and strong. Bradbys attemptedanother very difficult arrangement - this time of ColePorter's Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye. The melody linesometimes disappeared here amongst the more complexharmonies, and the pitching was unsure, particularly inthe softer passages. The dynamics, though, were goodand the boldness of the choice broadly paid off. Atraditional song came next with Little David Play OnYour Harp from Moretons. This was an excellentperformance, given with great integrity and real skill.Quite why it was not selected to go through to theevening round is a mystery. Such numbers can proveembarrassing when put across by be-tailed Harrovians,but there was none of that here, and this ensemblecaptured the rhythmic bounce of the piece admirably.Mr Page commented on a hesitant start and thought thatthe singers 'could have opened up more'. For thisreviewer, though, the Moretons Glee was a high point ofthe day. A low point, sadly, came next with Purcell'sSay, Good Master Bacchus, which Elmfield had chosenfor their Glee. A wrong start soon gave way to acollapse in the tuning. The singers carried on, however,with 'vigour and spirit', but they never regained theirpitch and this rare song was not given the airing itdeserved. The Head Master's got the show back on theroad with Weelkes's The Ape, the Monkey and Baboonwhich displayed excellent dynamic range, good vocalblending and good 'light and shade'. Tellingly Mr Pagesaid the diction was not good enough yet, thusindicating that this piece would be heard again in theevening. The final Glee was Luzzaschi's Itenne MieQuerele from Druries - as usual, a hard and obscurechoice and one that ultimately was to overreach thecapacity of the singers, especially in the treble line.Technically, this was a strong achievement, with thechromatic passages well-handled and a rich andsonorous choral sound produced amongst the moretentative passages. Mr Page, in a very brisk and robustadjudication, put Druries through to the evening roundalong with The Head Master's, West Acre, The Knoll,

The Harrovian is published weekly during term time by Harrow School as both an organ of record and a forum for comment, debate and the expressionof individual opinion within the School. Contributions are made anonymously and any views expressed do not necessarily reflect official School policy.

November 14, 1998 T H E H A R R O V I A N

The Park and Newlands. He was pleased to have heardsuch brave choices and he commented on the spread oftalent across the houses — which is just as it should be.

The evening session of this competition - acompetition, according to Mr Page, that is 'famousthroughout the choral world' (may our future leaderstake note) - was held, as usual, in a packed and good-humoured Speech Room, and kicked off with the sixGlees that had come through from the afternoon.Predictably, some had improved along the lines of MrPage's afternoon advice in the short time availablewhile nerves had clearly got the better of others.Druries suffered in this respect, going first with theirItenne Mie Querele. The acoustic clearly caused sometrouble and the treble line was again shaky. The HeadMaster's gave another polished performance of theWeelkes, and had clearly taken note of the adjudicator'sthoughts about dynamics. The Park produced anotherfine rendering of the Schumann student drinking songand sounded like strong little contenders to many ears.West Acre's Heraclitus could have used a broader tone,but it achieved some 'fairly good chording' ('chording'being one of Mr Page's favourite technical terms). TheNewlands trio showed character and poise anddisplayed a good sense of musical shape with theirreprise of East's How Merrily We Live and The Knollbrought up the rear with a very convincing performanceof A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.

A version of the same song started the XIIsprogramme as Bradbys, with their own pianist, gave apoised, careful and unforced version of the wartimeclassic. A bit slow for some tastes, a touch unsmiling,perhaps, and not quite the song of seduction it actuallyis - but nonetheless very professional in most respects.West Acre came next with Schumann's The TwoGrenadiers, a performance in which every word wasclear as a bell. The was another difficult choice whichwas crisply and powerfully handled. Some of the topnotes went awry but a standard of excellent singing wasclearly being set. Moretons came next with the first offour Mozart offerings, Yes Fools You Are, And Will Befrom The Marriage of Figaro. Care was judged to havebeen taken over the melodic shape here and, thus, wasanother clear and polished performance. The overalleffect, though, was possibly too bland for some ears.The Head Master's, with Mozart's Now for Vengeance,were not as together in the quicker passages as theymight have been, but they sang with spirit andconfidence. The Knoll came next and used a shoulder-to-shoulder choral formation for a characterfulrendering of George Harrison's Something - a prettydull song, in fact, but one to which these singers broughta certain charm and poise. The only way to get such anumber over to your audience is to take it fabulouslyseriously, which The Knoll successfully did. Theyentertained the right mood straight away and one soonforgot the Victorian surroundings and the tail-coatedsingers. Elmfield had chosen another modern song,Tom Lehrer's arch STD narrative / Got It From Agnes.With slicked hair and rather camp hand gestures (which,incidentally, contravened the competition's rubric), thiswas a fairly tidy performance of a musically limitednumber. The desirability of a song on such a subject inthis day and age is a question that takes us into areas of

political correctness that would be angrily dismissed bythat end of the Hill - so we shan't go there. Instead weshall consider The Park's very challenging Tis Love,They Say from Mozart's Magic Flute. Here the pitchslipped once or twice and the dynamics could have beenmore flirtily varied, but the singers handled anextremely diff icul t song with great clari ty andassurance. Newlands followed with Flanders &Swann's Have Some Madeira M'dear and, again, theyopted for hand gestures to supplement, unnecessarily,the vocal conveyance of the song. Though some of theXII were noticeably insecure about the words, this hadreal charm and a pleasant twinkle to it. Druries'sperformance of Rossini's La Calunnia from The Barberof Seville was extremely fine. The diction was crisp, themood was instantly enthusiastic and the whole effectwas 'powerful and colourful'. The Grove provided theaudience with more Mozart in the form of All YourTricks are so Transparent from Seraglio. This wasanother hard choice, but the character was well-captured and the ensemble produced a strong choralsound across a demandingly broad vocal range. Thefinal XII song came from Rendalls, who sang Sullivan'sThe Policeman's Song from The Pirates of Penzance.The solo Sergeant's lines were sung in their bestHarrovian voices, while the half-lines of the refrainwere delivered in a coarse Cockney and accompaniedby the stock knee-bends of a pantomime policeman.This was a jolly way to finish the evening and thoughthe tuning, which is deceptively hard to get right,slipped at times the effect was sway and enjoyable.

