It was crunch time, as the 3s travelled to 3rd place St Mary’s, our final away game of the season, knowing that victory would put us within touching distance of promotion. The task however was going to be tough, as St Marys had proven their abilities in the reverse fixture, comfortably beating us by 8 wickets at Long Sutton. This week, we were travelling to Newfound, a ground known to have a short boundaries but a variable pitch, that could throw up anything for both batters and bowlers. After some intel from the 4s who played there last week vs Oakley 3s, the 3s arrived at Newfound confident of being able to right the wrong of reverse fixture and maintain our position at the top of the table.

The 3s welcomed back Dave Riches from the sun lounger, as a month away did not dispel his desire to help our promotion push. We equally welcomed back Henry Terry from boardmasters, in addition to Reece Lane and Jamie Le Roux, the latter who made his second trip down from Sheffield in the past month to play for the mighty 3s. After inspecting the deck (it looked like the ground staff had done a decent job to be fair), the plan was to bat first, with the thought that the pitch may break up later. The skipper unfortunately lost the toss and was expecting to be sent into the field, however was surprised to be inserted first up, under admittedly cloudy skies.

1st Innings

Nick and H opened up and were looking to follow up their superb 115-run opening stand from last weekend vs Hartley Wintney. The stand was almost broken immediately, as with just the 3rd ball of the innings, the pitch played it’s first trick as the ball held in the pitch, meaning that Nick popped a forward push straight back to the bowler. Fortunately, the bowler shelled the chance, and Nick was soon off the mark with a nice clip through the legside. St Mary’s had a very tight ring field, with catchers mostly in front of the wicket, expecting the pitch to play its part. The deck was however on the slower side, with anything short sitting up beautifully to be hit to the fence.

That is exactly what H did at the start of the 2nd over, carving a short ball through the legside for 4. Nick followed suit with a signature cut shot - the outfield was not quick, but the boundaries were small enough that a well timed shot that beat the infield was probably heading for 4. On a pitch that usually favours the bowlers, there were early signs that if you didn’t get it right, batters could punish you. And boy did they.

In the 4th over the opening bowler struggled to find a consistent line and length, firing down a series of wides either side of square boundaries hit from both H and Nick. The runs continued to flow, as Nick really hit his stride with yet another cut shot before a pull shot flew to the fence. H then got the ball rolling with two contenders for shot of the day (there were plenty), firstly an extra cover drive that went like a trace-a-bullet to the boundary, before a deft punch past mid-on that was just timed to perfection for another 4. Nick submitted his entry to the shot of the day catalogue with a sumptuous cover drive that got his teammates purring from the pavilion.

The pre-innings target of 200 was already looking like a bare minimum, as H and Nick had put on 53 inside 8 overs. The first change bowlers attempted to stem the flow of runs, but had little luck. H dispatched two filthy short balls from the first change to the backward square fence, as the oppo finally sent out some boundary riders but even they couldn’t cut these off. Nick slashed another for 4, before getting another life - a cut shot flew quickly to gully, who got both hands to it, but the ball popped out.

Both the first change bowlers were certainly slower in pace and when they bowled stump to stump, it wasn’t easy to score. Balls were still shooting low at ankle height, so H & Nick had to stay alert with Lizo’s ‘front-foot and pray’ mantra ringing in their ears. This meant that there were odd periods of consecutive dot balls, however more often than not, a loose delivery would arrive and both H and Nick were ruthless in punishing every single one to the fence. In between the boundary fest, Nick was living a charmed life and gave his 3rd chance, after a fine edge could not be taken by the keeper as the pair scampered 2. H joined Nick in the charmed life club the very next over, getting a top edge to a sweep that teased square leg, who got under the ball, but also spilled the chance. That was 4 drops inside the first 12 overs, and both Nick and H were keen to make sure the oppo paid for those errors.

H immediately did so with a trio of boundaries off the spinner, driving beautifully straight before shots both sides of the wicket kept the scoreboard ticking, with every boundary being greeted by a louder cheer from his teammates watching on. In the 15th over, a nice clip into the legisde saw H come back for two and bring up back to back 50s for the 3s, to rapturous applause from his teammates. This important knock was following up his excellent half-century vs HW last week. Two more brutal boundaries the following over brought up the 100 partnership inside 16 overs, as the pair were piling on the runs. Nick quickly followed H to his own 50, as the oppo’s left armer (5th bowler) seemed insistent on bowling bouncers on a slow deck - Nick dismissively smashed two more pull shots for 4 to bring up his 50, and for the pair to surpass their 115-run stand of last weekend. The watching crowd, which included family representation from the Hellings’ and the Le Roux’s, were a little delayed in applauding Nick, such were the sheer number of boundaries - we think Nick had realised he’d got to his 50 before his teammates did!

