Monkton Cavaliers Cricket Event Unveils New Scoreboard
The sun shone down over Longmead on Thursday 20th April for an excellent afternoon of cricket and the Grand Reveal of our new Peter Sibley Cricket Scoreboard.
It was brilliant to welcome so many of the Monkton and Cavaliers community to watch a Cavaliers v School XI match, with an extended tea break which included speeches and the presentation of the scoreboard to much-loved former member of staff Peter Sibley.
OMs, staff, former and current parents and friends of the School came together and thoroughly enjoyed catching up under the shadow of the magnificent new scoreboard. The Cavaliers rallied and won the match in what was the School team’s first outdoor match of the season - of which there will be many more to come!
Everyone was thrilled to have Peter Sibley in attendance with son Adam and daughter Kate, who shared many happy memories of time spent at Monkton under Mr Sibley’s guidance. Peter was the head of Monkton Cricket for over 20 years, along with being Director of Sport, Head of History and houseparent of Grove House with his wife, Margaret. Mr Sibley is clearly a well-loved and respected former member of staff. He founded the Monkton Cavaliers, and set up the annual cricket weeks in the summer from which many of the Monkton community have benefitted over the years.
Beyond Monkton, Peter had an incredible sporting career, playing rugby for Oxford University and a number of county teams before joining and captaining Bath. His name has gone down in their history books for transforming their playing style and at that time, with 645 points, his was the highest scoring Bath side in Club history. Skipping forward to his retirement, Peter has also captained Bath Golf Club.
All of this was summed up on the day in a speech by Principal Chris Wheeler, followed by a fitting tribute from Jon Croft (OM 71) and a poem written by John Watson (OM 71), read by Robin Edwards (OJ). The ribbon was then cut, revealing the plaque on the scoreboard dedicating it to Peter.
OM Jolyon Armstrong (68) writes of Peter Sibley: "In Bath and way beyond, Peter is a legend through his own natural talents, enthusiasm, dedication, and respect… Above all, Peter gave unconditionally of himself to his family, his teammates, his colleagues and his friends, and we are so lucky."
A big thank you must also go to former member of staff Martyn Garrod, who himself has played an important role in the Cavaliers over the years and was instrumental in helping fundraise for the scoreboard and organise this event. And finally, a huge thank you to all those in our community who contributed to the new scoreboard - it will hopefully last us for many years to come and see many Monkton wins on the cricket pitch!