In his summing up and adjudication Mr Page - whoappeared to have lost his voice between supper and10pm - praised the overall standard of the competitionand thanked the beaks (RHW, PAC, GEJ, ARW) whohad given their time to train the singers. The wide rangeof music offered was likewise praised and, after a briskand rather Pickwickian comment or two on each effort,the prizes were awarded as follows:

GleesWreath (winner) - The Head Master'sHarp (runner up) - Newlands

TwelvesBell (winner) - DruriesJohn Cotton Trophy (runner up) - The Knoll

It is with the greatest regret that we announce thedeath, in a car accident, of Max Bailey, Elmfield,19933. We extend our very deepest sympathies to hisfamily and friends.

PRIZESThe Dodd Prize for OratoryM.H. Sankey, Sch., The Park

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T H E H A R R O V I A N November 14, 1998

HERE AND THERESir Jeremy Greenstock, The Grove, 19563, has been

appointed UK ambassador to the United Nations.

T.R. Wallace, Elmfield, and T.J. Simpson, Elmfield,have been selected for the Middlesex School RugbySquad.

Charles Long, Elmfield, 19923, has been awarded aBrackenbury Scholarship by Balliol College, Oxford,where he is studying chemistry.

CORRESPONDENCETo the Editors of The Harrovian

DEAR SIRS,I write in response to your request for comments on the

content of The Harrovian in your leading article of 10 October.I write as a former Editor of The Harrovian, a Governor andnow a regular reader.

My view has always been that the value of The Harrovianis a paper of record containing news of all the facets of theSchool's life. It should, therefore, contain reports and reviewsof matches, debates, exhibitions, plays, music and so on, asindeed it does. There should also be articles and correspondencebut these should not be the prime purpose of the paper. If Iwere to change the present balance of the paper, I would havemore reports and reviews - because it is encouraging toeverybody to see reports of their activities wi thin the School.

1 do not follow your statement that this would throw intoquestion the weekly nature of The Harrovian. In my view,the argument goes the other way. If you are having reports,they ought to be regular and up to date so that the eventsreported on are st i l l fresh.

I hope that this statement of one reader's reactions to theinteresting issue posed in your leading article are regarded asconstructive.

Yours sincerely,ROBIN BUTLER

(LORD BUTLER OF BROCKWELL)

DEAR SIRS,I read with interest your leader in the October 10, 1998

issue of The Harrovian (Vol. CXII , No 5). I fear that thesentiments expressed may well be correct; namely, that theremay not be a place at the School for a costly weekly issue ofThe Harrovian in its present form.

Having read the paper quite regularly for about eight years,I believe that any objective reader would be justified indescribing the contents as variable. The spectrum goes frombrilliant and entertaining on the one hand to turgid, thoughtlessand sometimes petty on the other. This may be partly due tothe excessive frequency of publication which forces the editorsto include matter that would, in other circumstances, be 'spiked';the theory being that a poor article or letter is better than noneat all. I disagree. If you do not have enough for a good issue,do not publish. Alternatively, rather than publishing an eightpage issue when you have plenty of good material, go with afour page issue and save some articles and letters for a futureweek which is thin of worthwhile contributions.

I feel that one of the greatest shortcomings of your publicationis your Correspondence section. While there are a goodnumber of interesting, amusing and well thought out letters,

there are a disproportionate number which are not. Worsestil l , many letters snipe at the School from under cover ofdarkness. These anonymous letters enable the senders toexpress themselves, however absurdly, without the usualconstraint of having their name attached to the stupidit iesexpressed. I believe that Harrow should encourage boys toexpress themselves clearly, intel l igently and forcefully, butat the same time to be man enough to stand openly behindtheir views - not to skulk in the shadows of anonymity.Freedom of expression alone can be a destructive force if notexercised wi th r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . A n o n y m i t y breedsirresponsibility, while open expression nurtures the opposite,born of the certain knowledge that the writer, personally, wi l lbe judged by what he writes. Therefore, I believe thatanonymous letters should no longer be published in TheHarrovian.

If this policy were adopted, I do not believe for an instantthat any boy at Harrow would suffer hosti l i ty or recriminationfrom the authorities of the School for a thoughtful, in te l l igent lyexpressed letter, no matter how critical it might be. On theother hand, thoughtless, petty letters would no doubt reap forthe author a just reward, not in the form of hostile recrimination,but in the form of intelligent, perhaps stinging, rebuttal andjustified derision from his peers. And so it should be.

This having been said, I do not wish you to think that I donot wholeheartedly enjoy the substantial amount of materialthat is of a high or perfectly acceptable standard. It is for th i selement that I remain a faithful reader. I write to you onlybecause I fear that this element is now being diminished byaccompanying material of a considerably lower standard.

Finally, if you are to raise the general standard by weedingout the inferior material and by rendering the letters sectionmore responsible by banning anonymity, then I do believethat The Harrovian has a very worthwhile role to play - notjust as a record - but as a useful, interesting and entertainingforum of expression for the Harrow community.

