Report by Nikki Potter
A long long time ago in a land far away, well a few miles down the road a rivalry came to exist between the village Cricket Clubs of Oakley and Overton. And like the many who had come before them, it was now the turn of the Oakley Ladies to see who would be getting off the horse and who would be drinking the milk. Warmed up by their dedicated Coaches of Ian and Scotty, the Oaks gleaming in their dayglow ensemble proceeded to lose the toss and took to the field to bowl.
Our ‘Captain my Captain’ Sarah S stepped up for the 1st over where only 4 runs were gained with good stops by Ruth and our wicket keeper Claire. Bex B took the 2nd over and their batsmen started to liven up gaining cheeky runs, but were lucky not to be run out by our good fielding and a near catch by Bex. Jude bowled fiercely as always but the big hitters had their bats at the ready to knock out a few boundaries and it wasn’t until Ruth came into bowl next that we took our 1st catch of the day by Bex B in her trademark ‘i’m a bit too cool for skool’ style.
Jenny came in for her turn and we began to realise quickly that we had to get tight in our field. Penny took the next over gaining a wicket on her 2nd ball, with Claire putting in some really solid stops behind the wicket. Lori-Ann delivered a good over with only one boundary gained and then up stepped Joan on her 1st Outdoor game of the season for the Oaks and delivered a marvellous ‘put that in your pipe’ 6 balls. During our next overs the Oak displayed some great fielding with Jude getting a full workout keeping many many balls off the boundary and Ruth had her eyes on the prize at all times, with Claire taking awesome catches and Emily heroically throwing herself to the ground (not remotely tripping in any way what so ever) to stop those boundaries.
The sneaky runs kept on accumulating and we missed a few opportunities for catches, however the tide was about to do that turning thing. We ploughed on with highlights being a catch by Ruth off Joan’s first ball, Emily’s catch off Sarah’s first ball (I don’t think the entire team has stopped smiling yet about that one yet) a sublime wicket for Ruth, a caught and bowled for Jude and as Bex stepped up to bowl our final over, Joan had time to check her watch, file a nail and place a quick Tesco order whilst she waited for a ball to come down and safely nestle into her expert hands.
I Quick team talk by Sarah S had the Oaks looking like a team who would be showing the England Football Team how winning was done.
Who ever sabotaged Ruth’s bike, a payment of a lifetimes supply of Jo O’s Ginger Cake has been arranged The partnership between Sarah and Ruth had us squealing in our seats with joy. We saw fantastic boundaries from both, sneaky runs, solid calling and although her bike tyre may have been punctured we saw our Ruth happily punching balls through the covers. Up next was Penny and Claire, facing some great bowling we saw a mixed bag of boundries, lost wicket and our fav Benny Hill’esque moment of the day and as ever lessons were learnt.
The Jen and Joan duo sauntered on next, and Joan soon realised that the plastic wasn’t for tapping (she has only ever used a wooden bat) but for twatt’ing! With some boundaries by both, Joan was quite clearly telling porkies when she said she didn’t run as with Overton fielding very tight the pair added to some useful singles to the total, we especially loved those taps and placements by Jen.
Lori-Ann and Emily faced the most fierce, fast, accurate bowling of the day, despite some lost wickets it was morale boosting to see some truly epic defensive shots by both and Emily will soon be staking a claim on the ‘too cool’ crown. It was a well deserved round of applause for both ladies coming off that rollar coaster without being demonstratively queasy. And so to our final pair of Jude and Bex, some might call Jude ‘Big Gob’ but I prefer ‘Big Gun’ and lock and load she did, hitting her first ball to the boundary.
What seemed like an impossible ask became an positive ‘we can do this’ as Overton had comedy moment of their own. Sarah shouted encouraging tactics from the side like ‘9 to win!!’ and who knows what our brilliant pair discussed in the middle, was it Love Island’s latest update or was it who was going to smash the final winning run…. its a secret that will probably be taken to grave or more likely the Oakley Club Bar.
Although Scotty might not have displayed ACTUAL emotion we knew he was shedding a tear of pride inside, and Ian (who we also thank for keeping score) was as ever full of encouragement and praise for ‘our best game of the season’ and a win!
Final Score – Overton 311 Oakley 316
Wonkey Donkey of the day for Claire who went to Oakley instead of Overton and was late.
Women of the Match for our very own Mary Poppins- Emily who was practically perfect in every way.