After back to back defeats, the 3s were looking to bounce back but were faced with the challenge of travelling to the unbeaten league leaders Sherfield-on-Loddon, who had handily beaten pretty much every team they’d played this year. This was originally scheduled to be a home game for the 3s, but the Long Sutton village fete put pay to that as Sherfield kindly agreed to switch the fixtures - this was also the last of the first round of fixtures, before the cycle starts again in this new league format of playing 9 teams twice, rather than 17 teams once each. (N.B this is a long report - but worth it!)

The 3s welcomed back some familiar faces to the side, as that spine from the start of the season re-assembled - Greg and Rory both returned after a week off each, whilst club chair Nick B left the golf course in Portugal to play for the mighty 3s and finally Ed Terry found his way back to cricket after a month travelling in South East Asia. I’m sure Ed had a wonderful time, but the skipper was less enthused when he heard Ed was on 2 hours sleep and wasn’t feeling 100% on Saturday morning. Alas a pre match net calmed any fears, as Ed nailed his first delivery - he was back.

After last week’s toss decision fiasco, Safi didn’t spend all week analysing the stats, averages scores, toss decisions, much to the surprise of his team mates. So when faced with winning another toss (this is win no. 6 out of 9 for the season - scary stuff), the skipper simply followed the advice of his senior players - ‘if in doubt, bat first’. Paul had set a provisional target of 230 being a decent score at Sherfield - time would tell if that would prove to be true.

1st Innings

Nick & Lizo opened up, and as expected the Sherfield bowlers were on the money from ball one. There seemed to be some variable bounce from ball one, particularly from one end, with a couple shooting low and others jumping off the surface. Both batters got off the mark with singles, before Lizo (1) inside-edged a delivery that kept low, onto his pad, which then ricocheted onto the stumps. Gisele joined Nick in the middle, with the ball nipping in off the seam from one end and away from the other. Unfortunately Gisele’s (0) stay was brief, as she joined Safi in the 2025 ‘leaving a straight one’ club, as the ball nipped in to hit off stump, as the O’s were 7-2 after 5 overs.

It was then former skipper and current skipper at the crease together, as the 3s looked to rebuild after a shaky start. The score crawled to 8-2 after 7 overs as pressure was building against both batters - the Sherfield bowlers did start to throw in some loose deliveries, but both Nick and Safi managed to hit fielders and couldn’t break the shackles. Finally in the 8th over, Safi hit a full toss to the short legside boundary, as the scorecard started to tick over. After some good running from both batters, Safi repeated the dose as the opening bowlers seemed to lose their rhythm and gave a couple of loose deliveries in the final overs of their opening spells.

Spin came into the attack as early as the 11th over, as Sherfield looked to strike again - Safi has been known to ‘panic’ sweep, but the sweep shot was his best-friend today, sweeping 4 deliveries in that over, whilst Nick took a different approach and played expertly off the back foot. The run rate had increased with minimal risk, as both batters punished the bad ball, and were still able to rotate strike efficiently in between. Nick played his famed cut for another boundary, before pulling a rank full toss to the fence, as the 50 partnership approached. Nick (21) unfortunately fell before that milestone, getting a thin edge on a delivery from the opposition skipper, with the keeper taking a smart catch standing up (57-3 after 14 overs).

Dave joined Safi at the crease, as the rebuild still needed to continue - Sherfield changed tac and brought on A Nixon, the league’s top wicket taker. His unnervingly accurate in-swingers were very difficult to get away, proving why he’s had success this season. Fortunately for the O’s, Sherfield couldn’t maintain pressure from both ends, as Safi targeted the short legside boundary, utilising that sweep shot to perfection, hitting behind & in front of square to score multiple boundaries. The skipper was in the groove, using his feet to drill the ball back past the bowler for 4 more, whilst also pouncing on anything short.

Safi brought up his 50 in the 20th over, as Sherfield shuffled the pack to try to get the breakthrough - the change in bowling didn’t stop the flow of runs, as batters sensed that the oppo were searching for their ‘5th bowler’, so were looking to capitalise - Safi even played through the offside for once, cutting the ball backward of point for four. It was at this point the skipper hadn’t realised he’d effectively farmed the strike for 5 out of the previous 7 overs, leaving his vice-skipper with a relative watching brief at the other end. Safi is known to often ask how many balls are left, but I can promise that is not to hog the strike - I just like to know!

It was then probably little surprise that Dave (5) fell a couple of overs later, done by an excellent yorker, leaving the 3s 107-4 in the 24th over, with plenty of work still to do to get to a competitive total. Enter Ed Terry - oh how I’ve missed typing that. Returning from a month away gallivanting in South East Asia, Ed joined the skipper in the middle with 16 overs to go, and the team needing an acceleration. The scenario and solution (that being Ed) couldn’t have fit better. Ed did give everyone a fright 2nd ball as he inside edged one narrowly past leg stump for two. Then the fun commenced.

