OCCC 160 (Broughton 44, B Scriven 41) lost to Oundle Rovers 198 for 9 (Smith 81, Dahl 4-27, J Scriven 2-28) by 38 runs
This year’s Cricketer Cup campaign came to an end with a whimper as we lost at home to Oundle Rovers in the quarter-finals in a game we seemed to have under control before our middle and late-order batting fell apart.
Yet again, Brad Scriven had to cope with late cry-offs, and again he had to draft in replacements to whom we are very grateful. It’s been a real problem this year although it is not just us. All three opponents this year have reported similar issues, and one quarter-finalist cried off their entire match because of poor numbers. We have to hope this is a reaction to the strange 15 months we have all endured.
With and early start (to allow everyone to get home to watch the Euro 2020 final) and under leaden skies we won the toss and stuck Oundle in on a slightly moist pitch. The impressive George Ealham struck in his first over but thereafter the seamers posed few problems. The introduction of spin – Jack Scriven and Angus Dahl – slowed the run-rate markedly and the resulting pressure brought wickets as Oundle slid from 63 for 1 to 127 for 7. But Greg Smith (81) used his first-class experience to marshal the lower-order, the eighth-wicket stand of 64 turning out to be crucial.
Set a target of 199, Jack Scriven (23) came out of the blocks in typical fashion, cracking three successive straight fours in the first over off Patrick Foster adding another four and six in his second, to the bowler’s obvious and vocal displeasure. Although he then fell to the veteran Jules McAlpine (as did George Ealham for 0), Brad Scriven (41) and Bruno Broughton (44) steadied the ship and were largely untroubled as they took us to 95 for 2. The things started to go wrong.
Brad Scriven, after a slightly shaky start, had found his touch when he tried and failed to hit Tommy Simeons over the top. Dahl (6), not in great for with the bat, followed but with Broughton looking good we still seemed to be in charge. They key moment came when McAlpine bowled a rank long hop which Broughton, looking to heave into the leg, was far too early on and was bowled. That exposed a long tail and although Lewis Bedford (26), batting like a man who had actually been to bed, tried to keep us in the hut he found little support and the innings ended with an almost inevitable whimper.
A disappointing exit and one which was hard on Brad Scriven who had been let down by late drop-outs in all three rounds. On the plus side, this was a very young side – the oldest player was 28 – and with the School producing a steady stream of good cricketers the future remains bright.