With just a few overs before drinks, you might have thought Nick and H would just knock it around and play it safe - that was far from the case, as both continued to punish the wayward bowling. They were toying with the field, finding gaps that had only just appeared after fielders had been moved to cover other gaps, causing headaches for the opposition. My match reports are long, but if I wrote about every single boundary, this report may never end! Nick continued to take a liking to the left armer, who after bowling too full (Nick hit that one to the fence too), bowled a very well directed bouncer that was heading straight for Nick’s head. Luckily, Nick watches the ball closely and pretty much pulled this ball off his nose for yet another boundary. Nick hit it so well that a search party was sent to find the lost ball.

Whilst there were a barrage of boundaries, both H and Nick ran excellently between the wickets and rotated strike superbly - it was an absolutely a masterclass in partnership batting, as a single from H brought up the 150 partnership just in time for drinks - remarkable. This was H & Nick’s 5th 100 run opening partnership together and their second in two weeks. Their teammates had watched on in awe, and for the second week in a row, discussions were had as to whether the batting order would shuffle if a wicket were to fall. Their teammates were however aware that both batters had made batting look remarkably easy last week when everyone else found it a much more challenging - we weren’t sure whether that would be the case this week, but with the variable bounce, starting on this deck wasn’t going to be easy.

H and Nick continued on after drinks, with the oppo bowlers finally finding some semblance of control, with only 1 boundary being scored in the first 4 overs post the break. Amongst this, Nick did receive his 4th gift from the oppo, as another caught a bowled chance (this one admittedly a little tougher than the first) was put down - this now put the club chair in an elusive club, joining Safi and Ed T in the ‘I’ve been dropped 4 times in one innings in 2025’ club. Great company. H eventually fell for a brilliant 70 (from 79 balls, 13x 4s), trying to hit the ball over the top, but was caught at mid-off. This brought to an end the mammoth opening stand of 162 after 24.1 overs, a brilliant platform for the 3s to launch and set an imposing total.

Lizo replaced H in the middle, after the skipper decided not to sandbag him for the second week in a row, after Lizo had selflessly put the team first against HW and dropped down to bat 9. Lizo was off the mark with a dab into the offside, before stroking the ball through the covers and ran back for 3. Only a few balls later, Nick’s brilliant innings (82 off 70 balls, 15x 4s) came to an end, as he was done by an excellent yorker from the returning opening bowler. Just three balls later, Lizo (4) chased a wide one and carved the ball straight to point who took the catch on the third attempt. After a phenomenal start, the 3s had lost 3 wickets for 7 runs in just 15 balls, as we were 169/3 from 27 overs.

The returning Dave and Safi were paired in the middle, with the aim of steadying the ship before another late innings launch. Whilst the skipper was initially watchful, Dave was positive from the off, picking up his 2nd ball for boundary over midwicket. Safi then pulled another short delivery from the returning left armer for 4 as we kicked back into gear. With 11 overs to go, we sat on 187/3 - what was to follow was some of the most brutal hitting the 3s have ever seen. Dave was taking a liking to the opening bowler Ali, finding the legside boundary on multiple occasions, including another beautiful pickup over midwicket for 6. Safi joined in the fun with a shot past long on for 4, as the pair knew the opening bowler was entering his last over. Dave didn’t care, as he deposited the ball over long on for 6, before repeating the dose with the final ball of the over in dismissive fashion.

Safi (12) was then bowled by a delivery that kept a little low, bringing Ed Terry to the crease, in probably the perfect scenario as the team were 223/4, with just under 8 overs to go. A strong finish could put the game out of sight, and to have our biggest boundary hitters at the crease, we were setup to do exactly that. Ed found two boundaries in his first 5 balls, punishing the straight and midwicket boundary. Dave’s 6-hitting masterclass continued as he bludgeoned the ball over the boundary - it simply did not matter where the fielders were placed, Dave just hit it over them. Dave’s consecutive sixes, followed by a single, brought up his 50 in just 21 balls, as the team roared on the fun from the sidelines.

