Back to back home wins against Ashford Hill and AWE Tadley had seen the 3s reclaim some ground in the promotion race after a tough run of 1 win in 4 matches through June and the start of July. This week we travelled to Crown Taverners, who sat bottom of the table and had conceded the reverse fixture against us. Whilst they only had two wins all season, both of those wins had come against promotion rivals Hartley Wintney, so the team knew we couldn’t take anything for granted.

After last week’s young guns took down Tadley, some familiar faces returned to the side as Schooling’s Sr & Jr, the Terry brothers, Greg, Alf & Laney joined the skipper, Andy Clouting and Paul & Corbyn. The pre-match net saw excellent attendance, with 6 of the 11 players participating, as both Terry’s left the skipper with two rather large bruises, fending off a beamer (Ed) and a well directed short ball (Henry) - thanks boys, great to have you back!

For those that haven’t played at Crown Tavs before, it’s a slightly odd shaped ground due to the A-road and next door pub - when we arrived at the ground we quickly spotted that we were on the edge of the square, meaning that at one end, mid-wicket was a short boundary, and backward square was barely big enough for an U11s game. The pitch was rock solid and looked pretty flat, and reviewing scores on the ground throughout the season, circa 250 was the target - for the second week running, the skipper lost the toss, and we were once again told to bat first (despite the oppo only having 10 players at this point).

1st Innings

H & Lizo opened up to initially some wayward bowling, as 6 separate wides were bowled across the first two overs. Whilst the bowlers were struggling to find their rhythm, it was equally difficult for the batters to keep out the good delivery in amongst the wides. The ball did seem to hold in the pitch from a length as scoring proved tough early on. After both batters had got themselves off the mark with singles, Lizo beautifully flicked a lot full toss through square leg for 4. Unfortunately Lizo (5) was out next ball as a short and wide delivery kept rising - Lizo tried to guide it through a vacant gully region for a certain boundary, but could only get a top edge and the WK took a simple chance.

Andy Clouting joined H in the middle, looking to build on his excellent 50 last week. H got the scoreboard moving in the 5th over with a lovely late cut for 4, before Andy played his signature square drive to the fence in the following over. One of the oppo opening bowlers continued to be erratic, beating the bat on multiple occasions whilst also throwing down another 5 wide deliveries, which meant he had bowled 10 & 11-ball overs during his opening spell. H (15) found another boundary backward of point before edging behind to the other opening bowler who was certainly more threatening (40-2 from 8 overs).

The skipper joined Andy in the middle, as the oppo began to ring the bowling changes. After getting off the mark with a single, Safi (unsurprisingly) played a slog sweep to only the second ball he faced from the oppo skipper, who was bowling offies. Known to some (Dan Warna & Ollie Turner) as a ‘panic sweeper’, Safi has tried to dispel those allegations this season - on this occasion, he struck the ball firmly to the square leg boundary for 4 - no panic for now. The following over, Safi was greeted with a full toss that he flicked over the tiny boundary at backward square for 6 - to find any ball that beats the tree line, fielders have to cross a busy road and look in the opposing shrubbery. The ball was however quickly found and play resumed.

Andy looked in control and played a holding role whilst Safi was looking to be ultra positive. Two more boundaries from the skipper through mid on and midwicket helped push the score along, before Andy got just enough of a short ball to clear the ropes off the spinner. That shot seemed to get Andy going as an another sumptuous square drive followed, as the pair looked to kick on prior to drinks. Safi was in a good battle with his opposite number who was varying his pace and lines, as Safi looked to take him down. Safi got a little too excited and tried to hit the oppo skipper over the pub, swinging himself off his feet and getting an inside edge that narrowly missed leg stump. He went back to the sweep a couple of balls later and found the midwicket fence in more conventional fashion.

