OCTOCHAMPS
In the long hot summer of 2026, a ragtag band of misfits, outcasts and deviants took on the cricketing world….and won. This is their story.
Saturday 20th June, Ovington 3rd XI vs Dunnington 3rd XI
Ovington: 104/10 (31.5): Smith, 19; Patterson 4/15
Dunnington: 76/10 (26.2): Arbon 19; Chandra 3/30
Ovington won by 28 runs
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351724
A Saturday in late June saw the 3rds entertain Dunnington in what the captain thought could be a game of anything. The Millthorpe pitch looked excellent and the thoughts were scores could be high.
As usual, the captain was wrong. Ovington batting first struggled pretty much from the off. Noah Morgan stepping down a level to find form hit a confident 4 but fell two balls later in the opening over. This may or may not have been connected to the fact that he initially pulled out of the delivery as 2 people walked in front of the sightscreen (thank you KJ & Sharoon). Graham Walton smashed a 4 and then fell in similar fashion in the 2nd over and Ovington were looking in trouble. At this point the skipper decided to go clean the mower and brush out the garage in hope it would change something out on the pitch. In his absence Aaron Moorehouse and Sharoon Shahzad did start to get the scoreboard moving.
The issue was the pitch that looked in good nick was actually a complete minefield, one ball to the next was completely different and you could go from getting hit in the toe to hit in the helmet from identical balls. Good luck playing that. Aaron fell and straight after so did Sharoon. 32/2 became 32/4. Luke Smith (sponsored by Deniz Best Kebab) strode in and from the off was solid, it was either a block or a scoring shot. Jon Bell at the other end added a real touch of class and they managed to get us to 71 until both fell in quick succession. The pitch royally stitching Bell up and Smith getting an unexpected good ball. Captain Dave Warner hung around for a bit and looked comfortable until getting bowled with a nothing ball that did a little off the pitch. Andrew Tomlinson and Khurram Jillani fell to the same delivery, full and swinging and Ranjan Bhattacharyya went last. 104 all out in 31.5 overs was not good enough but also it wasn’t a lack of application that got us there. Most people walking back in played the right shot, they either got a decent ball or the pitch played its part. 104 wasn’t massive but also wouldn’t be an easy chase.
After a picnic Ovington opened with their reply Gaurav Chandra and Ranjan. From the off Dunnington understood the task so tried pinching runs wherever possible, this however led to an easy run out from Bell’s accurate throw. Next up was long time nice guy but run scoring nemesis of Ovington 3rds, Jonny Sumner. Fortunately the pitch did him dirty and Tomlinson took a smart catch off a leading edge from the bowling of Ranjan. Not for the first time this season, the next set of overs became the Gaurav show. Bowling around the wicket with an angle into footmarks he became extremely hard to play. Smith took a very sharp catch to remove the opener, one chipped to Warner was a doddle and finally middle stump knocked back, coming the ball after a loud and maybe obvious appeal was turned down.
Warner (Sponsored by Dunnington Landscapes) brought himself on and a bad ball brought a wicket, another catch for Smith. Dunnington were 60-6 and the captain looked over at the scoreboard and saw no way Dunnington could claw this back. KJ accurate as always took the next, a high well taken catch from Sharoon who had a very swollen finger. KJ then was involved in a run out, normally known for throwing rockets that get his teammates scattering like tenpins, this time he plopped this one towards Tommo like he was throwing for double tops. Luckily Tommo was alert with the gloves and managed to take off the bails in time.
It ended with tail end hoover Warner getting a young man plumb LBW and Ovington found themselves with the win.
A great team spirit and performance, man of the match gets split between Luke and Gaurav. Luke’s safe hands and top score on the day kept us in the game throughout and Gaurav’s great spell got Ovington ahead on the day.
Well done all, we go again next week.
3rd Team Captain DDR Warner, seen here having been caught by a paparazzo after being awarded an England Central Contract
Saturday 27th June, Ovington 3rd XI vs Rufforth 2nd XI
Rufforth: 76/10 (34): Smith 4/17, Herringshaw 3/3
Ovington: 77/2 (16.2): Sehgal 38*, Herringshaw 22*
Ovington won by Eight wickts
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351729
The following Saturday came and what should have been away at Rufforth was turned into a Millthorpe special due to an invasion of caravans onto the Rufforth Square. Rufforth did say the next time they were able to visit their premises after the caravans had left, they found it still in good condition and with a lovely new tarmacked car park.
Onto the game and as it involves Ovington, nothing happens as it should. This was obvious to see when Ovington started the match with 8 players and a sub fielder as they went out to bowl in scorching conditions. It must be said Ovington looked better than normal and more threatening having only 8 players. Smith and Liam Herringshaw absolutely tore through Rufforth leaving them 7 down for not much in no time at all. Smith bowling for the first time in a few weeks after crying to his skipper and Herringshaw very quiet and unassuming both did their jobs brilliantly. Former Countdown champion Herringshaw ensured the opposition were unable to find the right word in reply as his own numbers game ended with 6 overs bowled 3 wickets taken for 3 runs conceded. We’ll have one from the top please Rachel. Rufforth did provide a mini fight back but once the Metcalfes arrived and Neil had the ball in hand the innings was done.
A decent spread was on show after the skipper had moaned about the previous week and a lot was consumed.
Out Ovington went to bat, Dr Neil and Graham had started well but fell early which left the rest of the innings for Kush Sehgal to smash to all parts. Herringshaw played England noughties cricket whilst Kush played Bazball and the game was done in absolutely no time.
