Sport is a strange beast, and cricket is perhaps the strangest of them all. When you’re on a hot streak, it feels like the universe is on your side. Edges get dropped, mistimed pull shots miraculously fall into the gaps, and even the most plumb LBW decisions somehow go unnoticed.
But when Lady Luck turns her back, oh boy, does she turn it hard. Suddenly, batsmen are falling to absurd catches and overzealous LBW shouts, fielders are fluffing routine catches, and bowlers are left staring in disbelief as edges whiz through the slips.
What Can You Do? Not Much, Really
When the cricketing gods aren’t smiling, there’s little you can do but reflect on those glorious days when everything went your way—and then, just get over it.
On Saturday, the 2nd XI bowled well, really well in fact. AB and Zak (who must have run over a black cat) opened the attack, and somehow, the batsmen survived an onslaught of near-misses. The same story played out for Sharan and Kalum, and while George and Ollie took some punishment late on, it was bound to happen with no wickets down.
Credit where it’s due: their openers soaked up the early pressure and went on to notch up 50s. If our fielding had been sharper, St Cross might have been limited to around 100, and we’d have been right in the mix. But nobody intends to field poorly; The Oaks just looked a bit weary, and maybe, a tad nervous. It happens.
Chasing 182: The Struggle is Real
Chasing 182 to win was always going to be a tall order, but not impossible. What we needed was a solid start, and what we got was… well, the opposite.
After Tom Hartgill departed, Rutty and Kris Tucknott were victims of some enthusiastic LBW appeals that left them fuming. AB miscued one straight to mid-off, and George was taken by a ridiculous low one-handed catch that seemed destined for the boundary. It looked like curtains.
However, Nick Green and skipper Ian Bennet had other ideas. The Oaks were fighting back, even though St Cross still had the upper hand. But then, Lady Luck struck again—Nick was caught and bowled by yet another outrageous catch. Enter Kalum, looking like he meant business, and he did. With Ian now in full flow, it was game on.
The Twist: So Close, Yet So Far
Ian heroically passed 50, and if he could just stay there, we were in with a shot. But on 65, the wicketkeeper pulled off a blinder, and Ian was gone. Still 62 needed to win. Bugger.
Kalum stepped up as the senior partner, battling alongside Ollie to keep us in the hunt. But without Ian, the run rate started to soar. Ollie fell for 9 while trying to push the score along, and when a furious Kalum was adjudged what he claimed was Bat Before Wicket, it was all over bar the shouting.
Zak Newton did a fine job getting us past 150, offering a glimmer of hope if Basingstoke faltered, but news soon came through that they were cruising to victory at Herriard. Our promotion dreams were dashed at the final hurdle. The lads were deflated. They’d given their all, but on the day, it just wasn’t enough. And when you’re not quite on it, nothing goes your way. Sure, some of the LBW decisions were odd, but St Cross had their share of dubious calls too. Let’s not go down that rabbit hole—umpiring on an unpredictable pitch is a thankless task.
A Season to Remember
We can still be proud of our season. In context, the champions, Basingstoke, gave us a proper thrashing early on, and we likely dodged a bullet at Herriard when the rain came to our rescue. We won games when bolstered by First XI reinforcements and survived a few major scares against teams like Herriard 2s.
Were we unfortunate not to go up? Possibly. Unlucky? Maybe a little, especially if you look at Saturday in isolation. But over the course of the season, the best two teams earned their promotion. We wish them well and will regroup, strengthen our ranks, and come back stronger. s chairman, I am proud of their efforts this season, they are a great group.
Onwards we go.