Ed wasn’t to miss out either, with 4 boundaries of his own in the 35th over. Another legside hit was followed by a big shot down the ground - the fielder at long off took an excellent catch, but stepped over the boundary line giving Ed six. The skipper celebrated this with some vigour, only to realise the fielder’s wife was sitting right behind him! Whoops. Ed wasn’t flustered, as long off had moved straighter, so Ed gave himself some room before crashing the ball through wide long off for 4 more, as 80% of the oppo fielders had the infamous ‘double teapot’, with the 3s now sitting on 265/4 from 35 overs. 300 was absolutely within reach.

The 36th over brought yet another entry to the shot of the day competition, and for me, this probably tops it. A full delivery on Dave’s pads was ‘flicked’, yes ‘flicked’, for an absolutely humongous 6 that cleared the hedge line by so much, that a fielder was heard saying ‘spare balls please’ whilst the ball was still travelling upwards. Genuinely the biggest six I’ve seen in a long, long time, and with effortless power. The carnage continued as the pair took turns smacking the ball past, over and sometimes through fielders. Dave hit his 7th 6, which brought up the 300 for the team, followed by yet another boundary, before he was undone by another yorker, as he was bowled for a frankly ridiculous 76 off 37 balls (5x 4s and 7x 6s). A partnership of 84 from 37 balls with Ed too - who’d be a bowler. It’s worth noting that throughout this, the ball still kept low fairly regularly, but both batters were in irresistible touch and demolished anything that wasn’t on the money.

Henry T (HT) joined Ed (ET) in the middle as the brothers batted together for the first time this season. Unfortunately their partnership had barely got going when HT (1) also fell victim to one keeping low - whilst no one is happy when your team loses a wicket, there were a few smiles amongst the group as we knew that the pitch was still offering enough to the bowlers if you got it right (311/6 from 39 overs). Greg joined Ed in the middle for the final over, as the latter needed 10 runs for his 3rd league 50 of the season. After a couple of dot balls, Ed whacked 3 of the remaining 4 balls to the boundary (including another cracking straight drive) to finish on a scintillating 54* (off 26 balls, 10x 4s and 1x 6).

Our 40 overs ended with beaming smiles across all faces, as we finished on a monstrous 325/6. From my calculations, that was the joined second highest ever league score by an OGCC 3rd XI. A magnificent opening partnership of 162 from H & Nick, before a demolition-derby from Dave and Ed, who seemed to one up each other as each over passed. We scored 150 runs from our final 12 overs, to set a huge total in what was a critical game in our season. You couldn’t have dreamt of a better first innings - platform, middle and launch all hit the jackpot. The oppo walked off the field sportingly applauding our batter’s performances, before providing a nice spread as a reciprocal match tea.

2nd Innings

The team talk leading into the second innings was clear - yes we were in a superb position, but St Marys have a strong batting lineup, with 3 of their 6 usual guns in their top order, so there was no room for complacency. ‘Bowl at the stumps’ was the key message. HT took the new rock and struck in his first over. After sending his first 4 balls through at a good lick (but not close to the sticks), his 4th delivery was a touch straighter, forcing the opening batter to play - he was late on the ball (as most are when they first face Henry), and chopped on - a wicket maiden from the first over of the reply. A dream start after a perfect 1st innings.

Jamie Le Roux opened up from the other end and immediately found some prodigious swing. From the first innings we knew that if bowlers got it right, scoring was difficult, but equally, pitching it short or even remotely wide, would give batters the opportunity to cash in. Both Jamie and Henry started nicely, with the scoring rate very much in check for the first 5 overs (15/1). Due to the nature of the pitch and the score we had on the board, the field was slightly more aggressive than usual, with a short mid off (H) and short extra cover (Dave) creating a wall Infront of both bats whilst Alf patrolled the ‘ring’ at cover point. This did mean that they could get value for their shots, as a number of full-blooded drives started to fly to the boundary. Those shots weren’t without risk as one flow just past Dave’s left hand and another just wide of Alfie, whilst a couple of defensive shots would pop up and fall short of the catchers.

The batters, including the oppo skipper at no.3, knew that the required run rate started at 8.2 per over, and was already climbing, thus looked to take on both HT and JLR. They pounced on any width and started melting the ball to the fence, including one straight drive that almost took H’s head off, as the close catchers started to retreat to more conventional positions as the oppo’s run rate climbed. Both HT and JLR suffered in their 5th overs, as both batters looked in superb touch and were hitting boundaries at will. From nowhere, St Mary’s were 66/1 from 10 overs and weren’t too far behind the rate.