In the searing heat, and aware that the oppo were tiring in the field, both Safi and Ed were looking to be positive, running well between the wickets (save for one Ed shot that Safi was adamant was going for 4, so we walked 1, when we should have easily got 2), whilst also finding the boundary with regularity - Safi favouring the legside, whilst Ed hitting incredibly cleanly straight. Ed’s first 6 of the day sailed over long off, whilst his second cleared the man on the mid wicket fence by some distance. The pitch still wasn’t perfect, as from nowhere, a delivery leapt off a length and hit Safi on the helmet. The second drinks break quickly followed, as the run rate had flown and suddenly the 3s were in a good spot to go well beyond 200 (154-4 after 28 overs). Both batters took cover in the shade, and took on plenty of fluids ahead of a big finish.

The runs continued to flow post drinks as the pair traded boundaries, with the bowlers tiring and continuing to offer a couple of loose deliveries each over. This certainly helped Safi, who now knew that he was approaching the nervous 90s - after failing to make three figures vs Ashford Hill, the skipper was determined to get over the line this time. Thankfully, a couple of short deliveries were sent to the fence, as Safi moved to 99* - the next delivery (you might have seen it on video - thanks Dave!), was short again and the skipper rocked back to flick it behind square to reach his maiden league ton, in his 100th game for Odiham. A roar of celebration followed (along with a few deep breaths!), as the skipper saluted his teammates. A vital innings that was critically supported throughout by Nick, Dave and then Ed, helping to get the team in a great position.

It was then time for Ed to reach his 50, after launching yet another monster hit over long on, Ed bludgeoned a single to bring up his second half-century of the season, but more importantly playing yet another superb knock that provided real impetus out our innings. He delivered yet again and his return was celebrated by all. A couple of very village moments followed, as the skipper was tiring, but tried to accelerate after achieving his personal milestone. Firstly, Safi took a divot out of the pitch wide outside off stump, before missing a full toss that hit him square in the grill. Sherfield then brought back their best bowler, and Safi tried to move AB de Villiers-style across his stumps to launch one into the legside, but could only get himself in a tangle, inside-edge it onto his pads before almost toppling over. Village.

After the laughter had died down, Ed fell for 54, carving one to cover (off 32 balls, 4x 4s & 3x 6s), with the 3s 204-5 with 5 overs to go. Greg came to the middle, and quickly swept two deliveries to the fence to keep the runs flowing. Nelson then struck as Safi eventually was stumped for 111 (off 109 balls, 17x 4s), bringing to end a marathon effort in the heat. With just a few overs to go, Alfie (2) came and went, before Rory and Greg ticked the score along as the 3s reached 233/7 after their 40 overs.

We certainly would have taken that before play, reaching the 230 mark that Paul had signposted, and even more so after being 8-2 after 7 overs. Equally, we may have even reached 250 if we’d been a little more clinical towards to the back end. Either way, it was certainly a competitive score, but the pitch had seemingly calmed down, and with the rapid (and bumpy) outfield, and Sherfield's form this season, it was never going to be straight forward. BYO-Teas were devoured as everyone was trying to stay hydrated in the heat.

2nd Innings:

The skipper was admittedly ‘cooked’ after his knock, so Dave, Paul and Lizo gratefully helped marshall the troops early doors. Paul and Dave took the new ball and both found significant movement. Paul was his usual metronomic self and had a relatively short opening spell, with the skipper planning to save some of his crucial overs for the game’s crunch periods. Dave was still trying to find his rhythm, bowling a mixture of absolute seeds that beat the bat, with a few looser deliveries, allowing the Sherfield openers to keep up with the run rate. Alfie replaced Paul and followed Dave’s playbook, as whilst the extras were totting up, both bowlers looked like taking a wicket when they got it right. The Sherfield openers were batting nicely, and ruthlessly punished anything loose, whilst also playing a couple of glorious cover drives. Rory & Ed were both fielding superbly on the boundary, saving plenty of runs and dealing well with the difficult outfield.

Alfie started to find some great areas, and varied his pace, bowling his not-so-subtle slower ball, that almost bought a wicket. He tried to repeat the dose, but In his words ‘forgot to bowl it’, as the ball barely got halfway down the track. A strong LBW appeal was turned down but Alfie was undeterred and continued what was proving to be a mega spell, up the hill, in this heat. Dave’s 6th over proved to be eventful, with a series of full tosses and wides luring the oppo skipper in, who then managed to flick another full toss to Ed Terry at fine leg, who took a smart catch. Not the traditional way an opening bowler would take a wicket, but Dave (1-51) got a massive breakthrough, with Sherfield 76-1 after 12 overs.

Gisele replaced Dave and immediately was on the money, finding movement both in the air and off the pitch, as the 3s started to squeeze from both ends. Gisele got her reward in her second over, pinning the other opener in front LBW (89-2 after 16 overs). The momentum of the game was very much starting to swing our way, as Alfie continued his spell, and the oppo’s notorious big hitter Frost came to the middle. With a clear plan in place, Alfie relished the challenge against the gun bat, continuing to vary his pace and length to great effect as we felt something was about to happen. As Alf entered his final over, batter Frost got hold of one, launching the ball for a straight six, but Alf got his revenge with the final ball of his spell. Hiding the ball wide of off stump, Alf (1-46) took the ball out of the batter’s arc, and the ball was sent high into the sun, as the screams of ‘catch’ went up across the team. Simmo at point was looking high into the sun and hadn’t moved, before quickly sighting the ball, moving to his left and taking an excellent catch - an absolutely critical one too, dismissing a batter that could have easily taken the game away from us (120-3 after 21 overs). We knew that the next 10 or so overs would go a long way to deciding this crunch game.