Yours sincerely,FORBES SINGER

DEAR SIRS,I am sometimes worried by the controversial articles and

letters you publish, because they are never challenged.It would be so good if, when you publish a controversial

article, you could follow it with a balancing, sensible reply.If possible the reply should be in the same issue or, at

latest, the following week.Yours s incerely,

MONTY Moss, BRADBYS 19382

DEAR SIRS,Harrovians are, by nature, complainers. We complain about

the food, our uniforms, certain beaks, cross-country, HouseSeconders - in short, we complain about anyth ing andeverything. And if we have nothing to complain about, well,by God, we'll complain about that!

So, now that I've got that out of the way, I have a complaint:it has recently been decided to have our house re-painted. Ihave no objection to this, but only to the fact that it has beenfound necessary that this be done ASAP, which means thisterm. My argument, therefore, is why not do it over theholidays, while we are away? This would rescue us fromhaving to change rooms for one week. It would also save theboys (some of whom probably do not mind) from having tosmell the fumes for days after the room is complete. Final ly ,it would give us one less reason to complain.

Yours sincerely,JUST ANOTHER HARROVIAN WITH AN ARBITRARY

SELECTION OF COMPLAINTS

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November 14, 1998 T H E H A R R O V I A N

DF.AR SIRS,1 would l i k e to jo in my colleagues, P h i l l i p Morris and El

Peruano, in t h a n k i n g the School for extending our exeats, notjus t by le t t ing those who are not engaged in sporting activitiesgo home at 2:00, but by a l lowing the whole School home onFriday. I hope this is not just to appease us but wil l becomestandard School policy soon.

Yours gratefully,A FULL FIXTURE LIST FOR THE 4™ XI SOCCER PLEASE

DEAR SIRS,1 am greatly worried by Half Amused, Half Worried's letter.

L e v e l l i n g the Christ ian faith to 'half remembered' fantasiesfrom his 'early youth ' is not something anyone should dol i g h t l y . Does he believe the preacher to be a liar, or acrackpot? Is his meeting with an angel a delusion or afabrication designed to make the service memorable? I cannotseriously believe that a priest would invent a story that wouldbe of such great spiritual importance. God is real enough forhim not to need to invent spiritual experiences. The belief inangels is very important to the Christian faith. I would askHalf Amused, Half Worried to think and to write somethingthough t provoking rather than just a stupid and offensiveattack on a deeply held belief.

Yours,GIANLUCA

DEAR SIRS,Saturday n igh t s at Harrow School are mostly a monotonous

and, therefore, a dul l affair. By the time one has reached theSix th- form the s i tuat ion has, for some if not most, reached astate of emergency. Okay, the monitors are allowed to visitCafe Cafe and the other bar/restaurants on the Hi l l , and a fewothers are allowed to go downtown, but we are s t i l l lookingat a maximum of only 30% of the VI2s being allowed a sniffof freedom. For the other 70% , the options are l imited.Ei ther they go to the Sixth Form Club, do nothing worthwhileor indu lge themselves i l l ega l ly .

Imagine this: it is a Saturday night on Harrow on the Hi l l .You have managed to persuade some gir lfr iends of yours tocome up. To your rel ief the Sixth Form Club is open and soyou all decide to go there. Having passed the big bouncer atthe door you enter a packed room. There are s tunn ing gir lseverywhere and some of them are smoking as are someHarrovians. Fat Boy Slim is warming up with his djing, whi lesupervising masters are at the bar downing Tequila slammers,prepared for them by Harrovians acting as barmen. You goup to one of the latter and, having already asked you girlfriendswhat they want, order a Metz and two orange/pineapple/banana /ca ip i r inha and Tia Maria cocktails. When the barmanreturns , you tel l him to put it on your housemaster's account(he pays for everything that any V12 buys in the club, becausehe wants morale levels to be high).

Five hours later it is half-past two in the morning. You ares i t t i n g with the gir l of your dreams and are enjoying your lastBecks before having to get back to your house for lock-up at3a.m. Just pr ior to returning you manage to fit in saying ciaoto you gir l f r iends . The night is over.

The next day you wake up in time for lunch and afterat tending it, do your preps. In a year's time you wi l l get goodA-levels.

Stop imagining - most probably you will think all I havesaid is lud ic rous . . .

. . . but the day wi l l come.Yours, a mi l l ion years in the future,

EL PERUANO

PRO PATRIA MORIProbably no current Harrovians has any direct experience ofwar, and almost all agree it is a terrible and futile thing. Tous, war is an abstract word, standing only for the deaths ofpresumed ancestors, and wasted lives: money and time spentover a mere argument. We learn about battles through historybooks, and the glory therein through the American film culture.Yet we all believe that War has no use - it just destroys.

We do not believe it is glorious, therefore, to put our livesforward in a defence of our country, or to secure a saferfuture for generations to come if it means making the ultimatesacrifice. We learn from books and films of the horrors ofwar and these sources expand our catalogue of reasons not tofight.

Imagine a situation in which the leaders of our countrydeclare war on Iraq. The UN supports us, but Iraq somehowdraws equally powerful allies. Service is voluntary. Theentire literate population - who oppose war - refuse to fight.Britain is left only the option of forcing us to serve. It turnsout to be simple - serve or die.

The scenario, whilst highly improbable, shows what thecreative movement spanning Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorumest to ' Saving Private Ryan' is doing: it is turning our populationagainst even defending itself.

One may argue that this is no bad thing - when all thatremains are masses of people opposed to war, this will surelymean no War. The truth is, however, different. Going intowar has never been a decision left to the people - it is apoli t ical , not humanitarian process - in a country ruled by sofew, surely we are more in danger than most of having thedecision made for us? Then, other than our professionalarmies, what defence would we have - scared, morally righteouspeople forced to put their lives on the line for a course whichhas been shown to us to be pointless. The closest a publ icschoolboy gets to the ideals of war is a Wednesday afternoonCorps session and the comraderie of a rugby team.