Ed replaced his brother from the far end, and after starting with a couple of beauties, was deposited over the slightly shorter legside boundary for 6, as the oppo flexed their muscles. Laney came on from the pavilion end, and despite bowling quite full, still couldn’t get the oppo skipper to play on the front foot as he rocked back and hit the ball wide of the offside sweeper, and over Safi at midwicket for a couple more boundaries. A couple of these boundaries were taken off middle stump, with significant risk attached, but the batters were reaping the rewards. After 14 overs, St Marys were 93/1, an identical total to our innings - had complacency set in? Surely we couldn’t lose after posting 325?

In a time of need, it’s usually Ed Terry that steps up, and ET did that yet again. It might not quite have been as he planned it, but he got the crucial breakthrough, bowling the other opening bat, and the top run scorer in the league. I could describe it as an absolute seed, that hooped in and took off stump of out the ground - in reality however, it was a filthy half-tracker that the batter was ready to deposit into the field, but the ball didn’t get up above his ankles and hit the base of middle stump. ET was very happy to remind the skipper that he was bowling to the plan and ‘hitting the stumps’, as the oppo were 94/2.

With such a big wicket falling, much of the pressure of the chase transferred to the oppo skipper who seemed indicate that he would have to do the majority of the heavy lifting himself. Laney had the no.4 on toast, as a series of plays & misses got Greg very excited behind the sticks. The runs started to dry up, with a the field spreading for the skipper, and closing in for the no.4. Laney and ET both had found their rhythm, as the oppo got to drinks at 120/2, with wickets in hand, but now requiring over 10 runs per over.

As seems to be the norm in recent weeks, post drinks is the time for Alf to enter the fray, usually bowling a mammoth stint, potentially in a difficult situation, and always making something happen. Today was no different as Alf took the ball and settled immediately, making the most of the variable bounce, hitting the deck hard and causing all sorts of problems for the batters. Laney continued his spell from the other end, and seemingly could only now be scored off by edges that flew either side of gully. His ‘wicket to wicket’ style gave the batters absolutely nothing, and with the field set, you felt that something was going to give. After both Alf and Laney had dried up the runs from the oppo skipper, Laney found a leading edge and took a good caught and bowled, having had to run around the non-striker. He dismissed the oppo skipper for a superb 70, reducing St Marys to 131/3 (from 24 overs), and likely taking any remaining chance they had to win this game.

The no.4 was playing a rather peculiar innings, flicking well off his pads but not always judging things perfectly around his off stump. A couple of play and misses were followed by a quite incredible leave that must have shaved off stump, with Alf in disbelief. It wasn’t long however, before that questionable judgement came back to bite him, as with the final ball of Laney’s spell, the batter left the ball, but could only watch as Laney (2-35) got one to turn and crash into off stump. The batter was perplexed, but so too were Laney’s teammates, who saw him turn one for the first time this season ;). Yet another quality spell from Reece, who has proved invaluable every time he has played for the 3s this season.

The following over brought more drama with two new batters at the crease. The no.5 bat was in a t shirt and had worn a bucket hat in the field, so expectations weren’t incredibly high. Alf steamed in and bowled a good delivery that crashed into middle stump - but there was confusion. As Alf was in his delivery stride, the batter was looking at the floor having rather haphazardly taken guard - at this point a couple of our fielders were heard saying ‘wait’, to avoid the batter receiving a surprise cricket ball flying down at him. At the same time, the batter looked up from the ground and immediately took an almighty swing at the ball that was hurtling towards him (I have no idea how he did that in one motion). He missed it and was bowled. The skipper had seen it all unfold from midwicket, and generously told the batter he could remain at the crease, much to the displeasure of Alf who was ticking. Alf was right (in law) in saying that it’s not the bowlers job to wait for the batter to be ready. It was a bit of a circus, but we let the batter continue.

About 2 minutes later, the skipper was severely regretting that decision. Henry Terry came back on to bowl his wheels, but proceeded to take some punishment from the no.5 - HT did not bowl badly by any means, it was just some incredibly clean hitting. The lad literally played one shot but it was mightily effective, especially over the short straight boundary with a couple of 6s and a 4 - as Dave/Ed had shown, you could score very quickly on this ground. In amongst that, the no.5 gave a chance as he hoicked one into the air that saw Dave, Ed and Safi converge on - the skipper just got to the ball, but could only get one hand to it and put a tough chance down.