Two more boundaries followed from Andy who was looking increasing assured at the crease, punishing anything too short or wide. Back to the battle of the skippers, Safi then tried sweeping behind square, but got a top edge that only just avoided the man on the 45 as the batters scampered 2. After narrowly surviving that, the skipper went back to the same shot, and got the same result - another top edge went up in the air and the man at 45 somehow got no way near it. The skipper was later told that his teammates thought he should have put that shot away for a bit - not a bad idea. However, the skipper found a different way of getting out the following over, playing a check drive straight to mid off, as Safi (33) walked back to the pavilion frustrated, having got out just before drinks two weeks running.

Ed Terry walked to the crease, on his return from injury and holiday (both in Wales and in the 2s) - first ball was classic Ed Terry, crunching the ball to the midwicket fence for a one bounce 4. On a ground of this size, 20/30 mins of Ed could be some serious fun. At drinks, the 3s were 105-3, a good platform to hit that 250 run target. Straight after drinks, Ed’s eyes were lighting up, trying to hit the change bowler back to Odiham - a couple of inside edges narrowly missed the stumps, as the two paced nature of the deck continued to show. Ed (7) then followed in his skipper’s lead by playing an almost identical check drive (but with probably double the power) straight to mid-off who took a smart catch (108-4 from 21.2 overs).

Henry T, replaced his brother in the middle, sporting a rather daring new haircut/colour that reminded his team mates of either Andrew Flintoff or Eminem - depending on who you asked. A mini-rebuild was required after a couple of quick wickets, but the real Slim-shady was quick into his stride play some strong shots straight and flicking the ball nicely through midwicket. Andy found the fence too from a waist-high full toss, guiding it to third man for 4 more. Henry was being positive and whilst he did find the fence a couple of times early on, did ride his luck in his attempt to clear the boundary. Firstly a thick edge that flew just wide of third man for 4, before hitting the ball into orbit towards the midwicket region - there was a fielder at midwicket in the ‘ring’, and deep square and long on both on the fence. The ball took an age to return to earth as Henry expected his downfall, only to see the man at midwicket just watch the ball land barely 5 yards behind him and make zero attempt to take the catch. He then didn’t even retrieve the ball and the poor lad at deep square fielded the ball - all of this was to the amusement of Henry’s teammates (especially his brother) on the sidelines.

Some good strike rotation between Andy and Henry kept the scoreboard ticking, before Andy yet again found third man with a lovely late cut, before pulling the ball to square leg for 4 more. Andy brought up a very well made 50 with a quick single, his second in two weeks - a welcome return back to Saturday cricket since his injury! With 12 overs to go, it was time to accelerate, and Henry set the bar with a glorious straight hit over long on for six, bringing up the 50 partnership - effortless power. Some excellent running followed before Andy (59 off 73 balls, 8x 4s & 1x 6s) was bowled trying to repeat his late cut - a great knock that set the platform for a big finish (170-5 from 30 overs).

Greg came to the middle looking to put into practice Sharpie’s top tips from their 121 coaching sessions. With one of the opening bowlers returning, Henry continued to tease the fielders, lifting the ball just over or just wide of various fielders as he ran hard to get back on strike. Another crunching boundary followed from Slim shady, before Greg joined the party with two perfectly timed sweeps behind square for 4 from the other end. The opening bowler was growing frustrating as Greg found two further boundaries, first flashing the ball to 3rd man, before an inside edge the very next ball which flew past fine leg. During this period, the running between the wickets started to falter, as there was some indecision on whether to turn 1s into 2s, as the pair weren’t quite on the same wavelength. Their teammates were audible in shouting ‘RUN BOYS RUN’, when some overthrows almost caused a run out, but ended up adding 2 to the score.

Amongst the mild chaos, Henry brought up his maiden senior 50, a vital one at that to ensure that the 3s got to a competitive score, and he was ready to really crack on with 5 overs to go and the score at 210-5. The skipper (who was umpiring), had a quiet word with both batters to ‘run the oppo ragged’ with plenty of opportunities for 2s. Alas he didn’t expect what followed - Greg pulled a short ball straight to midwicket who dropped a dolly, and by this point Henry was over halfway down the track trying to steal a single - Greg sent him back and Henry (50 off 44 balls, 4x 4s & 1x 6s) was runout. When you think of positive running between the wickets, Alfie Hellings would certainly spring to mind - barely 30 seconds after he was out in the middle, Alfie nearly ran 3 himself but only got 1 run to his name, as he was in his element trying to run the oppo ragged. A two (that Alf nearly ran 4 on), startled the oppo who couldn’t believe how quick he was.