Would it be possible to resurrect Greek and Latin tales ofthe glory of f ight ing - heroes l ike Augustus known for theirwarriors prowess? Or to create a more modern King Arthur,with each new day bringing noble chances of charity in battlingfor your homeland? Who now would wish to be dead, mutilatedin a field summer, but s t i l l noble?

And st i l l , people believe that the modern media glorifiedwar and its headlines. The trends in the stories of whichthese people talk is to give those holding such honourablevalues particularly gruesome deaths - the shock tactics really'shake an audience up'. Often only the cowardly prevail (orat least survive).

There is to be no denying that War, in itself is a bad thing- a terrible th ing but when a war is inevitable, what then? Iffought over principles of justice, surely there is little differencebetween war and, for example, the fight of Arthur Winslowfor his son's innocence - in Rattigan's play, no sacrifice istoo great - or even, for that matter, little difference betweenwar and certain aspects of the Bible?

When Noah's generation were deemed an evil race, theywere destroyed, wiped out. The Germans unjust ly refusedwithdrawal from Poland - we attempted to stop them. Jesushimself died in order that future generations could live inpeace, yet such an idea is frowned on in modern society.

What, then, is the answer? War is futile, but surely dyingfor your country is honourable? All the deaths are pointless,but shouldn't justice and right be defended whatever thesituation? Statistical and moral standpoints offer no conclusiveportrayal of war - it is an abstract hell, of which we knownothing: distant and cold and frightening, but sometimesinevitable. When we are on the front line, about to go overthe top and charge across a minefield at a nameless, facelessenemy, surely Dulce et decorum est. Pro Patria Moril

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T H E H A R R O V I A N November 14, 1998

OSRG ARTS SOCIETYVISIT TO HAM HOUSE, SURREY

10 OCTOBER

Members of the Old Speech Room Gallery Arts Society squeezedinto the minibus, kindly driven by AJB, and made their wayto Ham House. We were joined by two OHs and had arelaxed, entertaining visit.

Ham House was originally a Jacobean H-plan house buil tin 1610 for Sir Thomas Vavasour (Knight Marshal to JamesI). It passed to the Earl of Holderness after Sir Thomas'sdeath in 1620, and then was given to Wil l iam Murray in 1626by Charles I, as he had been the king 's whipping boy whenhe was young (the future king could not be beaten, so if theheir were mischievous, the whipping boy got the punishment!).Murray (or the Earl of Dysart as he became in 1643, duringthe Civil War) remodelled the interior between 1637 and1639. Having no male heir, the seat passed to Lady Dysart(his daughter) who subsequently married the Duke of Lauderdalein 1672. They extended the house, and created the southfront which we see today.

We started our tour in the north forecourt, before the entranceto Ham House. The facade was finished in 1674 and isvaried. Above the first string course are busts set in individualniches, which carry on around the walls enclosing the courtyard.There are 38 of these and they include portraits of variousclassical emperors and other great figures, notably Charles Iand Charles II, both benefactors of the family. We thenmoved round to the south front and the gardens. The gardenshave been undergoing careful restoration since 1975. Thegardens are formal and that most enjoyed by the Society wasthe Cherry Garden. This garden includes diamonds and trianglesof clipped dwarf box hedging filled with alternating lavenderand santolina. We then went inside.

Beginning in the Great Hall , we then made our way up theGreat Staircase, which in turn (eads to the Hall Gallery (apicture gallery that used to be The Great D in ing Room, u n t i lthe Duchess of Lauderdale knocked the floor through to makea gallery above the Great Hall) . The tour then goes into theNorth Drawing room, one of the only surviving rooms of thehouse from Wil l iam Murray's time. The Long Gallery is alsofrom Murray's time. It is darkly panelled with gilded Ionicpilasters, ten on each wall. One of the most important picturesin it is Sir Anthony Van Dyck's King Charles /, presented toWilliam Murray by the King. The rest of the State apartmentson the first floor culminate with the Queen's Bedchamber (aroom made for the visit of Queen Catherine of Braganza,which never actually happened) and the Queen's Closet (aprivate room, richly decorated and famed for its elaborateparquet floor and scagliola chimneypiece). The reason forthe long route to where you would f ina l ly have an audiencewith the Duke, is because you were supposed to be so overawedby the grandeur of his house, that you would agree to anythinghe said.

The State apartments on the ground floor consist of theMarble Dining Room and, on either side, the Duke and Duchess'sapartments. The Marble Dining Room is the central roomwith gilded leather panels on the walls and a wooden floor(which used to be marble, hence the name). The VoluryRoom (to the east) has been restored to its original functionas a bedchamber. The bed is decorated, as are the wallhangings and chairs, in a striking wine and yellow colourscheme (almost the spicy colours of the OSRG tie!). To theeast is the White Closet with some of the earliest doubleglazing in England. To the West, there is the Duchess'sBedchamber with its flamboyant bed.

We ended the trip by walking round the "Wilderness" inthe gardens, followed by tea in the Orangery. We returned tothe Hil l after a successful afternoon out.

JUNIOR COLTS C REVIEW

The Junior Colts C, l ike many other teams, had a delayedstart to the season because of rain. Our first two games of theterm, against Merchant Taylors' and Winchester College,were abandoned, so our first test was against Epsom on abeautiful spring afternoon. We won this game with ease,thanks to a strong and sensible batting performance by thecaptain, Rufus Gordon-Dean, and to George Formartine whocleaned up with superb pace bowling.