The 3s had slowed the run rate significantly as the game was back in the balance, and we continued to squeeze as Simmo replaced Alf, whilst Gisele continued her fantastic spell. Our ground fielding was excellent too, as the No.3 and No.5 both couldn’t seem to get away, whilst Gisele and Simmo both beat the bat on multiple occasions. The pressure soon told as the No.5 tried to take a quick single to Alfie at cover - rookie mistake, as Alfie threw the stumps down, and oppo were now 5-down. Gisele very nearly got another wicket next ball, as the No.6 inside edged one (Ed Terry-esque) within an inch of his leg stump but the ball agonisingly raced for four.

Rory finally came into the attack in the 26th over, as we sensed an opportunity to take more wickets as the oppo needed to kick on. Rory should have had a wicket first ball, but a low catch was put down first ball. Rory didn’t have to wait much longer though, as another beautifully flighted delivery was hit hard and low to Dave at mid off, who took an good catch. The spin twins Simmo and Rory were an absolute joy to watch bowl in tandem, as they both challenged the batters and looked like taking a wicket nearly every ball. Rory particularly was bowling to the No.6, a left-hander that was eyeing up the short legside boundary, controlled his line superbly - Rory thought he had his man as two noises saw the ball go behind to Greg who juggled and dived to take a superb catch, but the umpire was unmoved.

A string of tight and testing overs continued to build the pressure and it finally told, as Rory (2-34) picked up his second wicket as Dave was picked out once again at mid off, whilst Simmo bowled the new batter with his trademark quicker delivery. We had taken control of this game, as Sherfield had slipped from 120-2 (20.5 overs) to 148-7 (31 overs). That 10 over phase had put us in a fantastic position with 9 overs to go, and only one recognised batter remaining.

Alas Sherfield are top of the table for a reason, and they weren’t going down without a fight. The leftie No.6 knew he had to score the bulk of the remaining 86 runs himself - targeting the short boundary and Rory’s leg-spin, the batter was on 11*, when he launched the ball down to Nick B at long on. Nick has excellent hands and had taken 10 out of 10 high catches in training on Thursday, so we were all stunned when he spilled the ball for four. A life for the No.6, who then seemed to find 5th gear as he made us sweat. He suddenly started to find the boundary with ease, with a series of clean strikes that either sailed over the short boundary or found the few gaps between the boundary riders. Even the No.9 got a streaky inside edge for four, as the nerves grew in a game that was in our control mere minutes prior.

As the home support grew louder, Sherfield were 187-7 with 5 overs to go, requiring 47 to win, with Paul Downham returning to bowl at the most critical period of the game. With the No.6 farming the strike (think attempted Stokes and Leach), he found the short boundary once more as even Paul couldn’t immediately halt his charge, as the leftie passed 50. Paul (and some excellent fielding from Ed Terry on the boundary) prevented a two the next ball, leaving Paul to dot up the No.9 for the remainder of the over. 38 now required off 4 overs. Simmo (1-33) bowled the final over of his spell, which was followed by another excellent over from Paul, which each only went five, as the 3s edged ever closer to a massive win.

Gisele returned to bowl the penultimate over and finished the game off for us. Under a huge amount of pressure and facing up to the No.6 bat, G was undeterred by a boundary second ball, stuck to her plan and eventually got the crucial wicket. Holding the line wide outside off stump, the batter could only hit the ball down to Alfie at long on, who took an excellent catch, giving Gisele (2-25) her second wicket and effectively wrapped the game up for the 3s. Paul bowled a tight final over, as we restricted Sherfield to 217-8, winning the game by 16 runs.

Wrap Up

What an absolutely brilliant victory - after a tough couple of weeks with back to back defeats, to bounce back like that, away to table-topping Sherfield shows immense character from the whole team. We fought for each other till the very end and got the victory we deserved. The bowlers all contributed, with some crucial breakthroughs at different moments whilst also squeezing brilliantly between 20-30 overs, and holding our nerve at the end. We also were the better fielding side, which made a huge difference.

POTM: Safwan Mohammed - 111 off 109 balls (17x 4s) - It does feel strange being rather self-indulgent during this report, but on a personal note, it was a special day for me. I was delighted to be able to contribute and give back to the team, especially after last week. So to get my first league ton, in a game like this, and considering the situation and past couple of weeks - an awesome feeling.

The celebrations were not limited to the post game team huddle - we all returned to King Street to enjoy our very own Greg Pickett’s Horizon Function Band, who were absolutely phenomenal. If you weren’t there, make sure you are when they return to KS - I’m sure it won’t be long before they do!

Nest week, the fixture cycle starts again, as we travel to Donnington in the last of this stretch of consecutive away games. We are third in the table and all is to play for in the second half of the season. One game at a time, but we are up for the challenge.