OB Cricket Report 2011
Cricketer Cup - Bradfield
This year saw our first foray into the Cricketer Cup after several decades on the periphery. A strong team was assembled to play at the picturesque Bradfield College ground but poor weather put paid to that fixture and by the time we arrived there the following Sunday for the re-scheduled game, our team was markedly weaker and struggled against a strong Bradfield bowling attack. Fresh cookies on arrival and gossip around Adrian Shankar provided the only consolation for the heavy defeat.
OB Week
This year, as it transpired, was to be Tim Chapman's last as captain and another hugely enjoyable week was a fitting send off. The MCC were our first visitors and counted among their number our own Will Notley and Tim Chapman. The match was played between two strong batting line-ups and when we held the visitors to about 240-dec we felt we were in a strong position. Only the MCC's number 3 got past 50 and that was thanks to Will "Jonty Rhodes" Longden opting to parry a regulation catch rather than wrap his little fingers around it. George "Uncle Woody" Wood bowled with a rare and concerning consistency and Sam Kumar, replete with quite appalling ear adornments, nipped out a couple with his skiddy in-duckers. There were never enough runs on the board and just before the teams endured their insipid lunch, Mr Kumar took a liking to the opposition spin attack on his way to a powerful 98*. Woody and Rich Wharton had batted aggressively at the top of the order to set up the chase and by the time Longden hit the winning runs, in the process robbing Sam of his ton, the incoming rain was the only threat to our victory by 6 wickets.
Unfortunately Tuesday's events did not quite run to plan - only two could muster the courage to challenge the Vice Captain for his title of OBCC Golf Champ and neither could cope with rampant banditry that took place before a ball had been struck. The organising committee hacked their way round The Bedford with the skipper losing as many balls through hurling them at helpless copses of trees as through wayward shots. By the time hands were shaken on the 18th, Wren had amassed an embarrassing 47 stableford points to keep a firm grip on his title.
A combination of bad weather and many of The Ousels side being involved in the block fixture against Dulwich meant that the annual T20 fixture was cancelled. We look forward to reinstating that fixture next year.
Wednesday brought the arrival of the questionably named Gentlemen of Bedfordshire and the first limited overs fixture of the week. Some strong batting from the GoB led to a challenging chase for the OBs which, despite the presence of four of the current 6th form, proved to be beyond our reach. Uncle Woody again batted well for 50 but he received little support apart from a quick-fire 30 from Adam Abbott.
Thursday saw the hotly contested OBs vs OBMs match. The OBs were back to something like full strength despite the late arrival of the skipper after attempting to drink the OBMs out of contention on the previous evening. Mr Sowerby elected to only book half the day off work in a cavalier piece of diary management but was rewarded for his bravery as we batted first and he was not called into action until after the rain delay and an early lunch.
The OBs were well positioned at 100-2 but a collapse that mirrored the speed and severity of Adrian Shankar's fall from grace in domestic cricket, left Gareth "Double G" Graham and Old Man Sowerby to wrestle our total up to something approaching respectability. Defending 179 off 45 overs, we knew we needed wickets but Tom Langley-Poole clearly didn't get the memo as he entered into some sort of shady deal with the OBMs' youthful opening batsman within which he bowled for the middle of his bat and, in turn, cast the young prodigy as a more aggressive version of the great Viv Richards.
"Double G" bowled his 9 overs tightly from the start and when "Headlights" Kumar joined him in the attack we began to assert some pressure - especially when Sir Viv holed out playing one shot too many, much to the chagrin of T L-P who by this point had a plastic bag full of ice strapped to his elbow, a look that says nothing other than "I'm a pro, I show no pain". The "Woodra" once again proved too much for the OBM skipper and the steady flow of wickets left the match evenly poised. The OBMs had it won with the scores level and 2 wickets in hand but when Aitkenhead
held a lovely catch at backward point, their number 11 faced a tricky 3 balls to survive with his partner not out on 46 at the other end. He just about held on and the established batsman struck the winning runs in the next over. The OBMs denied us the "three-peat" and in the process moved 23-11 ahead on cup wins.
Friday and Saturday normally provide the highlight of the week and this year was no different. The OB 2nd XI took on the School 2s in a high-scoring 45 over game, Ed Wharton scored 128 in quick time for the School leaving the OBs to chase just under 300 with Adam Bedford registering a tremendous century. Meanwhile, on the other pitch, the OBs were chasing leather as James Kettleborough posted yet another ton for the School. The declaration on 331 brought Rich Wharton and Will Notley to the crease and aggressive batting from the pair along with Kumar enabled the OBs to post 281-dec with Wharton having compiled the 4th hundred of the day and the second from his family. The School had to face a potentially tricky 10 minutes at the end with the two batsmen sent out to face the music being more used to opening the bowling than the batting - they survived.
Day 2 started with the OBs regretting their early declaration as the prospect of a long slog in the sunshine became a reality - fines money collected on the Friday night had again been plentiful and some of the team found that their tolerance to the stronger potions from the High Street wasn't what it once was. Wickets fell fairly regularly to begin with but Ash Patel dug in to record the 5th century of the weekend as the School set the OBs 340 to win from approximately 45 overs. Wharton and Notley again started well and the required run rate seemed within our reach. Having been involved in nearly every over of the fixture to that point, Rich Wharton showed no tiredness to peel off yet another ton leaving him with an unrivalled record for the week of four innings with two fifties and two centuries and became the first player in memory to record a ton in both innings of the two day game against the School.
Wickets fell at regular intervals as we aggressively pursued the total. With 11 runs per over required for 10 overs with 5 wickets in hand, defeat was still as likely as victory. The draw looked inevitable when 20 were required from the last over but the umpires, who had until this point kept their mouths shut, revealed that they believed there were in fact two overs to play despite protests from the scorers. This tipped the game in our favour with Tim Chapman aptly being there in his last act as captain to secure the victory alongside the enthusiastic Chris Smart. Rich Wharton was an undisputable man of the match and player of the week despite his radiant orange locks and his aggressively scented keeping kit.
The last fixture of the season saw us host the Old Milfieldians who were captained by Matt Jamieson of the School staff. Pushed on to the 2nd XI square because of the renovation work on the pavilion, we were "guaranteed" a high-scoring fixture. This looked very much the case with George Wood and Will Notley looking fluent before lunch despite the opposition opening bowler intimidating our top order with his bowling boots, washboard abs and body symmetry not seen since Arnie's second Mr Universe win. Lunch, though a welcome change from the norm, sparked an unfortunate batting collapse that saw us fall from 100-2 to 175 all out. This was largely down to the befuddling left-arm spin of their portly star bowler and left the OMs in a strong position. Again, the innings started well with the likes of Simon Lincoln (both an OM and an OB) and Matt Jamieson looking solid and pacey between the wickets. The OBs needed a miracle and, like lunch, tea provided the catalyst for another change in momentum. In the fixture that has been described as "The Battle of The Collapses" the OM batsman conspired to relinquish their wickets to all manner of appalling bowling. By the time Wren had removed their penultimate batsman with the delivery that some are labelling "The Straight One" we needed just one more wicket and the OMs just 6 runs. Aitkenhead floated up a couple of charming "offies" and to the second their last batsman showed rank disregard for the few pages of the coaching manual to which he had been privy and exited his crease, swung wildly and left enough time for even the veteran Old Man Sowerby to take off the bails. The match was won and the fixture was booked in for next year.
Tim Chapman leaves his role with the send-off of victory over the school that his effort over the past ten years deserves and the club is well set to progress with the exciting challenge of the Cricketer Cup and the prospect of a dramatically extended fixture list in years to come.