The following week we played St Edward's, who proved nocompetition, and added another victory to our ta l ly . With achange in captaincy to Ben Hutton, our first real challengewas against Radley. We were head ing for a comple teannihilation, even after Ed McCosh's b r i l l i an t hat trick; withtwenty overs to go, two tail-enders in Hugh Warren and ChrisChambers, were left to hang on with one wicket in hand anda very dismal score. However, in a spirited and persistenteffort they held on to draw the match for Harrow and leaveRadley in a very frustrated state, especially as the late f inishhad denied them their supper. One of their chaps even wentas far as to tell Ed Blad that if we wanted to win so much thenwhy didn ' t we say so before the match!

One would have thought that the remarkable effort againstRadley would have led to a revived Harrow, but the nextthree games resulted in batterings at the hands of Tonbridge,Wellington and Eton. There were few outstanding performances,although Harvey Somerfield continued to bowl and f ieldconsistently and the new captain, Henry Seligman, showedpromise with his medium pace.

Our penultimate game was against a very sub-standardWestminster team, which we completely demolished, butsomething could be said about our attitude in doing so. In ourlast game, however, we were back to our earlier form as wecollapsed at the feet of a mediocre but far superior Charterhouseteam, although there were some positives in Ben Howroyd'sstroke play and Harvey Somerfield's f ielding.

Overall, the season was fairly mediocre due to many factorsinc lud ing a poor approach to t ra in ing, l i t t l e co-operation withboth coach and captain, and an unwi l l ingness to bond as ateam and make a concerted effort towards our goals. Theavailable talent was particularly sparse this year and it isdiff icul t , of course, to muster up the motivation when thestandard is low. This is especially so when there is no structurewithin which to achieve success, only a group of f ixtureswhich does not give a team the desire to succeed. The teamalso had constant changes, including the captaincy three times,which did not help us to develop team spirit. In addition, thelevel of parental support was low which is crit ical with boysof this age.

Many of the players have promise but, as they are in alowly team, they do not have the determination to refine theirsk i l l s and play the cricket of which they are capable. Theymust realise that dedication and commitment are imperativeif they are ever going to move through the ranks; the commonattitude that "I'm in the Cs, therefore there's no point" wi l lnot achieve anything.

Team from: E.J. Blad, Newlands; A.J. Burdett, Newlands;C.R. Chambers, West Acre; E.J. de Renzy-Martin, The Knoll;Viscount Formartine, Moretons; R. J. Gordon-Deane, The Grove;B.W.R. Howroyd, The Knoll; S.A. Hurst , West Acre; T.L.Hutton, Moretons; C.N. Kulukundis , Moretons; T.C.H.Mangnall , Elmfield; E.J.N. McCosh, Bradbys; A.R.C. Parker,West Acre; P.R. Ruddy, Rendalls; M.R.P. Ruoff, The Park;H.J.M. Seligman, The Grove; D.R. Shashoua, Newlands; H.J.D.Somerfield, Moretons; G.C.E. Walker, The Knoll; H.P.J.J .Warren, Druries; J.L. Watts, The Head Master's.

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November 14, 1998 T H E H A R R O V I A N

YEARLINGS A REVIEW

The season started with torrential rain and the Phil underwater.The greatest challenge facing the bowlers in the first weeksof term was staying on two feet in the glacial conditions ofthe Vlth form nets. This was not the perfect preparation fora long season and the effects of this bad weather were evidentin the pitches even in June.

It was, therefore, a 'scratch' side that travelled to Bradfield.This match constituted our first middle of the term and itshowed. Batting on a track that was as green (though not asflat) as a bill iard table, our top order struggled as 2-1 became11-2. Things looked grizzly. James Kostoris, The Park,though, is used to such conditions, being a Scot. He battedwith great maturity and style and scored forty-five runs ineighty minutes. His partnership with Edward Bird, Elmfield,who scored 27, suggested a decent total.

Alas, only three more runs came from the bat as the middleand lower order fell to a Bradfield bowler just returned fromthe West Indies. His figures of 12-5-11-7 highlight ourcollapse. His action was not suspect.

Our bowlers battled to keep the ball in the right place but87 runs do not leave much room for looseners. Harry Dalzell,Druries, was called upon too late, but his accurate off spinstood up to positive batting.

The next week saw the team's first encounter at home,against Epsom. The going was good to soft. Patrick Moseley,Newlands, moving more like a hunter than a miler, producedan impressive opening spell. He was rewarded with twowickets for fifteen runs. He was ably supported by RupertHarmsworth, Moretons, at the other end. His final figures of6-1-18-3, given the conditions underfoot, were particularlypraiseworthy.

It was, however, the captain's leg spin that set up ourimpressive victory. Charley Reid, The Head Master's, bowledthree overs and took four wickets, conceding only six runs.Reducing Epsom to 60 all out, this was a match-winning spellon any ground except the Phil. Our reply was slow; l ike amountain ascent. It took us thirteen overs to get to 20, butKostoris and Reid played chanceless innings and steered usto victory.

At St Edwards, we managed to secure a draw, despite amagnif icent 70 from Kostoris and a spectacularly ordinaryperformance from the scorers. After painful ly slow progress,St Edwards declared at 1 76 for 7 (Dalzell 2-36; Alex Stileman,Druries, 2-19). Reid started our reply in great fashion andplayed his most impressive innings of the season. He andKostoris put on 151 for the second wicket and all lookedrosy. However, four ducks from the next five batsmen totallychanged the game. Cruising to victory, we were now crashingtowards disaster. Moseley steered us home for an unsatisfactorydraw.

