2nd and 3rd Teams Continue Winning Start to Season
The first weekend of May might have seen Ovington 1st XI taste their first league defeat of the season but their were still plenty of positives to be had. Not least in the form of morale boosting victories for both the 2nd and 3rd teams. There were also plenty of eye catching individual performances including a possible realignment of hierarchies in one prominent cricketing family.
Saturday 3rd May, Ovington 1st XI vs Clifton Alliance 2nd XI
Clifton Alliance: 204/7 (45); Atkinson 71, Simpson 36; D Buckley 5/38
Ovington: 166/10 (39.2); Wright 51, Lamb 36; Hart 3/25, Bell 3/31, Kilvington 3/36
Clifton Alliance won by 38 runs
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/6777224
Ovington First XI’s first home game of the season was a back and forth affair, as Clifton Alliance edged out a well-contested match on the Knavesmire. Captain Tom Armes (Sponsored by CDA Energy Services) returned to the Ovington side, won the toss and chose to bowl in blustery conditions, hoping to replicate the success of the opening week.
Clifton got off to a sedate start, as Olly Garner Steel challenged both openers, seeing a number of edges evade fielders and a chance dropped by Charlie Buckley at midwicket, giving Jake Atkinson a life which would prove costly. It proved the start of a day for ‘what ifs’ as numerous shots fell just wide or short of fielders, punctuated by some confident boundaries as Atkinson settled in. A 50-run partnership with Clifton skipper Andrew Simpson was brought up in the 13th over, giving the away team a solid platform for the innings.
Having seen off the opening bowlers, Clifton may have felt confident of posting a big total, however the introduction of Matthew Wright into the attack gave those hopes a knock. Wright (sponsored by York’s Hidden History) pegged back Simpson’s off-stump, nipping one under the left-hander’s pull shot, before getting some lift off the pitch to remove Simon Corley, caught behind, to leave Clifton 105/2. The visitors still had Atkinson, however, who ticked past his 50 off 84 balls before opening his shoulders with a flurry of boundaries to liven the innings up once more.
Ovington stalwart and Player of the Match, Dick Buckley (sponsored by Josh Fletcher), replaced Wright and produced an impactful spell to set back the visitor’s innings. First, he had Nathaniel Taylor caught chipping up to cover, before an incredible over a few overs later saw three wickets fall. Buckley removed Atkinson LBW for a solid 71 from 92 balls, halting the acceleration after his 50, then had another LBW decision go his way next ball. The hat-trick ball was deflected for a single before Xavier Lardner launched a big drive over cover for four. Attempting to repeat the shot the ball after, Lardner danced down and met with only fresh air, giving Alex Garner Steel a straightforward stumping. From 158/3 at the start of the over, Clifton were 163/6 at the end of it, and staring down the barrel of a sub-200 total.
Two juniors, George Hanson and Calum Hart, demonstrated some grit and talent with the bat to ensure the solid start was not put to waste for Clifton. Taking a couple of overs to settle, the young pair drove well, ran hard, and took the innings deep to get Clifton above 200 in the final over of the innings. Hart then ran past another delivery to give Buckley his fifth wicket and A Garner Steel his second stumping of the innings,. However, by then Hart and Hanson had dragged Clifton up to a competitive 204/7 and giving their bowlers a solid total to work with.
Ovington’s reply started poorly, as Neil Metcalfe was given LBW for 6, followed not long after by Charlie Buckley (sponsored by Sam Prangnell) who swiped the ball to mid-on, leaving the chase precariously positioned at 40/2. Alex Garner Steel and Jacob Lamb (fresh off the back of a fifty and a century last weekend) dug in to settle things down, seeing off some accurate bowling in the hopes that they could later cut loose against change bowlers.
Unfortunately, when that change of bowling came, Garner Steel could only pick out midwicket with a pull shot with the total on 59. Lamb (sponsored by Badger Elite Cricket Coaching) began to play more expansively, driving confidently to pick up the scoring but just as Ovo began to feel more confident two more wickets fell in quick succession. First Joe Whale chopped Hart onto his stumps before Armes was bowled by the final ball of Joe Kilvington’s impressive 12-over spell, as he finished with a commendable 3/36.
