An Oakley team featuring seven veterans between the ages of 13 and 17 was narrowly beaten in a thrilling contest against Bat and Ball yesterday.
Batting first youngster, Steve Savage, scored 22 whilst being superbly supported at the other end by the mercurial talent of Alex Brundle, who top edged his way to a memorable innings of six before allowing Bob “Mr Cricket” Lethaby to the crease.
Brundle: Top edged his way to an excellent innings of six
Lethaby, always the showman, went on to make a dashing eight, displaying his vast array of bottom edges, air shots and across the line haymakers that featured an exquisite four top edged over the wicket keepers head to the boundary. A maiden 50 is surely just a formality now for this burgeoning talent who is rapidly causing the ECB major selection dilemmas.
Sadly for the bumper crowd that featured three spectators and a couple of passing horse riders, Lethaby was controversially given out LBW whilst executing a trademark across the line carve, when replays (had there been any) would have clearly shown that the ball would have hit middle stump halfway up.
This brought Dan Compton to the crease and he looked in blistering form until he was out for a second ball duck, leaving Julian Worthington and Callum Van Dyk to hold the fort before they were done by the explosive pace of a twelve year old who had mastered the art of making the ball “stay low.”
The Oaks were eventually all out for a daunting total of 118, offering little hope to the beleaguered opposition.
In the field, the Oaks went about the task of defending their total with great skill and dilligence, reducing the opposition to fours and sixes as they got bogged down in what was becoming a turgid affair.
As the pressure intensified, Oakley needed experience and who better to turn to than their captain with no idea of field placings, Bob Lethaby, a fine leader of men (and teenagers) if there ever was one.
What followed was an eclectic mix of bowling beauty, featuring full tosses, half trackers and wides that the opposition, riding their luck, splattered to all areas of the ground. One six, a lucky straight hit back over Lethaby’s head, resulted in the ball eventually being found this morning by a bemused West Dorset potato farmer.
Cricket is a game of fine margins and had Lethaby been six foot taller, it could have been an easy caught and bowled but instead, his solitary Over went for a very respectable 17 meaning that Bat & Ball edged their way two the narrowest of victories with just 25 Overs to spare.
What a day, what a game, where the real winner was the game of cricket!
Up the Oaks!