No such problems against Radley. Back at home, now onP h i l 8, having left 12a to the dandelions, we watched Radleydeal with our medium-paced attack. Some excellent fieldingfrom Harmsworth and Alastair Yarrow, Druries, kept thetotal wi th in reach. 200-3 was challenging but fair.

This was the day when Bird showed his true mettle. He hasa Zen-l ike approach to cricket. He is often detached. Hebatted this innings like a master, not giving a single chanceas he reached 50. He ran threes to the extraordinarily longPaddock boundary and hit fours up the h i l l towards school.His total of 72 was his highest score of the season and he wasu n l u c k y not to go on to complete his century.

With Bird gone, it was too much to ask the lower order tomaintain the run rate. Freddie Palmer, The Grove, forevergr inn ing , played well for his 25. His left-handed batting is a

strange mix of flair and flail . If he can cut out the swipes, hewill score a hatful of runs. Alex Stileman brightened a longevening by hitting a huge six which cleared the dozing spectatorsand took him to twelve runs in five balls. He and his brotherWoody, Druries, delivered the draw. The biggest cheer camefrom Dalzell, clad in full body armour on the boundary.

A Sunday game against Middlesex U 14 followed. WoodyStileman batted well, scoring 22, but our final tally of 1 1 1was not a total to challenge players of county standard.

The next game against Tonbridge saw more bowlers fightingagainst Phil 8. We managed to keep the opposition down to220 runs in 3 1 overs for no wicket. Dalzell, bowling his offspin, went for fewer than four an over and was our onlybowler to achieve this figure.

Tonbridge declared and thought they had scored enough towin. Despite the blow to our confidence, conceding over 200runs, we batted very well indeed for 46 overs (although itcould have been 146). Bird scored another 50, which wasvery valuable. Never looking like winning, we, nevertheless,never looked like losing. It was a nice draw. The kind ofdraw that makes declaration cricket de l ight fu l !

The match against Wellington was another fine advert fordeclaration games. An unsuccessful attempt to divide 80overs into 'uneven halves' by the Wellington beaks left theHarrow coach with a headache. Reid won the toss and putthem in: everyone was happy. A poor start by our openingbowlers saw the 50 posted in six overs. J-W on the adjacentground felt in danger. Alex Stileman was introduced, at last,and his spell of 6-0-37-3 slowed the Wellington progress andkept us in the game. 250 sounds a huge score but shortboundaries, concrete outf ields and generous bowling helpedmove on the total.

Our batting was impressive. A slow start was followed bya quick 29 from Bird who brought the run rate within reach.Harmsworth played very well, at last, t iming the ball impeccablyfor his 32. But the Alex St i leman show was continuing. His79 included one six and fourteen fours. It seemed as thoughhis positive batting would win us the game but, running outof partners, he was forced to play attacking strokes to goodballs. He was bowled after sixty four minutes at the crease.The game was lost but we were pleased to have scored overtwo hundred runs chasing an inflated total.

The trip to Eton was made in glorious sunshine. It was anovelty for our players to play on such a flat wicket and theEton total showed this. Jamie Keen, The Park, having forcedhis way into the side after half term, found an extra yard ofpace for his left-arm bowling. Once he fine tunes the radar,he wil l be an int imidating opener. Our f ie lding was excellent,though (as CMBW kindly said) as superb catches from Kadan,West Acre, another new A team player, and Bird demonstrated.The Eton batters plodded on to make 199, which was felt tobe within reach.

Our batsmen were a l i t t le surprised by the pace of thewicket but held out against the seamers. It was the introductionof a pair of leg spinners that undid us. I still can't quite workout how. Dazzled by the ball 's height, rather than flight andby (lack of) pace and no turn, our middle order decided towield the bat like spades, digging themselves into a metaphoricalhole. Only Yarrow realised he was facing underwhelmingbowling and he made a very impressive 34 runs as his partnersplayed baseball. Perhaps they wanted to watch the 2nd XIcalmly destroying their opposition on the next door square.

The final match against Charterhouse at home was adisappointing affair. Phil 8 looked like Vimy Ridge and theball did behave like a grenade. We wisely elected to bowl.We then, rather less wisely, proceeded to bowl dreadfully.Dalzell's early call was good captaincy. He produced hisbest spell of the season, taking only one wicket but restrictingthe runs from his end. At the other end, Jack Davis, Rendalls,

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T H E H A R R O V I A N November 14, 1998

bowled very well, using divots and craters to good effect. Hebowled an excellent length and returned figures of 5-1-21-2.He can thank Yarrow for a spectacular catch to remove hisfirst victim.

Our fielding was again good and Harmsworth and Palmercombined to produce a convincing run out. However, thegreatest damage was done by Reid, producing, at last, anotherdevastating spell of genuine leg spin. His final figures of11.3-0-25-5 contributed greatly to the posting of a meagrescore by Charterhou^j. 152 seemed very manageable.

Kostoris, returning from injury seemed to set up the victorywith another fine innings. His 43 and Alex Stileman's 38 putus on the right course for an overdue win but, once again, anepic collapse guaranteed defeat. It still gives me the shivers.At least we had the Middlesex County Cup to restore ourpride on the last day of term.

All that remains is to thank all of the players for theirenthusiasm, cheerfulness and positive contributions dur ingthe term and to congratulate them on some fine performancesthroughout the season. Perhaps we could have snatched afew more wins from the Draw column, but it is important tolearn early that a game can be saved as well as lost. Greatthanks should also be extended to the excellent ARM. Hisorganisation, commitment and enthusiasm were an inspirationto us all. I wish the squad all the best in the national U15competition next year.

