The penultimate weekend of the league season saw the 3s host Ramsdell in what was a big game on many fronts. After a narrow defeat in a highly competitive game in the reverse fixture, the 3s had the opportunity to both exact revenge, but also seal promotion to Division 4 with a win. The team were absolutely determined to do both, but knew that they had to stay level-headed and focus on the job at hand. Glorious sunshine returned, as mixed availability above saw only H, Lizo, Dave, Alfie and the skipper retain their places from last week’s crushing victory over St Marys, with Josh Poole, Charlie Terry, Paul & Corbyn Downham and Rob Herrick all returning, whilst the game also saw a 2025 3s debut for Charlie Williams, who hadn’t played for the O’s in 2024 due to a serious back injury. The team were briefed on the task ahead, and were fired up, particularly H & Dave (go read the match report from the reverse fixture) and ready to go before the toss. Cults was also on hand to kindly umpire the game - thank you Cults!

After the skipper made the mistake of bowling first in the reverse game, he was determined to ensure he righted that wrong - the coin came down correctly, as for the 7th of 8 home games this season, Safi won the toss - unsurprisingly, he chose to bat first.

1st Innings

In a slightly different approach to the batting lineup Paul D joined H to open up, as ‘pinch-hitter-paulie’ had been making waves for the midweek side, and his big hitting was thought to be an antidote for Ramsdell’s medium pace. It was however H who took first ball - H had scored a magnificent unbeaten ton earlier in the season against Ramsdell, and was determined to put them under pressure immediately. A massive ‘hoo-ha’ drive first ball saw H play and miss straight away facing the oppo skipper, which provoked plenty of noise from the oppo. It only took H a couple more balls to get going, as he swatted the ball to the fine leg fence for 4.

From the other end, G Prickett opened the bowled to Paul - now this bowler is deceptive, running in to bowl but releasing the ball at probably 25 yards from the batter, maybe more. For any batter this is difficult to line up, as all of your trigger movements are out of sync and there is no clear indicator as to when or where he will bowl it from. Despite the extra yardage, the ball still travelled and dipped viciously on Paul, who did well to keep out a couple of yorkers early doors. Unfortunately Paul (0) wasn’t able to see out the over, as the ball beat the inside edge, hit his pad, before ricocheting onto the stumps, an unlucky dismissal for sure.

A another maiden over followed as the 3s were reminded that the nature of the oppo’s bowling can lead to batters being bogged down - we were only 3 overs in, but the team were conscious that it was imperative to put the pressure back on the bowlers. Lizo got off the mark with a strong cut shot to the point boundary, before H really got going against the oppo skipper from the other end. After blocking the first ball of the 5th over, H absolutely nailed a lofted straight drive for 6, over the sight screen - it was not the first time H had hit a brutal strike like that this season, a brilliant shot. H ended the over with another crunching drive, this time along the carpet for 4 more. Both batters would pick their moments, keeping out the good ball and punishing anything loose - Lizo got his second boundary in the 7th over flicking nicely down the hill for 4, as the first signs of some sloppy fielding started to show. This continued into the next over, in what was a relatively tight over, however a well run two, turned into three due to a poor throw.

H and Lizo were running excellently between the wickets, finding singles within the ring and continuing to find the boundary. H again found the fine leg fence with a flick off his hip, before dismissive swat to a short ball which flew past square leg for 4 more. Rob H was scoring and was desperate not to tempt fate but couldn’t stop himself from lauding H and telling everyone that ‘he was on’. H indeed was on, looking to follow up consecutive 50s against Hartley Wintney and St Marys with another against Ramsdell. The 3s were 45-1 after 10 overs, and after a quiet start, had picked up the rate nicely and were ticking along without much fuss.

The 11th over brought on Ramsdell’s chief destroyer from the reverse fixture, as D Simpson (who had taken 4 crucial wickets) entered the attack. A fairly subdued first over passed without alarm, with a handy four leg byes flying past the keeper. In Simpson’s second over, H crunched a delicious shot to the midwicket boundary - a signal of intent. G Prickett was still going up the hill and into his final couple of overs, as Lizo too looked to exert some pressure. An unlikely lofted drive just evaded deep mid off and bounced away for 4, before another cracking cut shot found the fence yet again. Some more good running between the wickets meant the bowlers couldn’t settle, which led to more boundary opportunities.

