3rd XI Match Report - (A) vs Alton 3rd XI - 16/05/26

Summary:
OGCC 3rd XI - 176/6 (45 Overs)
Alton 3rd XI - n/a

Match Abandoned

The 3s were on the road for the first time in 2026 as they travelled to Alton to play their own 3rd XI on a cold and grey day in Hampshire. We knew this would be a tough test as Alton had been narrowly relegated from Div 3 last season, and had lost two very close games against our 2s in 2025. Such is the nature of 3s cricket, there were plenty of changes from the week prior, as out went H Schooling, J Hampson, J Poole, R Lane and S Merriman, and in came Adie Green, debutant Nathan Hobson, Downham Sr (Paul) and Jr (Corbyn) and Rob Herrick.

It was the first time that many of us had played at Alton and maybe some of us were caught by surprise when the opposition were going through what looked like a proper warmup with specific and varied fielding drills. Maybe this is what Div 4 cricket is all about. The signs of high-level cricket continued, as we were fortunate to have a panel umpire for this game as one of Alton's most experienced members had taken a break from the SPL for this week, to umpire a Div 4 game - thank you Lewis. In spite of the grey skies and the potential rain forecast later, the skipper won the toss and decided to bat first on what looked to be a flat track.

1st Innings:

Adie and Greg opened the batting for us and from ball one it was clear that this was going to be an uphill battle. After a couple of solid defensive strokes from Greg, the ball ripped off the surface and flew past Greg's shoulder, as the pitch that had looked fairly flat at the toss, certainly had some life in it. A maiden first up, but Adie was off the mark quickly tucking the ball around the corner for one.

The opening bowlers were T Taylor (a tall left armer), and their skipper, I Carpenter - both were getting the ball to talk off the surface and in the air, giving absolutely nothing away. In the opening few overs both Greg and Adie played a couple of lovely shots, but could only find the fielders at point and cover, who were stopping everything. In the fourth over Greg offered his first chance, as a back cut was carved to the right of gully, who threw out a right mitt but the ball thankfully didn't stick.

The bowling pressure was unrelenting, and after a couple of plays and misses in the 5th over, Adie (2) was done with an absolute seed that swung back in and took the middle stump out of the ground (3/1 - 4.5 overs). With the clubhouse situated square on the wicket, and the clouds getting ever greyer overhead, the sight of that ball might've sent a few nerves through the batting lineup.

Thankfully, we had Lizo walking out to bat who is more at home out in the middle than most, no matter what is being thrown in his way. Two further maidens followed, as both opening bowlers had it on a string, and any good shot played by Greg or Lizo was hoovered up by those in the ring. In the 8th over, Lizo finally got the scoreboard moving with a lovely square drive for two, and followed it up with a single into the leg side. It did take until the ninth over for Greg to finally get off the mark - he had stayed incredibly patient and what was a serious spell of opening bowling, and could've easily thrown his wicket away, but in tough conditions against top quality bowling, we needed the top order to see off the new ball and Greg was determined to do that.

A few byes followed in the subsequent overs as the up-and-down nature of the deck, continued to show its face - it's worth noting that the Alton wicket keeper was just 13 years old, and was keeping superbly. Greg then crunched two beautiful cover drives, but still could only find the man at cover (on another day, they were both racing to the boundary), before finally piercing the gap with an off drive for two. Unfortunately, as Greg (3) continued to try to be more expensive, he tickled one down the leg side and was expertly caught by the young WK (18/2 - 12 overs)

Lizo was joined by new RAF recruit Nathan, as finally one of the opening bowlers were replaced - M Ball came on with his military mediums however was right on the money too, with no letup in pressure. Nathan shaped up nicely in his first few deliveries whilst a couple more byes/leg byes, in addition to another Lizo nudge. Nathan finally broke the shackles with a beautiful cut shot to get his first runs for the club, as the ball raced away to the point boundary. He followed it up with an even better back foot punch that he barely seemed to hit, but went just as fast to the fence. Just two balls later, Nathan (8) tried to repeat the shot, but unfortunately was caught behind, with the 3s now 32-3 from 15.4 overs.

The skipper walked in to join Lizo, with a serious rebuild job needed. Safi got off the mark with a pull shot down to fine leg, before Lizo expertly guided the ball between the keeper and Gully for his first boundary. Some good running between the pair helped keep the scoreboard ticking in the following overs, with the umpire even generously asking both Lizo and Safi if they'd hit the ball after the ball had clearly ballooned off their respective thigh pads. The skipper said no - no one can verify what Lizo said.

The pitch however was still playing some tricks with the other first change bowler getting some serious swing into the right handers, and whilst a few early deliveries to Greg flew past his head/shoulder, Lizo had a couple that barely got off the ground. Thankfully, these were wide of the off stump. Another square drive from Lizo continued build some kind of momentum before the fourth wicket fell. Safi (3) tried to get after the medium pacer, but only succeeded in ballooning the ball to short third man, after the ball popped off the deck (54/4 from 20.3 overs).

