Pre-Match Drama
Oakley played AWE Tadley on a wet, windy Saturday where cricket somehow took place. Despite Bob deciding the game would inevitably be off and not writing a preview (lazy git), the game somehow went ahead. The pre-match pitch report of “dry but damp” from Joshy made the choice at the toss obvious. AWE won the toss and chose to bat. I was also confused when I heard this as I had Billy explaining to me that you would obviously bowl in these conditions, but clearly AWE knew something we didn’t. Nevertheless, the Oaks took the field with a bumper crowd of Woody (I thought he was babysitting), Alex, Dave, Deano, Nelly, and DJ looking on. They then left the field when it started raining again while the AWE batsmen were still getting their pads on after 10 minutes. Third time lucky and eventually the game started.
Stingy Oakley Can’t Get Max Bowling Points
Opening the bowling were Noah and Zak, who started in these treacherous conditions, more Zak than Noah, who unfortunately was bowling into the wind and wasn’t as accurate as previous weeks but still bowled to a great standard. Noah got the breakthrough with a really good catch from Jack Brundle in the gully. If you ask Jack, he will unwillingly tell you about it. I was more relieved as I then didn’t have to listen to him moaning about nothing coming to him in the field all day. Zak and Noah were replaced by Josh and Alex, who bowled well in a great partnership. Josh bowled with great control and picked up three wickets, with two being bowled and one caught at slip by Bowny, who never looks like dropping anything in the slips. Alex bowled well with express pace, which is always a great watch but I imagine it’s not great to face. Fair play to the AWE batsman who took a nasty blow somewhere on his body and carried on.
Soon Alex had his first wicket with a nick behind to Ian, which for once was given. Alex then had a dropped catch in the slips by Bowny! Whatever I said in the huddle about there being no doubt with Bowny catching it clearly jinxed something as he dropped a chance that, in fairness, was a hard chance that probably would break my nose. Soon Alex had his second, where the catch was taken by Ollie at point. I hope that was positive enough for Alex, but I imagine he will find a way to call me negative. After Alex and Josh were done, Jack came on for his obligatory short spell, where he again bowled well and picked up a wicket with a wide and was consistent throughout. To end the innings, Ollie and Kalum bowled tight lines and lengths to further restrict the batsmen, where Kalum picked up a late wicket. AWE ended on 123/8 off their 35 overs, which is disappointing as we can never seem to take all 10 wickets in an innings. I’m sure it will come soon.
“It’s Him in the Bollocks”
Opening for the Oaks were Bowny and Josh, who faced two very quick, accurate AWE bowlers. In the first over, Josh was hit in that area and was down in a heap. The question “would he retire” echoed around the clubhouse. Of course, he didn’t as Josh would rather score more runs than have kids, so he battled on. Lightning struck twice as soon the AWE slip fielder was now down in a heap due to a hit in that area as well. It looked like a murder scene at Oakley Park as I’m convinced this fielder didn’t move for a good five minutes. One of their fielders ran up in a panic early looking for some sort of magical remedy to solve this career-ending injury, who then told us it had hit him in the bollocks. A groundbreaking discovery from him, who clearly is wasting his life playing Saturday cricket and should be becoming a doctor. After that overreaction from both Josh and the fielder, play continued.
Soon, Bowny was gone to a wicket caught at slip from a ball that popped up at him. Mozza joined Josh, and they put on a great partnership together, putting away the bad balls and rotating the strike. Josh was batting really well at this point as he always does, timing the ball to all parts of the ground. Moz, while playing the more supportive role, played the perfect number three innings, running hard and knocking the ball around. Soon Josh passed 50 (what a surprise), while Moz went for a solid 27 with another ball caught at slip with one that popped up on him. Jack joined Josh right at the end to secure himself a selfish red inker, and the Oaks chased down the 123 within 26 overs. A great result for the lads who have now won the last three games comfortably.
Positive Outlook for the Season
The 2s all round are playing to a great standard at the moment, whether it is with bat or ball. There is a real chance that we could keep climbing the league this year and be in the position that we should be in with the level of team we have. Ian is captaining well, a different batsman is getting a score every week, and we seem to have gotten really good at chasing. Thanks to AWE for coming down for not a great day of cricket in terms of weather and sticking around for a drink at the end. Well done all.
Up the Oaks!