Greg’s handy cameo (24) came to an end as he was bowled soon after trying hoick the ball to cow, bringing Corbyn to the middle, promoted to no.9 after a stunning 30* in the Heartaches game last week. A short word from the skipper told Corbyn to enjoy himself as he played a ‘Downham special’ first ball, to get off the mark with a 1. Alf thought about a second but decided against it - unfortunately, the same didn’t happen the next ball, as Alf knocked the ball into the legside, ran 1 and came charging back trying to get a second when the fielder had the ball in his hands. Corbo rightly sent Alf (5) back, who was comfortably run out. From being 210-5 with 5 overs to go, we were 222-8 after 37 overs and were in danger of not batting the full 40.

The rather comical period of running may have made us chuckle, but it had meant that we were struggling to surpass that 250 run pre-game target, and with very short boundaries one side, it was critical that we got as many as we could. Corbyn (joined by Laney in the middle) was looking to take down the oppo skipper who was floating up his offies - Corbo swung hard, missed the ball but so did the keeper as the pair scampered two, save for Corbyn slipping on the edge of the pitch and nearly not making his ground! Corbyn recovered to handily connect and smash his first boundary for the 3s over midwicket (straight from the Downham playbook) to rapturous cheers from his teammates. Corbo (5) tried to repeat the dose, but was bowled next ball.

The final over saw Laney (9*) swing and miss at a couple, before absolutely middling one down the ground that almost decapitated Safi who was umpiring (cheers Laney), who had to dive out the way, and signalled 4 from his backside. Paul (2*) joined HT & the skipper in teasing the oppo fielders as he flicked the final ball over midwicket for 2, as the 3s finished on 239-9 from their 40 overs.

A competitive score for sure, but on a small ground and considering the position we were in, probably 20 light on where we’d have liked to have been. That said we walked off the field and were treated to the best away teas we have had all season, with some excellent Coronation Chicken rolls, scones and jam and even Red Velvet cupcakes! (N.B there were more options available, but I can only remember what I ate - and it was superb!).

2nd Innings

After filling up on teas, we took to the field, and opened up with the fast-bowling, young-gun duo of Henry T and Corbyn. Henry’s pace was immediately on show as Greg was taking the ball at shoulder height, before the 3rd ball swung viciously down the legside to the very short fine leg boundary. Corbyn quickly identified that the other opening batter wanted to cut nearly every ball, as one flashed past Ed at point for 4, before a couple of play and misses trying to repeat the shot. After a couple of tight overs, Henry (0-19) couldn’t quite find his radar in his 3rd over, as the oppo started to get going with shots almost exclusively square of the wicket. Corbyn was bowling a lovely opening spell, with excellent control and deserved a wicket as another cut show narrowly evaded his dad at point, as Ed moved back to sweeping, to try to dry up the runs.

Paul replaced Henry and as he often does, brought a halt to the scoring, not providing the batters with any width or the length to cut or pull the ball. Corbyn’s (0-12) 4th over so nearly got the breakthrough, with a couple of play and misses and another that narrowly missed the off stump. Recce Lane was on early into the game, as the skipper looked to a change of pace - Laney was immediately into his rhythm, bowling great areas and tying the batters down. From the other end, the batter Rees (yes you read that right, not Reece - this was a little confusing when the oppo were shouting ‘come on Rees’ and we weren’t sure if Laney had a Crown Tavs fan club), looked to attack Paul. That straighter line that Paul was bowling, did make the shorter boundary more enticing, as the batter flicked the ball twice narrowly wide/over the skipper at midwicket.

