After last week’s rain off vs Old Basing, the 3s were back at Long Sutton, in an attempt to win back to back games for the first time since May. We were hosting AWE Tadley, who we’d comfortably beaten in the reverse fixture on a difficult pitch, but knew they had the second top run-scorer in the league, and a couple of very dangerous bowlers.

The 3s had a more youthful look this week, with 5 of our playing XI representing our junior section (1x U13, 2x U15, & 2x U17), as Corbyn, Rory, Charlie Green, and Harry & Thomas Clothier joined the side. The 1st XI skippers wedding (Congratulations Jack!) had meant there was more shuffling than usual to the Saturday sides, as we welcome welcomed Adie, Netty, Andy Clouting and a now Sheffield-based Jamie Le Roux, who made the journey down to turn out for the O’s. Serious commitment that.

Time for the toss - It was a toss that the skipper wanted to lose as with the rain through the week, the pitch had a slightly greener tinge than normal, but batting first at LS has been the way to go this year. Much discussion was had amongst the new look brains trust, but that didn’t matter as for the first time at Long Sutton this season, the skipper lost the toss and we were inserted under grey skies.

1st Innings

With that, Adie and Netty strode to the middle to open up against the well-known K Monger, one of the top wicket takers in the league, who was ready to steam in from the horse-field end. The bowler cut quite an imposing figure at the top of his mark, and was known to be able to swing the ball both ways. The instruction from the skipper was clear - survive his 8 overs without too much damage and we’d be in a decent spot.

He immediately had it on a string at a decent lick, with the ball flying through to the keepers gloves as Netty let the first couple go, before getting off the mark with a signature “Netty nurdle” to fine leg for one. Drizzle started to fall in what can only be described as perfect bowling overheads.

Adie opened up positively, cutting well as usual and pushing a couple through the offside to get himself off the mark. K Monger’s second over illustrated exactly why there was so much pre match talk around him - an absolutely ripper on a delivery that was fired in towards middle and off, swung away late, flew off the surface and took the edge of Netty’s (2) bat. The oppo keeper dived in front of first slip to take a one-handed blinder of a catch. That delivery will get the vast majority of batters out in this division.

Thomas Clothier walked to the middle but unfortuantely was walking back just as quickly - a full, swinging delivery was just too tempting to have a drive at as TC (0) snicked behind first ball to leave the 3s 7-2 after 14 balls, with audible gulps and gasps on the sidelines, as Tadley were fired up.

K Monger was on a hattrick, as the skipper joined Adie in the middle - 4 slips and a gully awaited. Thankfully Safi left that first delivery and the hattrick ball was navigated. Safi was off the mark second ball as a low full toss was punched through wide mid on for 4, before the skipper just about kept out the in-swinging yorker on the final ball of the over.

After watching the drama from the other end, Adie got into his work as he drove and cut beautifully to score a couple of boundaries off the other opening bowler to get the scoreboard moving. Safi navigated K Monger’s 3rd over, finishing it with smart clip through midwicket for 4, as surprisingly the opening bowler was taken out of the attack. This released the pressure, as both batters started to score freely, with Adie preferring the offside and the skipper the leg side, as the bowlers struggled to find the right line to the right batters.

Adie’s glorious straight drive that just landed wide of the sight screen for 6 showcased the pair’s intent, as the runs really started to flow, as misfields started to creep in as the pressure built on the fielding side, allowing both batters to score multiple boundaries. Between these boundaries, the occasional ball did trouble the batters, as one popped to the skipper that almost led to a caught and bowled, whilst Adie left one that was within millimetres of off stump as the ball jagged back down the hill.

More bowling changes followed as Odiham Women’s own Lara Clay joined the attack to try to make the breakthrough. Both Adie and Safi traded boundaries, with one amusing moment where Safi hit the ball barely 2 meters to the right of long on, who simply didn’t see the ball, as it rolled past him for four and into the hedge line - leading to the first (of many) ball changes during the day. After the 100 partnership was brought up with another leg side boundary from the skipper, the 3s were in a great position to launch after drinks to get match winning total. Safi (48) however didn’t reach drinks as he cut a wide delivery from Lara straight to point and missed out on his 50 - the counter-attacking partnership from Adie and the skipper had taken the 3s to 114-3 off just 18.1 overs.