Dave joined the ever present Lizo with the knowledge of an increasing chance of rain later meaning that batting out our 45 overs would be critical in the outcome of this game. The pair ticked along nicely and were building a nice partnership as Dave carved his own boundary off the back foot through the offside. Unfortunately Dave (7) was out just 3 balls later, with a slightly slower, fuller delivery that breached his defences (73/5 from 24.5 overs). With wickets falling around him, Lizo continued to remain unflustered in the middle, seeing off good bowlers with minimum fuss. It was around this point we received our first rain shower of the day, and with the Alton 1s playing on the opposite pitch and being quickly taken off the field, we wondered if we'd be doing the same. Alas the shower passed fairly quickly, so play remained uninterrupted.

Ash had been badgering the skipper for more of a chance with the bat - this week was very much his chance to shine, coming in with 20 overs to go, and a desperate need to stick with Lizo to help the 3s stay in this game. Alton then changed up their bowlers again, bringing spin into the game for the first time - Ash took a liking to the leggie, smacking another through the leg side for 4 more. Lizo and Ash started to rotate the strike well to keep that scoreboard ticking, and soon brought up the teams 100 in the 32nd over, this time with a boundary for Lizo, flicked off his pads, and for the first time in the game, the batters were on top.

The 50 partnership came up in the 36th over with some more good running, as Alton looked to protect the boundaries into the final 10 overs - we were looking at a minimum of 150, with an aim of pushing toward 175 with a final flourish, to secure an additional batting point. Ash continued to hit the ball hard, with those in the ring, particularly at cover and midwicket feeling the effects of his power. Ash's fun came to an end after another bowling change saw Ash clean bowled for a superb 30, that in a partnership of 65 with Lizo, was absolutely crucial in the 3s getting to some kind of a score.

Paul D joined Lizo in the middle with license to hit out - Paul got a head height full bunger first up, with everyone expecting the ball to sail over the ropes for 6. Somehow Paulie-D managed to cue end it into the leg side for one! In the same over, Lizo brought up a fighting 50, that was met with rapturous applause from his teammates and some handshakes from the oppo, such was the resilience shown in this knock.

Paul finally found his first boundary with a classical Downham shot, flat-batting the ball wide of long on for 4, before a single brought up the 150. As the overs ticked down, Alton brought back their opening bowlers to try to keep things tight through to the end of the innings. The final few overs were a mixture of good bowling and good running - Paul and Lizo got bat on ball as much as possible and kept the scoreboard ticking, whilst both bowlers showed their quality, not giving anything loose for the batters to cash in on.

As we reached the final over, the 3s were on 165, with 10 more runs required to get another batting point. A couple of singles off the first 3 balls made the 175 look a tall task, but 5 helpful wides flew past Paul to help get us closer, before more good running in the final few balls saw the 3s get up to 176/6 from their 45 overs. A superb recovery from 54-4 at nearly the halfway stage, led by Lizo's superb 58* (from 128 balls, 3x 4s) and ably supported by Ash (30) and Paul (12*).

2nd Innings

Teas were very kindly provided by Alton and were devoured by all. It was however at this point where the rain started to come down, and fairly heavily, so the covers were swiftly put on to protect the 22 yards. 15 or so minutes past, and whilst the rain had started to ease, it remained persistent, with both skippers and the umpire taking a walk out to the middle - it certainly was damp.

A brief break in the rain saw the covers come off, whilst the 3s were in their whites warming up, ready to start the game. Unfortunately the rain returned within 5 minutes, so the players moved back under shelter whilst we waited for a change in the weather. There was a suggestion of starting in the drizzle, however that is (quite literally) a slippery slope, especially when it comes to a decision on what conditions are playable or not. So after another discussion between the skippers and the umpire, and a final heavy rain shower, the captains shook hands and called the game.

Wrap Up
And so two of the first three matches of the season have been rained off at the halfway mark. In terms of the cricket we did play, if we hadn't batted out our 45 overs, we could well have gone on to lose this game before the rain came. Batting was not easy, and the standard of bowling (and fielding) really showed the step up in quality of opposition this season - we did however withstand a barrage of pressure and bat out the 45 overs when it looked unlikely. Whilst we may have been slightly behind the 8-ball at the halfway stage, we had something to bowl at, which is a credit to Lizo, Ash & Paul.

POTM: Liam Schooling - 58* off 128 balls (3x 4s) - a serious knock in a tough situation against quality bowling - Lizo did the hard work, batted time, gave himself a chance and did the job needed for his team. Lizo was in his element, the team couldn't have asked for anymore from him.

After the rain called a halt to proceedings, the Alton Skipper invited the O's team back to their clubhouse for a free drink and a natter. It was at this point that the skippers shared their admiration of their beloved Southampton FC - we were talking about a potential trip to Wembley and how exciting that would be. However, with the hearing related to the 'spygate' charges looming, both acknowledged that that excitement might be in vain, and lo and behold it was. That means I shall not be at Wembley this weekend - I will be at Long Sutton leaving the side as we host Whitchurch 1st XI, in what no doubt will be another stern test. Whitchurch almost got promoted from Div 4 last year and have started the season in good touch. We will be up for the challenge, and on what looks to be scorching hot weekend, there will be no rain delays this Saturday.