North Powers First XI to Victory
The First XI took on Donnington on a cracking early summer afternoon at Oakley Park yesterday.
After a solid start from the Dons, the Oaks seized the initiative and demonstrated their strength as a bowling and fielding side with the bowlers once again in good nick.
Openers, Potter and Barnes took a wicket apiece to halt any progress with Brad Compton-Bearne (2-27) bowling beautifully to snare a further two Donnington batsmen.
Not to be outdone by the pace men, new boy, Dave Pistorious (2-24) Dan Sumner (2-14) and Clive Welsman (1-15) reduced Donnington to what was a paltry looking 146 all out in an outstanding performance in the field.
However, the target suddenly looked a huge one as the Oakley top order collapsed in disarray amongst a mixture of good bowling and poor shot making.
In seasons gone by, the early loss of captain, Gerry Dique, may well have sparked a descent towards a calamitous defeat but with a pre-season call to arms demanding mid order partnerships, this side is made of sterner stuff.
This week the hero of the hour was Alan (Alan) North who had been promoted to the First XI after successive belligerent knocks for the Two’s.
Whereas Alan’s previous knocks for the Two’s were all about boosting an already impressive scoreboard, this was one where he was needed to turn the game back towards the Oaks when they were reeling.
He did so with some aplomb, respecting good balls and putting bad ones to the boundary in an excellent batting display. That’s 183 runs in three matches for Alan as he passes Bob Lethaby’s total since his 2006 debut; proof that stats mean nothing.
Whilst Alan (Alan) deserves the plaudits, he also needed players to bat around him, so credit must also go to Clive Welsman, James Bayliss, Alex Brundle and Mark Potter for willingly playing roles that might not look good in the scorebook but were critical in a low scoring match.
Alan (Alan) finished unbeaten for a cultured 72 with Potts (10) also unbeaten as the Oaks, tested to the limit, came through their latest test in what is looking like an exciting season ahead.
Two’s Unbeaten Run Comes to an End
The Second XI collapsed to a first defeat in nearly two years after wilting in the face of good, if not spectacular bowling from a well drilled Hook IV side at a sunny Stratton Park yesterday.
Hook won the toss and opted to bat and Oakley gained the early initiative with the excellent Ronnie McEwan (1-11-8) particularly lively on a decent pitch that was offering something for the batsmen and bowlers.
After that early tight spell, the Oaks lost a little bit of mid innings discipline that allowed Mike Dyer to punish anything short or wide as he took advantage of a bizarre LBW escape courtesy of a yorker from Steve Bown. It was an odd moment where everyone thought had hit the stumps rather than Mike’s foot. No one appealed and it was only at the end of the over everyone, including the umpire (me) worked out what had actually happened.
Mike composed himself and went on to make an excellent and deserved 50 that was pivotal in a low scoring game as the Oaks regained control with wickets for Jeff King (1-31) and Steve Bown (2-26) with Rav Kancharla (2-20) and George Lethaby (4-28) finishing things off.
This left Hook’s perennially stoical and stingy Yorkshireman, Tony Robson, unbeaten on what was to be a vital knock of 34 in a total of 149 that was competitive but not daunting.
Steve Savage (33) and Nellie Warner (40) took control of the innings in the face of some decent bowling and at 50 without loss, the Oaks looked in control.
Thereafter it was something of a disaster as the batsmen went on a campaign of calamity with the whole of the top and middle order collapsing in disarray, with only captain, George Lethaby, left standing as defeat loomed large with 8 wickets down and 100 on the board.
When George was caught trying to push the game on in the 47th Over with 25 runs still needed, it was left down to Rav Kancharla and Jeff King to attempt to push the Oaks towards an unlikely victory.
It was a sterling effort with both tailenders hitting fours, getting the score up to 140 in the penultimate over. However, Jeff got done by a good straight and full one and that, ladies and gentlemen, was that. It was hard on these two, in particular Rav, who finished on an excellent unbeaten 19 but it is not tailenders that lose cricket matches.
So, a first defeat for George and his team since August 2016 but all good things come to an end and it was great to see the team take it on the chin and accept defeat without the snarling, sulking, or finger pointing that often comes with fraying tempers at the end of a long unbeaten run.
It was a contest of fine margins where Hook bowled very well and ultimately deserved their win and it is also worth noting that the game was played in a good spirit by both teams.
The test of any good side is how they react after a defeat but if some lessons are learnt and there are a few improvements made with regards to batting discipline, there is every reason to believe that more positive results will follow in a season where maintaining RNE1 status is the goal.
We move on and hope that the sun will continue to shine.
Up the Oaks!