Andy Clouting, in his 3rd game back following his broken thumb, joined Adie in the middle, as the Tadley skipper sensed a critical moment and brought back his star man K Monger for a burst either side of drinks. The bowler made both Andy & Adie play and miss in his first over back, before Adie found the fence and brought up a superb 50. In K Monger’s 5th over (2nd of this spell), it was all action cricket - Monger found the edge of Andy’s bat but the ball bisected the gap between 2nd slip and gully. The following ball took the inside edge, and flew past the stumps and fine leg for four more, as the bowler bellowed in frustration. Whilst those watching may have chuckled, not many wanted to be standing at the strikers end. Every ball survived felt like a win, as Andy watched a couple go before playing a cracking square drive just in front of point - that was nice.

K Monger was not going to let that slide, as the first ball of his next over flew off the deck and found a thin edge, dismissing Adie for a well-made 54 (off 61 balls, 7x 4s & 1x 6), leaving the 3s 149-4 from 23.1 overs. Green Sr was replaced by Green Jr in the middle, as the watching team/supporters grew a little more tense. Charlie did his best to dispel those nerves by crunching a lovely drive through the offside for 4 on his second ball, before seeing off the rest of the over (in spite of one delivery somehow missing the bat, stumps & keeper and racing for 4 byes), to close out another spell of the gun bowler.

A period of relative calm ensued, as Charlie and Andy rotated strike well for a few overs, before Charlie (9) was excellently caught by Lara at mid on (168-5 from 28 overs). Harry Clothier joined Andy in the middle, as Tadley turned to spin from both ends to try to race through some overs before the openers would come back to bowl at the death. At 181-5 from 30 overs, the 3s sights were set on a big score but knew the opening bowlers had 5 overs left between them.

During this period, Paul D and his magic stump (It was an actual stump from the shed), had managed to find the lost ball from earlier in the innings, and just as quickly was on hand to find the others as Andy started to take a liking to one of the spinners and his very floaty spin (that admittedly ragged). Andy started peppering the tree line, waiting on the back foot before depositing the ball to the backward square boundary for 4. He did this on multiple occasions, with the match ball and the respective spares getting lost multiple times - at no point however was more than one ball lost as Paul somehow would keep finding the most recently lost ball, just before the next one found the hedge. I am not sure how many overs the original match ball did (the innings did finish with it) but it certainly wasn’t 40!

On one occasion in this spell, Andy absolutely middled the ball into the keeper’s midriff (way to soften their gun batter up for the 2nd innings!). Harry was rotating strike nicely from the other end before getting going himself with a glorious cover drive for 4. Harry then took on the baton as the more positive batter, showcasing some power of his own over midwicket, whilst also manipulating the field well.

With 6 overs to go, the openers came back on, as one of them found some steep bounce which seemed to challenge Harry, however he fought back with a front foot pull shot that raced to the fence. K Monger was back for his final two overs, as Harry was overheard (by the skipper umpiring) to being a little nervous - it didn’t look like it as Harry played an incredible pick up shot off a length first ball, to deposit the ball for a boundary over midwicket, much to the bowler’s bemusement.

The bowlers fought back and were not giving any easy runs away, but some good running between the batters helped keep the scoreboard ticking as we entered the final few overs. It was very much time to play with complete freedom as both batters swung for the fences, either crunching the ball to the boundary or seeing a thick edge fly over/wide of fielders as the oppo grew more frustrated.

Andy brought up his first league 50 of the season with a well run single, before a brace of boundaries from Harry (including another sumptuous straight drive), saw him bring up his maiden senior league 50 in style. Two more boundaries from Andy in the final over saw the 3s finish with a bang. That superb unbroken partnership of 92* between Andy (63 off 66, 9x 4s) and Harry (51* off 38 balls, 7x 4s) came from the last 12 overs and propelled the 3s to 260-5 from our 40 overs. A brilliant effort all things considered, and our second highest total of the season.

