The final chapter of the 3s season awaited us at a very overcast Long Sutton. After sealing promotion last weekend in emphatic style against Ramsdell, attention turned to the chance to become league champions. Standing in our way were Sherfield, who also secured promotion last weekend - in some ways the pressure was off both sides, but both were eager to earn the title of champions. With heavy rain throughout the week, the prospect of play looked fairly bleak, however thanks to the awesome work of Paul D, we had a deck ready to go for the title decider. That said, we were aware that an abandoned game would see us crowned champions, however we were keen on trying to win the title on the field. Both the pitch and overhead conditions were firmly in favour of the bowling side, and for the various points permutations, and the forecast rain for mid afternoon, it was in both sides interest to win the toss and bowl first.

Before we got to the crucial toss, the team helped set up Long Sutton for the final time this year, with Safi’s parents taking on tea duties once again. With H off to The Den to watch his beloved Millwall, Nick B returned to the side, in addition to Laney, Isaac and Ed Terry, the latter of whom maintained a 100% win record with the 3s this season. Finally making his 3s debut for 2025 was Hammy, who had tried to play for the 3s twice prior during the summer, only for the oppo conceding and rain to get in the way. With the rain forecast for the afternoon, murmurings of the ‘Hammy-curse’ spread like wildfire amongst the camp - maybe that’s why the skipper had brought him in! Hammy brings the rain, and we would be champions.

Alas the rain was holding for the moment, as the skippers decided to do the toss by the pavilion, as neither could be bothered to walk all the way out to the middle. Luckily for the 3s, the coin came down correctly, and Safi won the toss and gleefully chose to bowl. The team were ecstatic, as with the weather on the radar, it would be difficult to see how a result could be forced in such a short period of time, let alone by the team batting first.

1st Innings

It was Charlie-squared to open the bowling - CT unselfishly decided to bowl up the hill so the youngster Charlie Williams could steam in down the hill. It was CT who took the first over, and started with a wide long-hop that the Sherfield skipper cut away over the infield for a couple. Sherfield promotion charge had been led by their gun batting lineup with their top 4 all scoring over 350 league runs this season, so it was crucial that we got it right early doors. CT’s second ball was on the money, and he quickly settled into the gorgeous rhythm that he’d bowled with last weekend vs Ramsdell - enough movement, on a length, with a pitch that was doing a bit, he was going to be a handful. Speaking of handfuls, CW shared the new ball and his first ball flew off to the third man boundary, as the other opening bat barely got his bat down in time, but just did enough to edge it away for 4. A couple of play and misses later and you could tell the batter was not comfortable, as the ball was absolutely flying through to Greg behind the sticks. With Charlie’s 5th ball he struck, as a length delivery nipped in off the seam and viciously took the glove and the ball looped straight to Nick B at gully who took a comfortable catch, a perfect start for the 3s (6-1 from 1.5 overs).

In at 3 was K Frost, a known quantity in the league, and Sherfield’s top run scorer this season - Frost hit’s a very long ball, so immediately a few boundary riders were sent out for him. That didn’t matter much as the first ball he faced from CT, was slapped for a flat straight 6 that barely got over should height, not giving Ed T a chance to move at long on. In spite of that boundary, both Charlie’s were finding the right areas and were extracting plenty in the air and from the surface. CW almost got Frost out after a thick edge flew over Lizo and only just dropped short of CT at third back, before CW cut the oppo skipper in half with a beauty, only for the ball to just go over the stumps. Two balls later the batter threw the absolute kitchen sink at another delivery - the edge was found but the ball hurtled at break-neck speed towards Nick at gully, who could barely get a finger to the ball before it went like a trace-a-bullet for 4. Another couple of play and misses followed as no batter so far was looking comfortable against the pace and movement of Charlie Williams.

Sometimes it’s not the absolute Jaffa that gets you the wicket - after an excellent over from CW, CT bowled a half tracker that K Frost rocked back and crunched into the legside. Luckily for the 3s, Frost hit the ball just to the left of Safi who took a step before snaffling the chance, his 10th outfield catch of the season (a league high) - his hand may have stung, but it was a crucial blow as the oppo were clearly trying to up the run rate in order to set the game up for some kind of result (21-2 from 4.1 overs). From this point on, CT bowled every single ball on the spot, and what was to follow was simply magnificent. CW continued for his 3rd over, and was giving the batters a torrid time and I think it’s fair to say, I don’t think anyone would want to face CW in these conditions with the pace he was bowling. CW should have had his second, as an absolute snorter jagged in off the seam, took the inside edge and flew for 4 as Greg could only get a (sore) thumb to the ball - it was unplayable, but the oppo skipper survived.