The opening pair had brought up their 50 partnership in the 12th over, as the fielding side had gone quiet and were in need of some inspiration to break the game open. After some field changes inspired by Lizo, a couple of tight overs followed, and it was then Laney who finally got the breakthrough. He bowled the opener Giles with a dipping yorker that snuck under his bat and hit the base of off-stump. The team were relieved to have finally got a wicket, but it was time for more Schooling inspiration as H took the ‘post-wicket team talk’ - H’s general message of ‘we’ve gone flat’ & ‘liven up’ was absolutely spot on and the team needed that impetus to ensure we did not sleep walk towards a defeat from a position of strength.

It worked immediately - first ball after H’s rallying cry, Paul bowled the opener Rees (who was on 34 and was looking dangerous) after an inside edge, and suddenly the 3s had 2 in 2 balls. The team were up and about, with two new batters at the crease who hadn’t faced a ball. The no.4 batter made his intentions clear immediately, setting up to try to launch every ball, and targeted the short boundary, hitting his 3rd ball into the tree line. Undeterred, Paul continued on, and after a single got the no.3 on strike, Paul bowled an absolute Jaffa that castled the new bat. Crown Tavs had slipped from 56-0 to 65-3 in just 7 balls - maybe the skipper should leave more team talks to H!

With H’s words still ringing in everyone’s ears, there was plenty noise in the field, even when the No.4 kept swinging and twice slog swept Laney to the square leg boundary and just wide of Alf who was bounding after the ball. It was a great battle as Laney varied his pace and almost got his man but another sweep fell just short of Alf at cow. The team knew this was a crucial wicket as the batter just kept swinging - another 6 over the short boundary helped increase the run rate further, as the batter was on a solo mission trying to get his team back in the game. It was however Laney that had the last laugh - another slog sweep attempt looped towards Safi at midwicket. The ball seemed to dip, as Safi took a few steps forward - frankly, this was pretty ordinary cricket, and was not a textbook catch. The ball ricocheted off the skipper’s wrist and into his chest, to which Safi somehow cradled the ball and eventually got his hands on it. A massive sigh of relief from the whole team, including the skipper, who considering the batter and the game situation, was in for some serious stick if he’d dropped that one. Laney deserved that wicket, as he’d bowled superbly to test and tease the batter.

At 87-4 after 17.3 overs and the gun batter out (who had scored 30 off just 15 balls), the 3s could breathe a little easier but still had plenty of work to do to win this game. Paul and Laney bowled brilliantly in tandem, both bowling through their 8 over spells to wrestle back control of this game for the 3s. Paul’s figures (2-68), do not do him justice as he was defending the incredibly short legside boundary, and honestly it was only his final over that he didn’t quite hit his incredible standards set this season.

Alf replaced Paul and immediately got a taste of what it’s like to defend that short boundary, as the No.6 bat (who was following a similar playbook to the No.4), pulled a shortish delivery for 6, before repeating the shot and scoring 4. Laney (2-28) then finished his spell and had spun a web around the oppo, building significant pressure enabling both him and Paul to take two wickets each, and set the game up for the team. After getting hit to the short boundary for another 4 early in his second over, Alf started to find his rhythm and bowled 3 absolute jaffas that beat the bat.

We needed to break this partnership as it was increasingly threatening. Enter Ed Terry - this time with the ball. Ed hadn’t bowled for the 3s since May (mixture of holidays, injuries etc), but struck with his second ball. A full delivery on off stump was hit by the No.6 high into the sky, as Andy Clouting appeared from under the tree line at long off, lining the ball up in the sun, before taking a good catch (133-5 from 25.1 overs). The required run rate was hovering just over 7 with 15 overs to go, so despite the breakthrough, Crown Tavs were still very much in the game.

That was the case - however what followed was some of the best partnership bowling we’d seen all season in the 3s, as both Alfie and Ed got the ball talking, both in the air and off the deck, and ran through the oppo over the next 8 overs. Both Alf and Ed are similar types of bowlers, both quicker than their run up suggests, can get the ball to move laterally, and tend to bowl a hard length. It was though, a series of full deliveries that got Alfie his first wicket - Alf had said to the skipper he was feeling ‘lethargic’, but he certainly didn’t show it. Back to back LBW appeals off the first two balls of the 27th over were turned down, as the batter seemed to have no interest in using his bat. The noise had cranked right up across the fielders, before Alfie’s 3rd ball struck the batter plumb in front - the team went up in unison for probably the loudest appeal of the season, and finally the umpire gave the batter out (134-6 from 26.3 overs).