H took a pair of boundaries off the 16th over, whilst Lizo followed suit in the 17th over, as the chirp had firmly quietened with both batters taking control and pushing the pace. A double change in the bowling saw some more medium pace in addition to some darty off spin, as the oppo briefly stemmed the flow of runs leading up to the drinks break. A nicely worked single off the final ball before drinks saw the score reach 100-1, as the Schoolings had batted beautifully to set an excellent platform for the team to kick on an post a big total - straight out of the gameplan.

The message was ‘keep calm and carry on’ to both batters as the sun really started to beam down on Long Sutton. H took the message in his stride and hit the off-spinner for 4 to go to yet another half-century, three on the trot for H, in red hot form, and yet again helping to set a brilliant platform for this team. He kept it going the following over, after a slightly fortuitous slash past gully for 4, he nailed another drive down the ground in some style. Unfortunately H’s top innings came to an end in the 24th over, as an off-cutter jagged away significantly off the surface and clipped the off stump. H was disappointed to be dismissed for 59 (off 69 balls, 10x 4s & 1x 6), but during this crucial promotion run-in, H stepped up to showcase his best form of the season, scoring 191 runs over the last 3 games - invaluable.

The Schooling’s 117 run partnership had come to an end (121-2 from 23.4 overs), as the skipper joined Lizo in the middle. The oppo were lively again and were quick to remind Safi that he’d got a duck in the reverse fixture - ‘he’s on for a double quacker’ was the call from the fielders as Safi blocked his first couple of deliveries. Another tight over from the off-spinner had seen the scoring slow, as the oppo sensed a real opportunity to squeeze. With more chirp at the skipper, Safi finally got off the mark with a trademark drive wide off long on for 4 - M Lerigo was bowling well however, and managed to dot up the rest of the over. A few singles followed as Lizo and Safi looked to build a partnership, but both bowlers had found their rhythm and weren’t giving anything away.

In the 28th over, the 3rd wicket fell, as Lizo played a late cut, which had worked very well for him this afternoon, wide of the man at short third - after a call from the man himself for two, Lizo was short of his ground after a superb direct hit from the rather unassuming fielder. In the process of running the first one, Lizo had brought up his own 50 (off 78 balls, 7x 4s), his 4th of the league season, and a welcome return to form. Dave then joined Safi in the middle, fresh off his frankly ridiculous knock last week (76 off 37 balls) against St Marys. Unfortunately Dave (2) wasn’t able to repeat his heroics, as a rather wild swipe across the line saw the stump rattled, and Ramsdell take another. Josh walked to the crease and saw off a testing remainder of the over.

From 120-1 at 23 overs, the 3s were now 137-4 after 30 overs, as the oppo had firmly put the brakes on and had taken 3 wickets, as doubts were starting to creep in as to what score the team could reach. The skipper took it upon himself to try to reverse the pressure and start to up the run rate as we entered the final 10 overs. The trusty sweep shot was in use, as a brace of boundaries kicked off the 31st over, firstly a sweep wide of square leg, before a slog sweep over midwicket got the scoreboard moving. Josh then got off the mark himself, punishing a full toss to the midwicket fence too, with 14 runs coming from the over, a great start to the final 10.

The over that followed was a maiden, as M Lerigo finished off a superb spell as he beat Josh’s bat on multiple occasions, finishing with figures of 8-3-19-2. It was then back to the off spinner, who both batters were certainly looking to target - the 33rd over started with a head high beamer that Safi couldn’t get off the square, before using his feet to club one down the ground for 4. Josh was also using his feet and managed to force the bowler to bowl much wider, which saw the ball fly away for 5 wides - handy. Josh then followed it up with a cracking slog sweep of his own, hitting a one bounce four down to midwicket. D Simpson was back on as Safi traded his cricket bat for a pitching wedge, getting well under the first ball of the over, but managing to place it perfectly to run 2. Some more good running followed as a pair of 2s straddled another boundary, this time from Josh, as the noise firmly started to rise, but this time from O’s teammates cheering on from the pavilion.