CT’s metronymic spell continued into his 4th over, and after a few more Jaffas that narrowly beat the outside edge, a slightly fuller delivery snuck under the bat of the oppo skipper and crashed into off stump, as we had our 3rd wicket inside 7 overs (30-3), dismissing 3 of the opposition 4 key batters. CT was on a roll, and got his 3rd wicket in his next over - the no.5 bat seemed insistent in playing off the back foot, which didn’t seem like the best strategy in these conditions, so CT pushed the ball fuller and fuller. The batter was rapped on the pads as the team went up in unison for a massive LBW appeal, but it was turned down. CT was aghast and audibly frustrated - I think that just made the legs pump just that bit higher, think Broady in the Ashes. Just two balls later, another full delivery broke through the batter’s defences, and hit middle stump (35-4 from 8.5 overs), with CT turning around with arms outstretched, Flintoff-esque - he was fired up.

It wasn’t just CT that was in the zone, the fielders were right up for this and the team smelt blood, with Hammy, Isaac, Alf & Laney all looking extremely sharp in the field, turning any potential 1s into dots, helping us really put the squeeze on the oppo. CW (1-20) finished his opening burst with another superb over, beating the no.4 bat for pace on numerous occasions with some absolute rippers that left his teammates with hands on heads, but he couldn’t quite find the elusive edge. The edge was however found in the very next over, as CT, who could do no wrong, found enough movement to find a thin edge from the no.4 bat, through to Lizo at 1st slip, who took an excellent catch so close in (37-5 from 10.3 overs). 5-down soon became 6, as a length ball was flicked into the legside, with the ball hanging in the air for what seemed like an age, as Laney ran around the square leg umpire, before safely pouching the catch, giving CT his first career 5-fer, to great celebrations from the team. Every single one of his teammates embraced CT, after he raised the ball in celebration, with his them acknowledging the importance of CT’s contribution, in this title-deciding game - simply magnificent.

The 3s were cock-a-hoop, and knew they were just 4 wickets away from rolling the oppo in fine style. Ed joined the attack first change, and had plenty to live up to, with his dad being on an absolute tear from the other end. Ed has been a self-proclaimed ‘bunny hunter’ this season, often coming back onto bowl later in the innings and cleaning up the tail - I guess ET didn’t expect the oppo to be 6-down by the time he came on as first change! Just 3 balls into his spell the ‘bunny hunter’ struck again, as a swinging delivery found the edge and Lizo took another good catch at slip, his second in 7 balls. That kind of form earns you a spot in the cordon for at least another year! It was remarkable situation, Sherfield were 37-7 after 11.3 overs in the title-deciding game.

The next few overs was father and son continuing to bowl beautifully in tandem - Ed was getting lavish movement both in the air and off the deck from the tennis court end, whilst CT continued to bowl like an absolute dream. For CT’s final over, there were two catching covers and two slips & a gully with the ball somehow not finding the edge once again. A truly remarkable spell of bowling came to an end with Charlie’s figures reading, 8-3-17-5. Talk about saving the best till last - the best spell of the season bar none. Ed continued on from the other end and did at one point threaten to lose his control, such was the movement that he was getting, firmly got it back and struck with his second. The no.8 & no.9 had both dug in and simply tried to dead bat everything but were going absolutely nowhere - with pressure continuing to build, a full delivery breached the defences of the no.9 to see Sherfield 47-8 from 17.4 overs. Alf had replaced CT and also had looked threatening immediately, bowling a maiden in his first over, before striking himself in his second, with another beauty that nipped through the gate and hit middle stump. The end was nigh, as Ed (2-10) bowled another maiden prior to drinks, as the skipper reminded the team to not be complacent and try to wrap this innings up quickly, with the skies growing ever greyer. Luckily, it only took two balls after drinks as Alf (2-2) castled the no.11, seeing the oppo remarkably skilled for 49, inside 21 overs. You literally couldn’t have dreamt it - especially on an occasion such as this.

2nd Innings

With rain in the air, the oppo could have easily insisted we have teas, however to their credit, agreed to a quick 10 mins turnaround. Nick and Hammy got their pads on in double quick time and were out there ready to go, as the rain started to fall - considering the game & weather situation, it was almost certain that the 3s would be crowned champions, but we wanted to seal it with a win, and we just needed 50 runs to do just that. Three singles off the first over got both batters off the mark, before both batters kicked into gear - with the oppo setting very attacking fields trying to chase wickets, Nick threaded the gap between point and cover to pick up his first boundary, before handing the strike to Hammy. We know Hammy can be destructive at the best of times, but with the first ball he faced from this opening bowler, got on the front foot and launched a massive six, over the sight screen and into the horsefield, to great cheers from his teammates. With the rain starting to fall heavier, the skipper immediately sent a trio of Greg, CW and ET to try to find the ball as quickly as possible - after a couple of nervous minutes, the ball was found and play resumed.

