Oliver’s Army are on Their Way!

Third team report from Oliver Rabley 

The Oaks 3s welcomed Ropley to a sunny Newfound with the usual round of last-minute changes.  The drafting in of the erstwhile once and only once skipper Ollie brought with it the tantalising prospect of another run fest to follow the Nick Green inspired antics of a couple of weeks ago.  The question in everyone’s mind is could it happen again….

Toss Lost Bat First

Things started according to plan with Ollie again losing the toss and being asked to bat.  That gave Oaks the first use of the Newfound pitch.  The early overs showed that it was living up to its reputation of a pitch of two halves.  The first innings invariably offers more bounce, and this was being exploited by Ropley’s young opening bowler.  He was finding a challenging line outside off stump with a hint of away swing.  He got a few to climb off a length resulting in Tall Jeff getting a couple of blows to the shoulder.  The more vertically challenged members of Oaks’ lineup would probably have seen those balls climb above their heads.

Runs were proving hard to come by and the scoring rate was restricted with wickets of Dan Beckell and Tall Jeff falling when they seemed to be getting set.  68-3 at drinks led to a discussion about what the target should be.  160 looked like something that would be achievable and defendable with a decent bowling effort.  The key to that was expected to be having Phil Carpenter and the latest Jeff to join the Oaks (Jeff Williams) still around at 30 overs.

Jeff was enjoying the challenge of facing Ropley’s young bowler (who looks like a talent) and asked if he would like to sign Jeff’s soon to be written memoir “So You Call Yourself a Cricketer”.   Unfortunately, Jeff couldn’t build on the start that he’d got for himself and was out in the 25th over.  That bought Mike De Vos to the crease.  MDV had clearly had a premonition of the havoc that he would later wreak as a bowler.  He decided that in the spirit of cricket he should offer Ropley a spot of catching practice and was quickly on his way back the the pavilion.

Lee’s Unseen Cruise

Lee Noble and Phil then set about rebuilding the innings and were gradually able to start increasing the scoring rate.  A 70-run partnership was most remarkable for the fact that Lee cruised to 42 without anybody really noticing.  When he fell with the score on 144, the question was could Oaks keep up the momentum.  Ollie strode to the crease with the wise words of Noah Beckell ringing in his ears.  “Go big or go home” was Noah’s advice.  Ollie decided to play himself in for one ball and the unleashed a lovely (Tall Jeff said that) six over long on.  Phil was then out for a nicely paced 35, bringing in Deano.  The next 3 overs were very entertaining with Ollie succeeding in a typically Rabley innings, rattling along to 38 off about 15 balls, with a wagon wheel that didn’t include anything on the off side.

At tea, Oaks were sitting on a surprisingly healthy score of 183, which the team felt would be defendable, but would need accurate bowling and sharp fielding on a fast outfield.

Ollie and Lee kept it reasonably tight at the start.  It briefly looked like the curse of dropped catches would continue to haunt the Oaks, but Noah took a catch off Lee, and all seemed well.  Taking wickets was likely to be the key to keeping the scoring rate under control.  Jeff was able to do that, assisted in part by the pitch behaving as it usually does in the second innings and staying low.  Another catch (yes Oaks were really on a roll now!) by Phil off Noah’s bowling kept the pressure on.  James Middleton was doing a good job in giving the Ropley batsmen something else to think about with his flighted leg spin.

It’s Catch or No Teeth For Tall Jeff

MDV came on to bowl and started with a tight line and length.  He then dropped in a half-tracker which Ropley’s skipper saw with eager eyes.  A fine connection had most of the Oaks’ fielders starting to head off towards the trees to look for the ball.  However, Tall Jeff had seen it coming directly at his face and decided that catching it would be preferable to a visit to the dentist for new teeth.  The curse of dropped catches was truly broken in that moment.

Next up in the catching masterclass was wicket keeper for the day Deano.  MDV found an edge with a nice outswinger, and then we saw Deano sailing through the the air to take a fine one-handed grab.  MDV then wrapped up the innings to get himself a slot on the Oaks honours board with a fivefer that he hadn’t realised he had got.

So, a good all-round performance from the Oaks brought a 30-run victory.  It showed the value of not panicking when batting.  Building an innings gradually brings the chance of acceleration at the end.  This game turned on the 3 or 4 overs that Oaks finished the innings with.  Enthusiastic fielding meant that bowlers could build pressure.  Ropley were friendly opponents which allowed the game to be played in an excellent spirit.

On we travel…