Third Team report from Oliver Rabley
A free week in the league gave the 3s the chance for a friendly against Basingstoke 4s. The team turned up without a designated captain, leading to a long and intense leadership selection process. Noah Beckell won that contest with a campaign slogan of “I’ll do it if nobody else wants to.” Noah then went on to show captaincy skills beyond the ability of many others within the club by calling correctly and winning the toss. Oaks to bat.
A Bouncy Start and Two Fifties
The established partnership of Steve Savage and Ryan Parry were faced with a tight opening spell, on a pitch offering a bit of bounce. That’s always going to be a challenge to those of us bought up on the fields of Oakley Park and Newfound. 18-1 off 10 overs became 51-4 off 20, with Dan Beckell and the latest graduate from the Colts Tom Woodward unfortunate not to be able to take advantage of a slight relaxation of pressure from Basingstoke’s change bowlers. Noah and Phil Carpenter needed to rebuild. We’ve seen plenty of times that this is an ideal scenario for Chippy, who was able to coax a gradual increase in the scoring rate, and coach Noah along the way.
A century partnership followed, before Phil holed out for another well crafted 50. In came MDV; out went MDV. Ollie strode to the crease with 6 overs to go and an optimistic 200 run target still 50 runs away. But by now Noah was well into his stride and passed his own 50 with ease. He did claim to be a bit tired by this point, but surely the benefit of youth is the ability to run all day, so let’s not give him too much sympathy (but plenty of praise for a maiden senior half century!). Ollie swatted a less-than-technically-perfect 20 odd, before losing a stump or two to an awful swipe.
Kalum hobbled in, looking like a man with a badly injured foot who was only playing because we were short (which he was). He found time for a beautiful cover drive before sacrificing his wicket to give Noah the strike. That gave Oli Thakur the experience of some time in the middle (well 1 ball from the non-striker’s end). Noah fended off that vicious final ball (or possibly patted back a straight one – I can’t remember which) to protect his not out and average.
203 – a decent score and certainly one that could be defended.
The Defence
Tom Woodward opened up the bowling and started with a fine line and length and movement that was troubling Basingstoke’s openers. He would have had a wicket had Kalum decided to use his hands to catch the ball, rather than just expecting it to settle in his midriff. At the other end, Ravi was spinning his web and picked up a couple of deserved wickets. Oli Thakur came on to replace Tom and did a good job restricting the scoring rate of the set batsmen.
Tom came back to take a wicket, but Oaks needed someone to capture the scalp of opener Woody Ruane who by now had gone to a cultured 50. MDV is the man with the golden arm, and he did just that. The game was in the balance, with Basingstoke able to score at the 4 or 5 an over they needed, but Dan and Ollie picking up wickets along the way to restrict the rate. Oaks were even taking catches, with one of Tom’s the pick of the bunch, involving an attempted one-handed grab of a skyer followed by a quick juggle.
Nerve Jangler Crushed
The possibility of a nerve jangling last couple of overs was unfortunately crushed by Basingstoke’s young skipper Kieran Purnell deciding that the time was ripe to dispatch some of Ollie’s best efforts into the bushes and car park. Game over, and a 2 wicket defeat for Oaks.
Results aren’t the most important thing for 3rd team friendlies. Performances and the chance to integrate colts into senior cricket are what matters. So with that in mind it was a successful day. The team got another 200+ score. Noah was able to practice his captaincy skills (and get a 50!) and Tom and Oli played a full part in the game. Oh, and Avi also heroically stepped in as substitute fielder (complete with a broken toe) when Kalum finally had to call it a day.
Onwards and upwards we go.