OA Sport
Cricketer Trophy Round 2:
OACC (120-4, Lewis 53*) lost to he Old Georgian's (121-3, Lewis
2-36) by 7 wickets. (Match reduced to 24 overs due to rain).
After a pleasing win against a school leavers' XI the day
before the mood in the camp was high. We managed to
win the toss and elected to bat on a decent looking King's
track. Openers George Webber and Kabir Kohli made a solid
start, putting on 33 for the first wicket before Webber was
unfortunate to chop the ball onto his own stumps in the 7th
over. Phil Lewis came in at number 3 and along with Kohli
got the scoreboard ticking and we were well placed at 58-1
after 10 overs. However, losing wickets in 2 overs (including
the aesthetically pleasing Kohli for 21) saw us pegged back
and a steady partnership from Lewis and Charlie Mckegney
was required. his was exactly what we got before Mckegney
was dismissed in the 20th over with the score on 89. OA
debutant Georgie Adcock then joined Lewis at the crease
and a promising stand saw us well placed on 120-4 after 24
overs before the heavens opened, Lewis unbeaten on 53.
It wasn't until almost 5 o'clock that the game resumed and
because of the time lost we had to surrender the remaining
of our innings and the Old Georgian's were left 24 overs themselves to chase our total. Needless to say this favoured
the opposition hugely as they were able to bat knowing
they had just 24 overs to bat, not the original 50 that we
thought we would have had. Sadly we just didn't bowl well
enough to take the required early wickets to put them
under pressure and despite good opening spells from Will
Hardwick and Sam Venn, they went unrewarded. Lewis did
manage to scalp 2 wickets in his 5 overs and Hardwick came
back to take one at the end but it was too little too late.
After a brilliant win in the sunshine against the leavers XI
yesterday (largely thanks to Will Hardwick's 85) we were
unable to replicate our performance and the better side
won on the day. Huge thanks must go to all the players for
their patience during the rain interval and the catering staff
for preparing such a delicious lunch at short notice. We look
forward to next year's competition.
I would like to thank everyone that played for contributing
to a very impressive team win and the team's special thanks
go to Samantha and Robert Lowe for their fantastic work
providing us with our tea, coffee, biscuits, cakes and a
wonderful lunch.
Old Aluredians v Old Millfieldian's
(171 all out, C Mckegney 56) lost to the Old Millfieldian's (172-5,
Venn 4-30) by 5 wickets.
Another splendid day was enjoy by the OAs at Millfield but
sadly this one resulted in our first loss in the fixture since its
inception back in 2011. On a muggy and overcast morning a
team decision was made to bat first if we won the toss and
this duly happened shortly before 11:30.
Despite the difficult overhead and pitch conditions openers
Will Webster and Kabir Kohli (both tourists to South Africa
in 2006) did well to see off most of the new ball before
Webster was stumped after some very handy glove work.
Sadly this sparked a mini collapse with Leo Goodman-Jones
and debutant Henry Breeze falling quite cheaply. Charlie
Mckegney and Kohli then dug in to take us to within touching
distance of lunch before Kohli's patient knock of 31 came to
an end. Peter Hale and Mckegney then took us to lunch at a
respectable but patient 103-4.
Given our attritional start to the day some acceleration was
needed after lunch and the Mckegney-Hale axis gave us
a decent platform, putting on another 50 runs before they
both fell in quick succession for 56 and 35 respectively. Sadly
150-odd for 6 turned into 171 all out as we struggled to find
the balance between acceleration and reckless stroke play.
Knowing that early wickets were absolutely crucial if we were
to defend this total, some very attacking fields were adopted
and some majestic swing bowling from Sam Venn saw him
grab the first 4 wickets. However, a very attacking knock from
a recent leaver Harry Ellison saw him past 50 and keep the
OMs on track. With the total on 88 (76 of them to Ellison)
in the final over before lunch he rather gifted his wicket to us and at 88-5 we were in the game.
his was as close as we got as two more younger OMs, Charlie
Vickery (MCC) and Jack Waller (brother of Max), guided
the home side past our total - both finishing on 40* despite
two contrasting spells of bowling from the innovative Will
Griffiths and the economical Ian Jeanes. Many thanks must
go to David Standfield and the rest of the OM's for another
brilliant day of cricket and hospitality, all enjoyed in the true
spirit of the game.
Despite our unfortunate exit in the cup this has been another
successful season of the OACC. A first win on Speech Day
for what must be close to 10 years attracted some younger
OAs to join the club as well as a significant boost in active
members from elsewhere. Bring on 2016 where we will have a
brand new set of shirts and more OA caps on show!
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