Report from Oaks opener, Will Cheyney
The Oaks were back at HQ this week to face Compton & Chandlers Ford on another warm summer’s day. There was a last-minute change due to skipper Alex Brundle doing his back in the day before playing in the Hampshire Slam. So, Nigel stepped back in, and the captaincy was handed over to DJ.
Oaks Bat First
DJ carried on Alex’s run of form by losing the toss but surprisingly the Oaks were put into bat on a good pitch. We would have wanted to do bat anyway, so a good lost toss. DJ and Will went out to get a good platform for our lower order fire power. C&CF bowled well with only a couple loose deliveries from one end that Will and DJ capitalized on. But overall, the bowling was accurate and straight making us play and make the odd mistake.
DJ got one that nipped back in off the pitch to take his off stump and had to go. In strode James Bayliss fresh from his morning swimming lessons and ready to impose himself on the game. Unfortunately, James missed a straight one that smashed into his pad. Nigel Bishop could only give it out. It is always tricky when you are having to umpire your own teammates, but no one’s is a winner when an obvious wicket is given not out, and Nigel did the right thing.
This brought Michael ‘Woody/ Woodster/ son/ my boy/ geezer’ Wood, to the crease. Fresh from a 100 odd run partnership, Will and Woody had a job to do to get the Oaks stabilised. They went about their work against some tight bowling and with a quick outfield they were picking up runs every over. We had got up to 60 odd before Will (30) wafted at a wide one to get a fine edge and caught behind. Chris ‘Mozza’ Morris came in and him and Woody carried on picking off runs and running well between the wickets. Woody (39) got undone by a very average ball that had him on the fall head butting the wicket.
Josh Smacks 70
Still, He had done a good job and allowed the young gun Josh Carpenter, to come to the crease. This partnership is always energetic as Mozza, and Josh are quick between the wickets and Josh has been in good form all season. Mozza (18) was bowled after some quick fire runs and in came Nigel. Nige was playing the support role to Josh who was hitting some lovely shots making use of a quick outfield. Unfortunately, Nige (11) also missed a straight one that took out his middle stump. Ian Bennett was next in and even he will admit he’s been a bit dry of runs recently and was keen to amend this. Ian knew his main job was to support Josh who had reached a fine looking 50 by this point. A few lusty blows from each end kept the board ticking over.
Accurate bowling with very little extras meant there was no freebies and the lads had to keep patient and run hard when boundaries weren’t coming frequently. On the final ball of the innings Josh smashed one over cow corner to bring 202 up for the oaks and end on an unbeaten 70 for Josh and 17 not out for Ian. After the tea break which saw Dave Bowers offering every man and his dog a slice of his quiche. No one was willing which upset Dave very much and the phrase ‘What’s up with my F*****G quiche’ was to be repeated serval times. There was nothing wrong with the quiche, just no one wanted any quiche. I wonder how many more times I can get the word quiche into this report. Quiche.
The Defence of 202
With 202 on the board the oaks knew they were a few runs short but also knew it wasn’t as easy as it looked to bat, so were heading into field with confidence. Dave Bowers and Neil Robinson opened proceedings nicely, bowling well and a few chances were happening. The opener chipped one up, off Bowers bowling, that found Nigel at mid on which he decided one hand was better than two and inevitable was dropped. No worries though as the same opener top edged one straight up which Woody comfortably caught, reassuring Nigel as the drop cost the Oaks nothing.
This was not the case for the other opener… Dave was bowling well and soon another catch came begging. It was chipped over Bowers head, and a running round Will from mid-off was sure to catch it. Its hit the base of Will’s hand down onto his knee and the ball sent flying. Usually, he catches those in his sleep but today was different, hopefully it wouldn’t prove a costly drop. Neil got his reward from some good swing bowling to take out leg stump. The next wicket to fall was a good run out after a mix up from the C&CF batsmen to leave one stranded and Nigel threw to the keepers end to have the batsmen well short of his ground. Unfortunately for Will this still wasn’t the opener that had been dropped by him.
C&CF stabilised and were soon picking gaps and pushing the singles on a quick outfield. It was frustrating the Oaks bowlers as there were a lot of loose shots that were just missing the stumps, outside edges, chipping into gaps in-between fielders and some very close LBW chances that were going in the favour of C&CF. The other C&CF opener reached his 50 and was soon looking to accelerate as they were still well behind on the run rate. The Oaks were getting very niggled by these close chances but needed to remain calm and keep doing the basics well as there was still plenty of runs to chase.
The Run Out and the Last Burst
C&CF moved through the gears and were still managing to find gaps at crucial times and soon found themselves well in the game. The Oaks kept the pressure on, bowling some tight overs meaning the C&CF batsmen had to take risks. The last 5 overs saw C&CF needing just under 30 to get, and tensions running high as the close of game was near. One too many risks saw a quick ‘2’ leaving the C&CF batsman well short of his ground from some good fielding, for it only to be given not out. This was highly frustrating as it was not even a close call but in the game of cricket if the umpire makes a call you have to ‘respect’ the decision and move on.
Missing impartial Umpires had proven costly for the Oaks. Once things had settled down again the Oaks resumed the defence and soon picked up the wicket of the C&CF opener that had reached 84 and yes it was a costly drop in the end! Two more quick wickets fell to some more great bowling from Stef Kaltner who is also known as the angriest man alive. Just to note, Will did make up for his drop by catching one of the wickets to fall off Stef’s bowling, probably more out of fear of what might have happened if he dropped another.
After these two quick wickets it gave the oaks a burst of energy to try and pull off the win. It went down to the last over with 5 runs needed, unfortunately one loose ball was sent to the boundary for 4 and inevitably C&CF got the final run two balls later, leaving a very sore Oakley to leave the field shaking hands and wondering what would have happened if the early catch was taken and if impartial umpires were available. In the end it is all for fun at club level, but players and club members invest a lot of their time to play the sport we love, so when controversy hits the game its sure to strike some nerves. Wickets went to Neil (1) Dave (1) and Stef (3). The Oaks will take a lot from this game, knowing that when the breakthrough is needed how we go about it and supporting each other to get us through tough periods when in the field.
Everyone has contributed in one way, or another this season and the Team are healthier for it as we move to the last few games of the season to finish strong and get ourselves up the top end of the table, which is still very possible. Onto Next week against local rivals Ramsdell.
Onwards and upwards. Quiche