After wrongly predicting that we had no chance of playing last weekend, I have vowed never to do it again. I am more than capable of making an arse of myself without the English weather joining in. It remains predictably unpredictable, with last weekend’s talk of high pressure building across the UK chucked into the bin marked ‘utter nonsense’.
This weekend sees The Oaks embarking on two Saturday friendlies, with The First XI at Longparish, whilst the Two’s take on local friends and providers of spectacular teas, St Mary’s. As mentioned, the forecast is patchy, but at least the northeasterly wind has been cut off by something less bitter.
Longparish v First XI
The First XI go to Longparish hoping the groundsmen have performed miracles on what has been a quagmire for several months. Its proximity to the River Test has not been kind to it. The Oaks go with a decent lineup with Matt Burrell and Paddy Saines opening and looking to build on steady performances so far.
Stand-in skipper, Dan Jones, comes in at 3, looking for run number one of the 2024 season. Any edge will do him at this moment; then he will be off and running and soon be posting scores of 19 again. Josh Carpenter is in at 4 and bang-on form after bagging over 100 runs so far, whilst Michael Wood makes his first appearance of the season at 5.
In at six is All-rounder Will Cheyney, who has also been amongst the runs and will be looking to continue his good early season showings. Nige Bishop makes his first appearance of 2024 at 7, with Alex Brundle in at 8. Alex will be looking to build on an encouraging knock v Knights Valley. The tail is made up of Stef Kaltner, Dean James, and youngster Zak Newton.
With Ball in Hand
The bowling looks a little shy, with much of the responsibility going on the shoulders of AB, Stef, and Zak Newton, who impressed v Ashford Hill last week. Further options come from the spin of Will Cheyney and DJ with Josh Carpenter always on hand for 3-4 overs of pace.
It’s a friendly, so the result is not of paramount importance. The batting looks solid, so to build on that will be good with a week to go. More critical would appear to be finding convincing bowling numbers. While we have plenty of talent, our bowlers (Stef Kaltner, apart) need to find some accuracy and fluidity if we are to have a memorable season.
It’s been an ongoing concern posting more Extras than seen on ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film set, but if we can solve it, I am certain we will be a major force in County 3 this season. A good test this, we now must hope Longparish can deliver a pitch.
Second XI v St Mary’s
Ian’s Second string for the St Mary’s fixture reads more like a Third XI (where are all the Second XI players?) which is good in many ways as it ensures every member is getting an offer of a work-out. Even the Chairman, who makes successive appearances for the first time in three seasons.
Dan Beckell opens after a decent-looking knock at Ashford Hill last week and is joined by the languid Kris Tucknott, who makes his first appearance of 2024. Noah Beckell is in at 3 again after a solid (if slightly turgid) knock last week in a good supporting role to Josh Carpenter.
Hopefully, the top 3 can provide a platform for Ian Bennett and George Lethaby who will need to be making good runs for the Two’s if they are going to improve on last year’s sixth place. Behind those two, there appear to be plenty of chances to build a good innings with Steve Savage, Jeff Triner, Kalum Sapumanage, and Ollie Rabley all capable.
Bob Lethaby and Ravi Kancharla complete the line-up and while they don’t appear on many headlines about batting heroics, they can occasionally contribute with a bit of a whack, the occasional edge for 4, and even a bit of stoical obduracy. Just don’t expect it.
Bowling
The bowling looks a bit lighter than one might hope, meaning Ollie will have to find rhythm quickly whilst Noah needs to stop pretending to be a spinner and bowl properly. That being with the pace and youthful elasticity he is more than capable of. We’ve seen it with our own eyes.
Fortunately, we have Jeff Triner on board to be predictably miserly with his ability to bowl in areas where it is tough to get bat on ball other than in defense. Thereafter, George Lethaby bowled well and with accuracy last week, so hopefully, he builds on that.
The slow/spinning stuff comes from Kalum Sapumanage, Rav Kancharla, and the ironically titled Oakley Express, who put down three good overs last week before bowling like Stevie Wonder running in on ice skates. Bob is determined to make his mark this year, but his hip and knee he doesn’t like to talk about are still threatening to have the final say.
So, we look to the forecast and hope. At the time of writing (13:51 on Thursday) the BBC are suggesting dry weather from around 3:00 PM tomorrow lasting until the early hours of Sunday, so you never know.
On we travel… possibly!