Wright then joined Lamb with 117 runs still required and together they played positively, picking up boundaries and running well to keep the score ticking over. Wright took a liking to Lardner’s bowling, driving him convincingly before picking up the leg-spin of Mark Bell for a straight six. Having put on 30 together, Lamb drove one back at Bell who stooped low to claim a good caught and bowled. When Jordan McDonough fell two balls later, the ball tangling in his pads before dropping onto the stumps, Ovington were 118/7 and facing down the barrel of a zero-point defeat.
Wright continued to play his shots, pulling Lardner for four and six, before Lardner recovered to bowl O Garner Steel for a duck. Dom Kitching came in at number ten and provided solid support for Wright, nudging singles to rotate the strike and pulling Bell confidently when he dropped short. Kitching and Wright saw Ovington past 150 and earned them two points, ensuring they took something from the game, at one point even threatening to mount a late push for the win. However Wright, having passed his 50 off 43 balls, top-edged a heave off Bell and was caught at cover. D Buckley was bowled next over by Hart to end the innings with Clifton ending up comfortable victors by 38 runs.
Saturday 3rd May, Selby 3rd XI vs Ovington 2nd XI
Selby: 106/10 (34.2); Waterton 27, White 25; Rogerson 3/15, Price 3/35
Ovington: 107/3 (19.3); Hampel 27, Dodson 25
Ovington won by seven wickets
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/6779491
Riding high on the back of their cup winning heroics the previous Sunday, Ovington 2nds travelled to face Selby 3rds with a spring in their step and a smile on their faces. Selby had done the double in their 2 league meetings with Ovo the previous year and a dispiriting defeat at Selby’s Sandhill Lane Ground had been a distinct low point in Ovington 2nd XI’s 2024 campaign. However, after winning the toss, Ovo captain Benji Busby felt confident enough in his team to ask the opposition bat first and set a score.
Owen Price continued his habit so far this season of picking up an early wicket by bowling the Selby captain in the second over of the game. The home team soon countered this early loss with some aggressive and positive batting, pushing their score up to 40 at a decent rate with plenty of boundaries. Ovington kept their nerve in keeping their field up, despite some questions being raised about this tactic in some quarters, and were rewarded when the dangerous looking Selby number 3 slapped the ball straight into the hands of Ollie Dodson in the covers off the bowling of Price. Jack Eckersley-Wilson soon took another wicket and by time it came to bring on the change bowlers, the game was truly in the balance. Busby’s first over was expensive but from that point on it was Ovington who were on the front foot. In the next over, Simon Rogerson removed the remaining Selby opening bat and in the over after that Busby (sponsored by Valentino’s York) got his revenge by getting the ball to lift on the other set batsmen and gleefully took the return catch that was offered to his way. Rogerson and Busby then rattled through a number of low scoring overs as the scorebook was filled with so many dots it began to look like a painting by Georges Seurat. Rogerson’s last over did go for 7 runs, leaving him with a very expensive looking final figures of 10 overs, 5 maidens, 3 wickets for 15 runs. Busby’s figures of 2/28 off the same number of overs providing perfect support from the other end. Price and Eckersley-Wilson then returned to take a wicket each in their first overs back to finish off the Selby innings for 106 all out in the 35th over.
Ovington’s reply quickly resembled the previous week’s effort with youngsters Ollie Dodson batting aggressively at number 3 and opener Will Hampel batting classically at the other end. Between them they quickly put on a 40 run partnership and take the sting out what could easily have been a difficult run chase. Dodson was audibly annoyed with himself after skying a slower ball and falling for 25 runs off 17 balls, in turn bringing a slightly older head to the crease. Tom Irwin, affectionately known as Second Team Steve, was making a guest appearance from his Kent home after a long injury lay off and although he took his time to get going, was soon reminding his team what he was capable of. At the other end Hampel was displaying all his enormous potential, perhaps seeing the ball so clearly due to an earlier emergency dash to the pharmacy for antihistamines. Like any good batsman, Hampel was disappointed with himself in not seeing the chase through to the end as he too skied a ball to fall for 27 but by this time he had more than done his job. Out came fellow junior Wilf Metcalf (sponsored by Agility Ninja Park) who successfully saw the job through to conclusion as he and Irwin kept their heads and waited for the bad balls before dispatching them to the boundary to finish on 18* and 22* respectively and ensuring a 7 wicket win for Ovington.