Teas were superbly prepared by Team Clothier (thank you Alex and Caroline!), as the team tucked in, delighted with their 1st innings work.

2nd Innings

With a big score to chase, as expected, Tadley sent their two guns out to open the batting, including W Belfield, who was challenging the 3s skipper at the top of the league's run scoring table. W Belfield started with authority, crunching the first ball of the innings to the cover boundary for 4, which even raised the eyebrows of Paul who took the new ball as normal. Downham Jr (Corbo) opened up from the car park end and bowled excellent wheels to start, as the ball fizzed through and occasionally kept low. Corbyn found the edge of the gun bat and the ball flew straight to Rory at gully, who agonisingly put the chance down. Early doors yes, but the team were praying that it wouldn’t be a costly error.

The other opening batter C Saint was clearly set up to clear the infield and not do much else, having an almighty swing at many deliveries with varying degrees of success. His first boundary came, swatting a good length delivery from Paul for 4 over the skipper at midwicket, before getting a thick edge that just evaded gully for one. He cracked an over-pitched delivery from Corbo through square leg for 4, before another powerful shot saw the ball fly just over Charlie at point for 4 more.

Paul finally got the breakthrough in his 4th over, and it was the big one, trapping W Belfield LBW (fair play to the umpire for giving it - considering the game situation and who the batter was, we’ve all seen many umpires that wouldn’t give their gun bat out!). There was a rather unusual moment where by a 'dead-ball' was given after a Corbyn effort ball led to a classic fast bowlers 'grunt' - after some confusion in the middle, Corbo was fired up and joined his dad in the wickets. Corbyn (1-18) got his wicket in the following over, as one too many big shots from the other opener saw the ball spoon up in the air - a bellowed shout of ‘ADIE’S!!” made JLR move swiftly out the way, as Adie took an important catch at mid off, reducing Tadley to 30-2 from 7.2 overs.

The removal of both opening batters (the two key wickets) was a relief to both Rory, and to the skipper who had spent far too much of his spare time badgering Play Cricket to know who each player in the oppo was. Paul was bowling a cracking spell and was going to take a blow after his 5th over but struck just before the skipper could take him off - after holding a tight line outside off stump, Paul straightened one up and bowled the no.3 with an absolute beauty (38-3 from 9 overs), as the 3s seized control of the game.

Jamie LR joined the attack for his first bowl in an O’s shirt this season - after bowling absolute areas in the nets earlier in the day, it was some what of a surprise to see two of his first five deliveries to fly back over his head for 4 - they weren’t bad balls at all, but the no.4 was also not here to hang around. This batter however was a touch Jekyll & Hyde - for every shot he middled, he seemed to almost get out the next, as the ball seemed to tease Thomas Clothier at cover, flying either side of him and escaping his reach, as Paul wondered how many lives this batter had - everyone was on high alert!

No matter where the skipper would move the fielders, the ball just agonisingly dropped in between them - at one point, JLR was in a ‘fly slip’ position off Paul’s bowling and a top edge still somehow fell short of the fielder. Jamie and Paul were both bowling superbly and everyone felt something had to give - the no.4 gave one more half chance as he would have been comfortably run out if the skipper had hit the stumps from midwicket, but yet again survived. Paul (2-28) bowled through and finished a superb opening spell that had put the 3s well in control of the game.

It was time for the second of our young guns to join the attack, as Harry C replaced Paul from the horse field end. His pace immediately troubled the batters as he extracted some extra bounce from the surface. It was JLR who finally got rid of the no.4 batter, as his ‘shot-a-ball’ innings came to an end after slapping the ball to Safi at midwicket (74-4 from 17.1 overs). Safi took a lesson from the JP school of captaincy and took JLR off after he took a wicket, claiming that he wanted some of his overs for the death!