Safi then faced up to his opposite number who was returning to finish his spell with 6 overs to go. The 3s skipper used the pitching wedge again off the first two balls of this over, teasing both long off and long on, to run another couple of twos. A cutter was then slapped through the offside for 4, as the oppo started to grow frustrated in the field. More excellent running saw the score continue to tick over, before Josh brought up the 200 with a glorious straight drive.

At 200-4 with 4 overs to go, a big finish was in store, as Safi was eyeing up his opposite number - Safi finally got rid of the pitching wedge and launched the ball over long on for 6, before swatting the next ball to midwicket for 4 more, bringing up his 50 off 35 balls. A defiant point to the badge from the skipper, who was fired up and wanted to ensure we put on a big first innings total. Another couple of boundaries followed from the skipper, before Safi (59 off 40 balls, 8x 4s & 1x 6) ran past one and was stumped (221-5 from 37.2 overs), another welcome return to form after a couple of lean weeks.

Charlie Williams joined Josh at the crease, as both batters ran well, trying to lay bat on ball on every occasion to keep building the score leading into the final couple of overs. At the end of the 39th over, Josh (24) was bowled trying to hoick the ball into the playground, a valuable knock that kept the score moving through those final 10 overs, with the score now at 230-6 with an over to go.

What then followed was absolutely magnificent - Williams the batter, Simpson the bowler. Charlie used to hit a long ball at the age of 14 when he last played for the 3s, but this last over was something else. Admittedly facing up to the short straight boundary, Charlie had full confidence in himself and clear long on with the first ball of the final over - he may have ‘toed’ it, but it still went for 6. The second ball couldn’t have been more different, as CW middled the ever-living-daylight out of the ball, that soared into someones garden. It was huge, and his teammates were absolutely loving it on the sidelines, making plenty of noise. Charlie wasn’t done there, repeating the dose with a 3rd six, this time a touch straighter - I think an astronaut could see how wide Dave’s smile was at this point. Alf was enjoying life at the non-strikers too, as the oppo’s frustration was apparent.

CW kept going, finding the cover boundary with the 4th delivery, before a dot, and then a cheeky reverse scoop from the final ball. Alfie was at the other end and ran like absolutely lightning, somehow coming back for 3, with CW barely leaving the strikers end. Charlie made it home safe, as 25 runs were taken off the final over, the perfect finish to the innings, seeing the 3s end on 255-6 from their 40 overs. The 3s blueprint strikes again.

Another brilliant batting performance had put on an excellent score, with 3x 50s from the top 4, before some ridiculous hitting from Charlie W to put the cherry on top. The team dug in to another round of quality teas as we felt we had taken another step towards our goal.

2nd Innings

As the team were getting ready for the 2nd innings, word had come out that 1s had won a quick thriller, and were potentially going to make an appearance to cheer on the 3s to seal promotion. There was a long way to go however until that could happen, so there remained no place for complacency. Corbyn opened up from the horsefield end, an initially didn’t quite find his lines, before settling in at the end of his first over. CT shared the new ball, off the back of a couple of brilliant spells for the 4s and Sunday O’s last weekend. CT started as he left off, with a testing maiden, making the batter play every single delivery. Corbo followed up and was hitting his rhythm, and the gloves of Lizo who was behind the sticks for the first time this season.

As the first few overs ticked by, it started to become clear that the oppo had little intent, which enabled the skipper to bring an extra catcher into play. CT was bowling like an absolute dream and kept hitting the spot - he teased the batters as the ball swung away from the batter, whilst also occasionally nibbling down the slope. CT finally got his reward, swinging the ball onto off stump with a beauty (13-1 from 5.1 overs). Corbyn’s 4th over was equally testing, extracting some bounce from the surface as Lizo was taking the ball nicely behind the stumps, and the batters continued to play and miss. Paul replaced Corbo from the horsefield end, as it was time for double metronome.