All in all an enjoyable game for Ovington, enhanced by Selby who proved gracious hosts and a performance that might go some way to remove some bad memories for the mighty Ovo players.
Week 3 will see an early season top of the table clash as Ovo 2nds host Barwick in Elmet on The Knavesmire with both teams claiming maximum points so far in 2025.
Saturday 3rd May, Ben Johnson 1st XI vs Ovington 3rd XI
Ben Johnson: 171/4 (40); Wells 88*; Warner 2/24
Ovington: 172/4 (37.4); Garner Steel 76; Palanisamy 2/38
Ovington won by six wickets
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/6780089
Week 2 took the 3rds to a very picturesque Escrick Park to take on the printers of Ben Johnson. Ovington travelled with what the skipper thought was a strong team giving him belief it could be a good day.
After losing the toss Ovington were asked to bowl and responded by bowling well. Defending one short side and one side longer than Brandon Bishop’s post round, it was never going to be a straightforward day but Bishop himself was more miserly then a pre-ghost Ebenezer Scrooge hardly giving away anything in a over 10 opening spell. Khurram Jillani was much the same with his own spell and took the wicket of what looked a dangerous opener who offered straightforward catch that was duly taken by Ashley Garner Steel.
One end was still occupied The Great Wall of Escrick aka Dan (here for a long time not a good time) Blower and then Dangerous Dave Wells strolled out to join him at the other. So on came the slow right arm of skipper Dave Warner (Sponsored by Dunnington Landscaping) and the game descended into The Battle of the Daves. Warner went for just 24 off his 10 overs taking 2 wickets in the process whilst Wells, dropped 3 or 4 times, kept his head down and made a very telling 88*. Luke Smith’s mystery spin subsequently did a very good job of continuing to frustrate Ben Johnson and the end of the innings was expertly managed by Joe Naish and KJ. Naish in particular did a brilliant job in bowling the death overs whilst KJ took another wicket in the final over of the innings. It was a tireless effort in the field, Graham Walton and Jacob Mellows showing age is nothing but a small or slightly bigger number with telling efforts for their side. Andrew Tomlinson also made a huge contribution, putting in a great keeping display standing up to almost non-stop spin from his bowlers. Ben Johnson finished on 171/4 from their 40 overs which felt like an incredible effort from Ovington against what in reality is an opposition from a division above them.
Teas were lovely and served by a true gent. Excitingly they once again saw Smith pushing the boundaries of reality, this week tucking into a large chunk of watermelon.
Off Ovington went to bat and this writer must say he saw his best ever delivery in thirds cricket to remove Walton. Pace, accuracy and late nibble off the surface gave Walton no chance and Ovo found themselves 1 down with only 2 runs on the board. This brought out Ashley Garner Steel to the middle and between AGS and Mellows things started to take shape. Having two loud calling, quick youngsters pushing their luck with the running was possibly not what the more senior Ben Johnson players were wanting or expecting to happen.
Mellows fell to leave Ovington 34-2 but after a good partnership scored at a good run rate, the Skipper was beginning to feel more than a flicker of hope. Ollie Thrift came out next and after a scratchy 10 balls started getting his eye in, scoring a solid contribution of 17 as another good batting partnership saw Ovington creep up on the scoreboard. From here on in it was an unbelievable showing from the Ovington batsman. From the second AGS landed at the crease his positive self talk and shot playing was a joy to see. He knew his job, knew he was good enough and therefore trusted himself completely. 76 runs of 97 balls is something you’ll rarely see from a 15 year old lad and rumour has it his dad even now sometimes lets Ashley sit in the front seat whilst his brothers have to make do in the back. The other man at the crease to accompany AGS was the left handed wizard Uwin Waidyaratne. Brilliant stroke play and an all round calm head from Uwin guided the two batsman to a fabulous partnership of 95 before AGS fell with only a few runs needed. Out walked Smith and after getting his eye in, he soon guided the Ovington boys home to victory.
If you told this writer 2 years ago the 3rds would chase 172 then I would have shown you my pack of flying pigs but here we are. Strong juniors and confident play does funny things to a cricket team. We go again next week.
Match reports By Matthew Wright, Simon Rogerson and Dave Warner. Photo by Khurram Jillani