4 incredibly tight overs followed, as both Ed and Alfie beat the bat, bowled Yorkers that the batters barely kept out, and had half-chances agonisingly hit finger tips or fall short of fielders. By the start of the 32nd over, the required run rate was up to over 10, as the 3s were now well in control. The oppo skipper advanced down the wicket to Ed trying to reverse the pressure, but ET (2-18) held his nerve and castled the batter (149-7 from 31.2 overs). The No.5 batter remained but wasn’t troubling the scorers too much, as attention turned to trying to get maximum points.

Alf was in beautiful rhythm and looked like taking a wicket nearly every ball - he got his second after the No.9 (who was the lad who had made the wonderful teas) spooned the ball up in the air to Safi who took this catch in more conventional fashion compared to his first. The No.9’s son was in at No.10, a youngster that was not given much of a chance with the bat and didn’t bowl (not ideal), but had admirably defended the short boundary in the field. After Andy had asked the umpire whether we needed to ‘tone it down’ for the kid, both Alf and Ed were told to bowl full and straight. At this point, the skipper had already told Corbyn to get loose so he could polish off the tail (and acceptably bowl wheels at a fellow U13!).

The field was brought in, with H at short extra cover, and the skipper at short mid wicket. On the 3rd ball of the over, Ed bowled yorker that hit the toe of the batter right in front of middle stump - somehow the appeal was turned down. The very next ball, the youngster hit the ball straight to Safi at short midwicket who dropped an absolute dolly (considering what happened earlier, this should come as little suprise!). Luckily for the skipper, his drop was not going to cost the team max points as Alf wrapped things up the very next over. Another beauty finally found the edge of the No.5 batter, who had provided some stubborn resistance, and Greg took a smart one handed catch (in the webbing), to cap off another good day behind the sticks.

The No.11 walked out and did not look up to much - Laney told Alf to hit the sticks, and that he did, castling the batter first ball, leaving Corbyn without a second spell for the second week in a row! It seems whenever Safi tells Corbyn to get loose, we start taking poles! Maybe this is a new page in the ‘3s blueprint’. Alfie finished with super figures of 4-22, as he and Ed shared a bowling partnership of 11.3 overs, 6-40, reducing the oppo from 133-4, to 156 all out. A superb performance from the pair, as the 3s won by 83 runs.

Wrap Up

In the end another comfortable win, which could have been even more dominant had we been more ruthless with the bat, but equally could have been much closer, had our bowlers not made crucial breakthroughs at crucial times, and holding our catches (bar that last one - oops). Excellent 50s from Andy and Henry T, before in the field, H's team talk after the first wicket lifted both the fielders and our bowlers, as we managed the game fairly well and wrapped it up nicely at the back end.

POTM: Alfie Hellings - Superb bowling figures of 6.3-1-22-4. Alfie’s best career figures and after a tough first over, he bounced back to bowl his best ever spell - if there were more batters, I’m sure he’d have got his 5-bag. It was even more impressive considering he was defending the short leg-side boundary. As is the standard, Alfie was also brilliant in the field, both in the ring and on the fence - a quality cricketer, and great to see him in such good rhythm. Little did anyone know that Alf had a friend’s wedding to get to (maybe that’s why he bowled so well), so he raced back home, got changed into a rather dapper suit, before swinging by the club for a quick hello!

With the other results going our way, the win saw the 3s climb to the top of the table with 4 games to go. As I’m sure you all know, 3 of those games are against our promotion rivals, but we can just take one game at a time. First up is Hartley Wintney back at Long Sutton. Whatever happens over these remaining 4 weeks, let’s enjoy our cricket and see where we end up.