YEARLINGS B REVIEWThe Yearlings B had an enjoyable season with five victoriesand four defeats from the nine completed games. The weatherbadly affected the season with three games abandoned. MarkLawrence captained the side in the early games and wasdeveloping nicely, both as a captain and as opening bat, whena finger injury ended his season prematurely. Sandip Pateltook over unt i l his season was also shattered by injury. Hisbatting promised much, without quite delivering the scoreswhich his talent should have brought. His leg-spin bowlingwill need a l i t t le extra pace if it is to be effective at higherlevels. William Hanbury became the third captain and led byexample with several sensible innings in the middle order anda good example in the field. Ben Dent was often the mainstayof the batting, adding more attacking strokes to his stubborndefence. James Dashwood started the season well and is awell organised player who should score runs when his confidencereturns. Jehangir Kadan made runs quickly un t i l his promotionto the A team. Aidan Crawley was another player who alternatedbetween the A and B sides, both of whom benefited from hisexcellent fielding and overall enthusiasm. Alastair Yarrow isa powerful batsman who could score more heavily if he puta lit t le more effort and practice unto his defensive technique.His fielding was always an asset to the team. Anthony Li-Borthwick has a pleasant range of strokes and could developinto a useful all rounder if he works at his slow left armbowling and sorts out his running between wickets. Usefulcontributions came from time to time from William Littlejohnsand William Turner, whilst the most improved player wasStefano Cattaneo Adorno, who finished the season with somefluent effective innings. He sees the ball early and times theball well.

The bowling lacked a cutting edge once Jamie Keen earnedpromotion to the A side. His hostile bowling was too muchfor some teams at this level and he should develop in future.Jack Davis was a steady seamer who also earned promotion,leaving a heavy burden on the medium pace of William Davies.Hanbury lacked consistency with his unusual action, whilstPatrick Moseley needs to bowl a full length to take advantage

of his out swinger. Behind the stumps, Ralph Smith improvedgreatly over the season and was always a good team man.

Victories were achieved over Bradfield, Epsom, MiddlesexU 13 XI, St. Edwards and Charterhouse. The defeats againstTonbridge, Eton and Wellington were the result of insufficientruns. Totals of between 120 and 160 were not sufficientagainst these strong teams. Radley were reduced to 24 for 5and 50 for 7 but recovered to 165. Harrow fell short, andafter this match the team decided to bat first when winningthe toss, and thus try to improve the batting without thepressure of chasing runs. This policy came good in the lastgame against Charterhouse with a resounding victory.

The following represented the team during the season: A.T.W.Li-Borthwick, Moretons; J. Kadan, West Acre', J.M.S. Keen,The Park; W.J. Turner, Rendalls; A.D. Yarrow, Druries; P.O.Moseley, Newlands; S. Patel, The Knoll; B.T. Dent, Elmfield;J.G.R. Dashwood, The Head Master's; J.A. Hanbury, TheGrove, M.H. Lawrence, Druries; A.H.W. Crawley, The Grove;W.H.R.E. Davies, The Grove; J.C. Davis, Rendalls; W.R.Littlejohns, Druries; S.G. Cattaneo Adorno, Moretons; R.L.G.Smith, West Acre.

YEARLINGS INTER-HOUSE SEVENSIn one sense, this was a non-competition as the winner wasclear from the start. Barring an upset of David and Goliathproportions, Moretons were going to win. They had sevenregular members of the Yearlings A XV, with three more inthe Bs, and the nearest any other House got to that sort ofstrength in depth was Rendalls with three in the A XV.

The tournament was played over two days and was lucky tohave two fine afternoons with warm breezes. On day one eachteam played five matches and things went pretty much accordingto plan. Moretons slipped up once in Group A in that Elmfieldhad the nerve to actually score against them, but Rendalls,who were not top seeds in Group B, kept a clean sheet inwinning that group. Eight houses survived to go through tothe final stages, which were played two days later.

In this second stage there were three preliminary rounds,with the winners of Group A then playing the Runners up inGroup B, and vice versa, in the semi finals. Moretons, althoughwithout Gakic, proved impregnable in this section as didRendalls, both going through without a try being scoredagainst them. However, The Head Master's, or iginal ly topseeds in Group B, slipped up against Druries and failed tomake the semis. Druries capitalised on the fact that they hadboth the Yearlings B XV wingers [Kuti and Duffy], either, orboth, of whom could have expected to play in the A XV in anormal year. With an American winger, [Florian] providingunexpected pace and power in defence they were a muchmore formidable unit than had seemed likely on paper. Thetwo wingers provided a contrast in styles with Duffy relyingon power as much as pace, and Kuti using a more subtleapproach to outwit the defence. It is a pity that Duffy doesnot apply his power to more orthodox defence. Elmfield,with their powerful, but not all that closely co-ordinated, trioof Stevenson, Newall and McCorquodale proved unable tobulldoze their way past Rendalls, and so were fated to meetMoretons in the semis. Better teamwork and co-ordinationwere the main strengths of the Rendallian team, structuredround the A XV trio of Omilani, Staples and Papoutes, whowere ably backed up by the others, especially Denis, wholooked a fine player for the future once his defensive workimproves.

The semi-finals were fiercely contested, but, in the eventDruries, despite scoring the first try, had no real answers tothe all-round game of Rendalls, and were not helped by

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November 14, 1998 T H E H A R R O V I A N

losing their skipper in the first half. Elmfield's lack ofteamwork proved critical in their match with Moretons duringwhich , despite many fine solo efforts, they were never able tokeep the ball alive long enough to score.