After a couple of tidy overs from Harry, the skipper wanted him to switch ends, so Adie came on just before drinks to race through a couple of overs. Adie’s ‘dibbly-dobblers’ kept things very tight and ensured Tadley reached drinks at 78-4, with the 3s on course for victory. Rory (or Rozza whilst on the field) came into the attack from the horsefield end struck in his first over. A couple of absolute rippers were followed by a slightly shorter delivery that barely got off the ground - not a problem, as the ball hit the base of off stump, and Tadley were 5-down.

Adie (0-11) raced through a couple more overs to enable Harry to come back from the car park end. The 3s ground fielding was generally good all day, but particularly during this period, as Charlie Green mopped up everything at deep cover, using his lightning pace, whilst Corbyn, Rory, JLR and Andy C all fielded tidily to keep things tight. The oppo skipper was putting up some stern resistance, rarely looking in trouble, before starting to play some more extravagant shots. Two attempts at a reverse sweep off Rory failed, before he tried a Joe Root-esque reverse ramp off Harry - not a smart idea. The ball flew off the bat, but went high and not far, and was easily pouched by Paul at gully (116-6 from 27.2 overs).

That brought K Monger to the crease, joining his fellow opening bowler N Hynard. Both were fairly vocal during their bowling spells and were equally vocal when batting - nothing untoward, just very loud calling! Kieran hit two lovely shots over the top early doors to signal his intent, but with the required run rate stretching beyond 11 per over, it was a tall order from here. Harry was bowling beautifully, with both batters playing and missing multiple times, whilst Rory’s signature flight was enticing some big shots, with catchers waiting on the boundary.

Indeed those catchers soon came into play, as Rory (2-35) got his second and the team’s seventh, as K Monger hit the ball high down too long on. Paul is known to be one of the safest pairs of hands in the team and is often in the hotspots, however managing his knee injury means that mobility isn’t his best friend currently (especially after bowling 8 overs!). The ball seemed to be dipping short of Paul, however Downham Sr turned on the afterburners and took a superb low catch in front of him - it was remarkably similar to an equally important catch off Rory vs Old Basing earlier in the season.

The end was in sight, as the 3s very quickly wrapped up the game - the following over Harry, who continued to bowl with excellent pace and accuracy, found a tickle down the legside and Netty took an excellent low catch of his own. Harry (3-20) got his 3rd just two balls later as he castled the no.10, who did not look like he had picked up a bat in a few years. JLR (2-21) came back on and took the final wicket, bowling a superb line and finding a thin edge through the Netty, who kept excellently throughout. Tadley were rolled for 144 inside 34 overs, as the 3s won by 116 runs.

Wrap Up

Back to back home games followed a similar pattern, with a strong batting performance, followed by an excellent team bowling effort, with all bowlers contributing. The foundation of the batting was laid by two excellent partnerships, with scores of 54 (Adie), 48 (Safi), 63* (Andy C) and 51* (Harry) pushing the team to our second highest total of the season. We fielded well and every bowler looked threatening and made breakthrough’s at regular intervals. A brilliant effort with a five junior cricketers representing everything that this club is about - wonderful to see them all playing Saturday cricket, with great enthusiasm and positive attitudes - long may it continue. As a skipper, you can't ask for much more on Saturday.

POTM: Harry Clothier - 51* off 38 balls (7x 4s) and Bowling figures of 6-1-20-3. A superb all-round performance from Harry, showing both his skillset and composure against fierce opposition.

A big thank you to Clothier’s for all of their help this week, both with the teas and Alex for scoring for a large part of the game! Also massive thanks Paul for all of his hard work getting the ground ready - that was the best pitch of the season, something in it for both bowlers and batters!

With 5 games to go, we are up to 2nd in the table and it is all up for grabs. Away to Crown Tavs this Saturday, before the final run in, as we play all of our promotion rivals. No doubt there will be some twists and turns along the way - it has been a cracking season so far, let’s give these last 5 games our very best as see where that takes us!