Both Paul and CT were absolutely on the money and were giving nothing away - any shot was fielded expertly in the ring too, with H, Alfie and Charlie W, all showcasing their brilliance in the field, letting nothing past. With every dot, the required run rate increased, but it seemed the oppo batters didn’t care as they did wren’t particularly interested in chasing down the score. The 10th over brought some controversy - CT bowled a Jaffa that took the edge - Paul, who was at 1st slip, got his right hand to the ball, palming it up in the air, before diving low and seemingly taking a superb catch. There was however some confusion, as the ball seemed to bounce up off Paul’s forearm and into his right hand, but not in view of umpire Cults. The batter stood firm and wasn’t going anywhere, in spite of Paul, and the surrounding fielders all being 100% confident that the catch had been taken cleanly. As the batter didn’t walk, and Cults hadn’t seen it, the decision was not out.

The team’s frustration continued, as some buzzers led to the first boundary of the innings. The ball was punched to CW at cover, who, upon instruction from the skipper to ‘hit em’, hurled the ball at the non-strikers in a run out attempt. Unfortunately CW missed the stumps, but then the skipper decided to run past the ball (for the second time today), to then see the ball flew for 4 overthrows.

The team’s frustration was however brief, as the very next delivery, CT cleaned up the other opener who tried to force the issue, with the ball crashing into middle stump (25-2 from 11.1 overs). With that wicket, D Simpson walked to the crease, as the noise level began to rise in the field, just in time for the 1st XI to arrive who were keen to support the 3s and watch some proper cricket! CT and Paul continued to bowl beautifully in tandem, as Alfie took his place at the shortest of short covers. Alf was a man possessed, nothing was getting past him, in spite of the batters best attempts to crunch the ball through the cover region. Dave too was an absolutely wall at gully, diving left and right to stop everything coming his way.

The odd boundary did nothing to dispel the pressure, as CT finished up a simply brilliant opening spell of 8-1-17-2. Just two balls later, Paul got his reward, bowling the no.3 with a Jaffa of his own (42-3 from 16.2 overs), as the oppo had gone absolutely nowhere. Dave was fielding at gully and was very much enjoying the show, often reminding the no.4 of the ever increasing run rate. It was then time for some pace, as Charlie W entered the fray - after one delivery soared past the outside edge, Lizo (WK) and Paul (1st Slip) both took around 5 paces back - this was quick.

Both batters were almost playing their forward defence shot before Charlie had even released the ball which prompted a quick tactical discussion between the bowler and skipper, to try to get another wicket. It was time for some short stuff just before drinks, as CT was sent out to deep square, whilst H & Safi were both catching in close on the legside. After hitting the batter on the shoulder, another on the glove followed as Charlie was bowling gas - it was a good job that Lizo had moved a few steps back as he took the penultimate ball before drinks right in front of his face, as his teammates took a collective breath.

With the oppo 49-3 at drinks, promotion was firmly in the 3s grasp, but the challenge then turned to taking these remaining 7 wickets to get maximum points. Paul started up after drinks with a maiden, before round 2 of the short stuff from CW. A wild swat from the no.5 narrowly evaded Safi & H catching on the legside, before the no.4 nervously gloved one down the legside for 4. This brought another field change, as Paul was moved from 1st slip to leg slip, as the team felt a breakthrough was coming. CW was bowling with incredible accuracy and was pushing the batters back before firing in a quick yorker that the no.4 only just kept out.

Considering the heat both batters were facing from the other end, they targeted Paul’s (1-31) last over, striking a series of boundaries through the legside, which mildly tainted his figures - take nothing away from Paul’s first 7 overs, another superb performance from the 3s most consistent bowler this season, saw him draw level with Ed Terry in the 3s top wicket takers for 2025. It was back to ‘pace like fire’ as CW bowled an absolute snorter to the no.4 that hit him near the armpit. CW finally got him man as his next delivery was a touch fuller, but just didn’t get up and crashed into the stumps, much to the delight of his teammates, especially Dave who’s grin seemed to stretch from Cape Town and back (75-4 from 23.2 overs). Charlie finished up his spell with another couple of snorters that almost got his second, as another batter was jumping for cover, got a top edge but was fortunately put down by CT who was sprinting round from the boundary, before the next delivery also found the edge but flew over Lizo for 4.