Alf was still ticking and some rather amusing theatre ensued with Alf vigorously shining the ball and making the batter wait to make his point. It was all in good sprits (I think), as everyone was laughing, maybe bar Alf! The slightly odd passage of play continued, as there seemed to be a serious miscommunication between the two batters in the middle, and between them and their watching teammates. It was logical that the oppo were looking to get to 200 and ensure maximum batting points, but the no.5 seemed more interested in keeping the strike, seemingly not trusting the youngster at no.6. A few singles turned to dots and 2s into 1s, as the 3s stayed alert in the field, particularly H, Laney and Ed keeping things tight. There were audible shouts of ‘RUN TWO’, from the sidelines - we cannot confirm if this was from the batter’s teammates or the family of the youngster.

With the mild confusion in the middle, the field was brought in for the youngster, allowing him to score a couple of boundaries, narrowly evading Nick who was expecting a catch at point. A couple more big blows from the no.5 saw the score continue to tick along, with the 3s now firmly chasing wickets, and almost had their man again, as the batter hit the ball down to long on but JLR unfortunately shelled the chance. It didn’t matter in the context of the game, but I think Alf was sick of the sight of this bat! HT (1-67) finished up his spell, with his big brother coming back on. ET the strike bowler did it again, extracting some bounce from his first delivery which saw the no.6 pop the ball up to midwicket where Safi took a simple catch. After a series of dot balls, the skipper dropped the field out to give the new bat a single to keep him on strike. Amusingly, the batter spooned one up to Alf who was at a deep mid off, to give ET his 3rd, as the bunny hunter struck again, with the skipper trying to claim the assist (200/6 from 34 overs).

That wicket earned us another bowling point, but we were in search for the final 4 wickets to get us to max points and round off a dominant victory. Alf’s battle with the no.5 continued into his last over, as Alf tried everything - a cracking slower ball that somehow missed the stumps, before finding the edge but seeing the ball fly agonisingly wide of Lizo at fly slip. Alf (0-36) finished up his spell wicketless (in the book), but bowled absolutely brilliantly yet again. JLR (1-51) returned and struck with his first ball back, castling the no.8 with an absolute beauty. It was at this point that the skipper had realised he had miscalculated the overs and needed to find someone to bowl the last - we’ll get back to that. Ed finished up his spell by getting his 4th wicket of the day, bowling the no.9 as revenge after being hit for 4 the previous ball. ET’s figures of 4-43 were his best for the club, as he yet again proved his value as a gun all rounder for the 3s.

It was then time for the final over, as the skipper took the liberty of bringing himself onto bowl for the first time this season, with the oppo still needed 91 to win - a safe enough buffer for some buffet bowling. The skipper was getting pelters from his teammates, particularly H, who was encouraging the oppo batters to get out in the previous over, just so he didn’t have to see Safi bowling. Unfortunately, H didn’t get his wish, as Safi took the ball to start the final over. First up, the skipper bowled a distinctly average half-tracker to the no.5 who, rather than depositing the ball into the field, somehow hit the ball straight up in the air. HT settled under the ball and safely took the catch, to resigned laughter from all. Safi had got a wicket with his very first ball of the league season - not that difficult eh? The skipper proceeded to land the ball in slightly better areas for the remainder of the over but was not able to dismiss the no.11, as St Marys finished on 235/9 from their 40 overs, with the 3s winning by 90 runs.

Wrap Up

Another convincing win, but this one was extra special after a perfect batting display saw the team put on a phenomenal total. H and Nick rekindled their glorious opening partnership and took it to new heights, before Dave and Ed set the game alight with some absolutely brutal hitting. We got the job done in the second innings, with excellent spells from Ed, Alf and Laney, which saw us home to a comfortable victory.

POTM(s): Dave Riches & Ed Terry - the two performances were so good, I could not pick between them. For Dave, straight off the sun-lounger, 76 off 37 balls (5x 4s and 7x 6s) - a frankly ridiculous knock that took the game well out of the grasp of the oppo. His 7x sixes included one of the biggest I’ve ever seen. Ed’s 54* (off 26 balls) is starting to become the norm, and we just can’t take it for granted. Oh and a 4-bag. Both deserve the POTM award - is that ‘utter woke nonsense’? Maybe - but they were awesome performances.

In such a crucial game, our final away game in the promotion run-in, it was a stunning team performance that put us within touching distance of promotion. 16 points is the magic number to confirm our destiny - equally, two wins will also seal the league title. We shall take it one game at a time though, as next up, we host Ramsdell. After a tough loss in the reverse fixture, our sights are firmly set on righting that wrong. Bring it on.