The final was thus Moretons versus Kendalls. It was expectedthat, in the wide open spaces of a full pitch [all the previousmatches had been on a half pitch], Moretons' extra pacewould be a t e l l i ng factor. In the event, they got less ball thanKendal ls , and what they did get they failed to move wideenough fast enough. As a result, the score was a lot closerthan seemed likely and Kendalls got close to scoring on anumber of occasions. Tiredness was beginning to tell andthere were flat patches, but both sides were committed andthe defences held up well. With Defty providing pace andvariation for the Goodliffe brothers and Bruce Lockhart toplay off, McGowan was eventually put away for one try andthat proved decisive as Kendalls never looked capable ofscoring twice. However, they never gave up and the fact thatMoretons only scored once more is a testament to theirdeterminat ion. Moretons overwhelming strength in numbersof A XV players was limited by the fact that they are nearlyall three quarters. The loss of Gakic for the second daydeprived them of their only paid up member of the "frontfive" union, so three quarters were drafted into the scrum.The fact that these were non-contested played into their hands,as did the fact that there were few lineouts. Klean provided agood service from the base of the rucks and mauls, Melvinmade up for his lack of size by being notably quick to theloose ball, and Okonuwu confirmed that he is the fastestf lanker in town. Kendalls were buoyed up by some veryvociferous support, but with Staples' stamina flagging, andO m i l a n i ' s knee developing a close resemblance to a football,the immovable object had to give way in the end to theirresis t ible force.

All in all, it was a good competition, with some hard foughtgames at all stages, but especially on the second day. Atendency to rely too heavily on the strength and speed ofi n d i v i d u a l s meant that teamwork suffered, and Elmfield inpart icular demonstrated by default that, in rugby, the total isgreater than the sum of its parts. It was slightly disappointingfor the coaches to see so much of the hard work being donein squad practices to encourage them to "play football" beingignored at the very time that it would have paid greatestdividends.

Thanks are in order for the Beaks and associates who refereedso assiduously and to the senior boys in some houses whoacted as coaches and motivators.

RUGBY1ST XV v. TONBRIDGE

HARROW 28 - 17 TONBRIDGE

Having suffered a narrow defeat against Rugby a few dayspreviously, everyone was determined to beat Tonbridge -never an easy task. Come kick-off, the pack was baying forblood and the shandy-drinkers in the line were also feelingmildly violent . From the kick-off, Tonbridge were pinnedback in their twenty-two, eventually resulting in a penalty forHarrow which was nonchalantly converted by Bartlett - akick which almost made up for the five he subsequentlymissed.

Come half-time, the School was firmly in command with afifteen-point lead - Charlie 'anyone for a sherry?' Weston-Simons, The Knoll, having somehow scored twice and Tom'tasty shorts' Wallace, Elmfield, having added another. All

44

had played superbly - the backs running hard and fast and theforwards rucking surprisingly well. In the scrums, the fearsometrio of Alexios Pateras, Moretons, Bear Maclean, Kendalls,and Will Hogarth, Bradbys, had their opposite numbers cryinglike babies with every push. Hugh O'Donnell, Druries, HenryGates, Druries, and 'tasty shorts' were running around likeheadless chickens savaging any member of the oppositionunfortunate enough to receive the ball. In the line, Dave'anyone got a mirror?' Mutter, The Head Master's, and NickBartlett, Kendalls, controlled play impressively with John'don't laugh at my name' Dick, The Park, and James 'steroids'Simpson, Elmfield, crashing in to great effect.

The second half started in the same vein with Wallacedriving over for his second try. There then followed a periodof Tonbridge possession, during which bone-crunching tackleswere put in across the pitch. The spell was broken whenPateras took the ball on the half-way line and with gazelle-like grace motored a good thirty metres, passing to DavidCranmer, The Park, who beat two men to score in the corner.At 28-3, annihilation seemed imminent, but instead of inflictingan embarrassingly large defeat on Tonbridge, two soft trieswere let in to finish the game 28-17. The final score flatteredTonbridge - they should have been on the receiving end of aright pasting. However, it had been an impressive performance- the first instalment of JMOB and WJM's so-called 'sexyrugby' had arrived at Harrow.

THE SCHOOL v. WELLINGTON7 NOVEMBER

1st XV: Lost 8-11D.J.P. Cranmer, The Park, 1; M.F. Alireza, The Head Master's,1 pen.2nd XV: Lost 3-20L.F. de Rougemont, Elmfield, 1 pen.3rd XV: Won 13-5N. Thamavanukup, Newlands, 1; J.W.B. Neame, Moretons, 2pen., 1 conv.4th XV: Lost 7-22S.J. Blumsom, Kendalls, 1; S.J. Nash, Kendalls, 1 conv.5th XV: Lost 10-17S.E. Preece, West Acre, 1;T.A.C. Tregoning, The Grove, 16th XV-. Lost 19-29G.J.R. Scott, The Head Master's, 2; C.E. Savory, Moretons,1; R.M.A. Jones-Davies, The Grove, 2 conv.7th XV: Won 20-15G.G. Afentakis, Druries, 2; M.Gupta, West Acre, 1; KM.A.Dahlawi, West Acre, 1Colts A: Lost 6-26A.C.G. Chrisafis, Druries, 2 pen.Colts B: Lost 5-65I.J. Mackinnon, Druries, 1Colts C: Lost 12-22M. lakovlev, The Knoll, 2Colts D: Lost 0-13Yearlings A: Won 15-7L. Gakic, Moretons, 2; N.E. Defty, Moretons, 1.Yearlings B: Lost 5-10O.B. Ward, The Grove, 1.Yearlings C: Lost 10-42F.J. Milln, Moretons, 1; A.A. Foale, Moretons, 1.Yearlings D: Lost 5-40G.F.J. Yarrow, Druries, 1.Yearlings E: Lost 10-12A.D. Lewis, Moretons, 1; G.T. Hubert, The Park, 1.

No other results have been reported.