Report by Ollie Rabley
Oaks 3s we’re looking to end the season on a high at the green a pleasant land that a few days of rain had created at Newfound. Unfortunately that wasn’t to be, but there were plenty of positives to take from this game against Aldershot 4s.
The team was a mixture of the youthful enthusiasm of 6 colts and grizzled experience of 3 more senior players, with Deano and Ravi somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. A first success of the season at the toss gave Ollie the option to choose to bat, with the expectation of giving everyone some time in the middle. This week’s opening partnership was the Sav duo, with Steve Savage and Savindu Sapumanage aiming to build a platform.
Chippy Does it Again
Unfortunately for Savindu, his watchfulness wasn’t rewarded as he got caught off a ball that stuck a bit in the wicket. Phil went in, with a steely glint in his eye as he wanted to retain the scoring average bragging rights in the Carpenter household. Job done there as he would go on the forge another impressive score of 88, to hold the innings together.
As hoped each of these young Oaks did get their chance to bat. Reggie Neller in his first senior game looked very comfortable. The highlight of the second part of this innings had to be Olly Thakur’s punch through cover point for a beautifully timed 4. A decent score of 204 was the result of the team’s efforts.
The Defence
Opening the bowling, Tom Woodward again did really well, but as as usual got no luck. Ravi was doing his expected stuff keeping the scoring rate under control at the other end, but could not find the magic needed to get a wicket. He may not have been able to do it bowling, and decided to chip in with a nice slip catch that gave Olly Thakur his maiden senior wicket. Another wicket followed a few overs later, courtesy of a direct hit run out from Ollie “rocket arm” Rabley (I can provide more details of the skill involved there to anyone that is interested!)
Unfortunately Oaks weren’t able to find the extra couple of wickets that could have turned the game in their favour. Aldershot were able to keep scoring at a comfortable rate with batsmen who became increasingly well set. They finished with a 7 wicket win, built around a first ever century for Ken Hitchcock. He had a good day, with that coming on top of a 5 wicket haul when Oaks has batted.
In Summary
So, ultimately a slightly disappointing result, but the game could easily have been different had a couple of catches been taken earlier in Aldershot’s innings. The real positive is the opportunity that we have to give younger players the chance to experience senior cricket. They each showed bags of enthusiasm in every aspect of the game, paid attention to what they were asked to do and backed up their teammates whenever necessary. Plenty to be optimistic about for next season.
The Number 3 bus service is now suspended until May 2023 when services will resume with renewed optimism.