Nick had been in great touch in the promotion run in, and it showed here, as he punished the bowling with a hat trick of boundaries in the 3rd over, all through his favoured offside, with his signature cut featuring, in addition to another glorious cover drive that he simply lent on. The 3s were 26-0 from 3 overs and were over halfway to the target - after brief break in the rain during that over, it started to fall again, and those watching on (including Nick Rudd, and various family members from the Mohammed, Terry, Williams, Hampson, Bent & Lane families, in addition to a guest appearance from Sanjay’s dad Angelo!) indicated that more rain was coming in circa 15 mins, so both batters were given the signal to wrap the game up quickly. With that in mind, both Lizo and the Skipper looked to Isaac and Ed Terry to get padded up and be ready to whack a few to ensure we got over the line before the heavens opened. It was around this point that we’d found out that Dave had hit his first ton for Odiham (and first in 23 years), playing for the 4s at Crondall, whilst batting with his boy Nic, whilst Paul & Corbyn had built a cracking partnership of their own before the rain had curtailed their game - Dave/Paul/Corbyn had all played a big part of our season, and the team very much recognised that, celebrating their success as we were getting closer to closing the game out.

The sidelines were buzzing with excitement, in spite of the rain. Greg was updating the scoreboard with every run scored, as Hammy crunched another boundary, this time wide of mid on, as the oppo seemed resigned to their fate. A relatively quiet 5th over ticked by, before another Hammy boundary got us within 10 of the required target. It was then over to the club chairman to wrap things up - perhaps fitting that it was Nick to finish this game off, having led the 3s for 6 years, he handed the baton over to Safi for this season and we were on the brink of becoming champions. After a push for 2 started the over, another beautiful drive through the offside for 4 was followed by a rather wild swing that almost saw Nick stumped. Thankfully, he maintained his balance, and the very next delivery, he smashed the ball behind square on the legside for 4, sealing the most emphatic of victories, that crowned the 3s champions of Division 5F. Nick (33*) and Hammy (19*) had got us home at a canter, winning by 10 wickets in just 6.5 overs - I think I’ve run out of superlatives to describe this performance.

Wrap Up

What a way to finish an absolutely superb season. The best bowling performance of the season, in admittedly favourable conditions, but just a phenomenal performance, led by Charlie Terry, with career best figures of 5-17, who took this game by the scruff of the neck and bowled us to victory - one of the best opening spell’s the 3s have ever seen. He was ably supported by cracking spells from Charlie Williams, Ed Terry and Alfie Hellings, who all got in on the wickets, before Nick and Hammy smashed the ball round the park to take us home and beat the rain. A scintillating team performance.

POTM: Charlie Terry - 8-3-17-5. Not much more to say, other than utter perfection. CT - what a hero.

The team embraced each other with broad smiles and big hugs, to celebrate their crowning moment. As had become tradition during the promotion run-in, ‘Rockin All Over the World’ was blaring out of the skippers speaker when the team got back to the changing room, as the team were in party mood. Tea was finally eaten (so Safi’s parent’s efforts weren’t in vain), as the rain started to lash down - good job we wrapped it up quickly! The club chair had brought a crate of Beers & J20s for both teams to enjoy, as we stood under the cover of the pavilion, sharing a drink with the oppo and reminiscing of the season past and celebrating both of our successes. When it was time to lock up at Long Sutton for the final time, the team headed back to King Street, and were able to watch the 2s finish their season on a high with victory against Oakley, before many drinks (and Pizzas) were bought! The skipper was even gifted a bottle of bubbly, which he used to good effect, soaking his teammates with the whole club watching on in laughter.

On the 5th July, the 3s sat 4th in the table, off the back of 3 losses in 4. From that point onwards, we won 7 games in a row, taking us to the very top, including 3 crushing victories over St Mary’s, Ramsdell and finally Sherfield - we did that as a team, with so many contributions with bat, ball and in the field. To say we peaked at the right time is an understatement. 39 players have played for the 3s this season - every single one of those 39 have helped us achieve our goal of promotion this season, with being crowned champions was the cherry on top of the cake. Thank you to everyone that has played, watched or supported the 3s in any way, shape or form this year - be that umpiring, helping out with teas, providing lifts or anything else, every effort has helped us deliver on the field.

It is difficult to put into words how proud I am of what we have achieved as a team this year. That may be hard for you all to believe considering the length of my match reports, but it’s true! This summer and season has been one to remember, and it truly has been a pleasure leading the 3s this year. Who knows what the future holds, but I want everyone to be very proud of what we all have achieved. We can celebrate our season in style at our OGCC End of Season Awards on Saturday 27th September - it would be amazing to see all of you there.

Signing off for the season.
Safi.