It was time for a double change in the bowling, with firstly Alf joining the attack from the horsefield end. After a superb spell last week without reward, Alf managed to strike with just his 4th ball, as the no.5 spooned the ball up to CT at cover point, who quickly put his drop behind him and took a smart catch. Rob went one better and struck with his very first ball, as an ambitious slog sweep from the no. 6 went straight up in the air, with Lizo taking a simple catch, having barely had to move behind the sticks (81-6 from 25.1 overs).

With two new batters at the crease and the run rate reaching nearly 12 an over, the field was incredibly aggressive as catchers were in place both in front and behind the wicket, as the 3s looked to get these 4 remaining scalps and claim their promotion. Robbo amusingly managed to overstep twice in his first two overs, a cardinal sin for an off spinner! That said, Rob was bowling beautifully, extracting some turn and bounce, which got the skipper thinking of bringing in a short leg - that didn’t happen, however Josh was moved to a leg gully to add to the theatre. Lizo was keeping nicely throughout, with some excellent takes off Rob, in spite of the turn and bounce. Alf soon got his second, as he bowled the no.8, who didn’t get near the ball (97-7 from 28.4 overs). With the field up, both Alf and Rob were inviting the batters to play some shots and take some risk, however they didn’t seem to want to. The oppo skipper did play a couple of nice flicks over mid on and midwicket for 4, but the catchers remained firmly in place.

Alf (2-26) was then replaced by Corbyn who returned with 6 overs to go to try to get these final few wickets. Rob continued to look dangerous as the batters seemed content on simply trying to survive - a couple of edges fell short of fielders, whilst Josh was very much in the game at leg gully but nothing went to hand. With what ended up being Rob’s (1-15) final ball, the oppo skipper swept the ball to Alfie who was around two-thirds of the way to the cow corner boundary - Alf was on it in a flash, and hurled the ball into Lizo, who smartly whipped the bails off to run the no.7 bat out, one of the few that had shown some semblance of positivity (128-8 from 36 overs). Corbyn (0-21) couldn’t quite find 9th wicket before Charlie W returned to the attack.

The end was nigh, as CW was bowling at the tail - full and straight was the ploy. It took only two balls, as after the first ball had beaten the batter for pace, the no.10 could only spoon the ball up in the air as he backed away. There was a loud shout of ‘mine’ from Corbo at cover point, however at the same time Alfie bellowed his name and got under the ball to take a simple catch (134-9 from 37.2 overs). The game was wrapped up by the end of the over, as Charlie (3-16) bowled another beauty that took the edge, and Paul took and excellent grab at first slip, with Ramsdell being bowled out for 134 in 38 overs. The 3s earnt a crushing victory by 121 runs, their largest margin of the season.

Wrap Up

It was smiles and hugs all round as the 3s sealed promotion in style with a resounding victory over Ramsdell. Yet another cracking team performance, with a wonderful partnership between H & Lizo setting the game up, before a positive 50 from the skipper and some phenomenal hitting from Charlie W pushed us up to a match winning score. With the ball, everyone bowled well, with CT and Paul particularly starring with superb spells that never let the oppo into the game, before wickets from Alf, Rob and CW wrapped the game up.

POTM: Charlie Williams - 30 off 11 balls (with 25 of those coming from the final over) and a lightning spell of 5-1-3-16, bowling some serious wheels with incredible accuracy, executing plans to perfection.

6 wins on the trot in the second half of the season has seen the 3s climb from promotion outsiders to table toppers. The post game team debrief was one in which the skipper shared his immense pride of what the team have achieved this year. We have had some bumps along the way, but the way we have approached our cricket and the attitude and application shown has meant we thoroughly deserve this promotion.

Promotion was just a goal that seemed a long way away back in May when the season started, however phenomenal efforts from every single player who has played for the 3s this year, helped us achieve just that. Thank you team. The speaker was on in the changing room as the 3s were ‘Rockin all over the world’, before heading back to KS to continue the celebrations.

Saturday is where our season comes to a close, as we wrap up the season hosting Sherfield, who also sealed promotion last weekend. Whilst both teams know their fate, the crown of champions of Division 5F is still to be decided, with the final day now being ‘winner takes all’. Let’s hope we can get a game of cricket in and finish the season in style.