It must be said young Ethan Currie and Toby Metcalfe (Sponsored by Agility Trampoline Park) both bowled very well in the middle overs. KJ came on to quiet everything down just as Rufforth were looking like they might get a score. James Wilkinson was a keen and handy fielder and Tomlinson behind the stumps kept it tight as always.
Well done all, man of the match goes to Luke Smith and we go again next week.
3rd Team Vice Captain LPG Smith (left), seen here celebrating with his biggest fan
Saturday 4th July, Ovington 3rd XI vs Duncombe Park 2nd XI
Ovington: 139/10 (39.2): Warner 37; Watson 4/17. Dunn 3/31
Duncombe Park: 110/10 (37.2): Moston 38; Rogerson 4/23, Smith 3/30
Ovington won by 29 runs
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351737
Saturday came around once more and the 3rds found themselves at home vs Duncombe Park, a very new fixture for the 3rds.
Batting first on a tricky Millthorpe deck Ovington got off to a shaky start finding themselves at 27/3 and 52/5. Metcalfe senior falling to a classic Millthorpe low one, Aaron and Theo Life bowled when looking to attack. Metcalfe Jnr getting run out although it must be said the fielding was top drawer and Sharoon getting caught in the same place he’d already hit the ball 5 times. To be fair to Sharoon he thought the best form of defence was to attack, in hindsight it just maybe wasn’t to keep trying to hit 6 into the wind on the bigger boundary. He later claimed the wind surprised him despite the same wind having been blowing from the same direction at the same speed for the previous 2 hours.
From there Captain Warner joined Wilkinson in the middle and the skippers instructions were clear, keep out the good one and anything else you feel like whacking then please do. And young Mr Wilkinson took this fully on board, constantly punishing anything he felt not to be on the stumps. Between them they put on a very useful 50 partnership and Ovington had something on the board. After Wilko fell it was a case of little bits from the remaining bats and Ovington got to 139 all out of 38.2 overs. On a tricky surface with the Ovington bowling attack to come there were suddenly hopes of a great victory at hand.
And a victory it proved to be. Dr. Neil Metcalfe returned 1 wicket and although he could and should have had more, his metronomic skills meant the scoreboard barely moved. Dr. Simon Rogerson was inflicting damage at the other end with his niggly “spin” bowling ending up with 4 wickets in his ten overs, one been a great caught and bowled which did set him up for a hattrick that unfortunately didn’t quite come off.
Once Metcalfe and Rogerson were bowled out it became high pressure time and commeth the hour commeth the men with Smith and Ranjan trusted with performing the deed. The Duncombe Park scorecard was repetitive. Metcalfe, Rogerson, Smith, Ranjan and Warner were constantly involved with the wickets and the catches and come evening time Ovington completed a famous 3rd team victory. Even just a couple of years ago a game like this with a result like this would have seem far stretched but not this year, it takes the winning streak to 3 and we keep on rolling.
Man of the match goes to Rogerson for a great display!
Same again next week please.
3rd Team Wannabe STI Rogerson, seen here taking drastic measures after trying to live on Tea for Two
Saturday 11th July, Heslington 3rd XI vs Ovington 3rd XI
Ovington: 193/9 (40): Herringshaw 46, Warner 39*; Lilley 3/45, Lugmayer 3/54
Heslington: 163/8 (40): Lugmayer 36; Chandra 2/18
Ovington won by 30 runs
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351743
A new Saturday and another match for the Ovington faithful, this time traveling just around the corner to play Heslington on a very smart University 1st team pitch. After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Ovington, as pretty much always, found themselves in early trouble. Aaron edging to slip and Noah with a leading edge back to the bowler seeing the scorecard reach a worrying 18/2. This week however there was some old school substance in the batting department. And after a testing start for both Herringshaw and Sehgal they managed to cut lose with a quick partnership of 65. But this is Ovington to 82/2 became 98/5. All 3 dismissals to the slow left arm captain of Heslington, one rank half tracker hit to mid-on, one full toss hit again to mid-on and then a smart delivery to get young Toby.
Warner went out to join Herringshaw with the hopes of calming things down but Herringshaw fell soon after for a very handy 46 runs. Smith and Tomlinson both came and went quickly and 124/8 Ovington were bang in trouble. Luckily for Ovington once a year Warner and Gaurav team up to deal some pain. It’s a simple partnership and it works well, Warner hits singles and Gaurav smears anything that moves. Using this scientific data based way of playing cricket Warner made sure Gaurav was on strike and Gaurav swung with menace and just about every ball he faced. This took Ovo from 124/8 with 9 overs left to 193/9 from the 40 overs bowled. Probably a par score on a good track and slick outfield but something to bowl at for definite.
Out to bowl went Ovo and the first few overs were a bit tentative, balls falling just short of fielders or just over their heads until KJ went bang bang and Heslington were 26/2. From here nerves started to jangle but as we’ve quickly come to learn if you need a wicket turn to golden arm Luke Smith. Week upon week he is making the important breakthrough and he did the same again, bowling their skipper when he looked set for a huge score. Neil Meltcalfe came back to finish his spell and Heslington went from 90/2 to 90/4.
And a few overs later they went from 110/4 to 110/7 and affectively it was job done. Gaurav bowled a truly brilliant spell when Smith came off and Herringshaw (the wily old veteran that he is) kept jumping in-between bowlers at his captain’s request to bowl one here or two there and each time keeping it tight.
In the end Heslington batted out their overs with some late hitting from two promising youngsters but they fell a bit short of Ovington’s total.
Man of the match goes to Gaurav Chandra for excelling with bat and ball and Ovington hit the 4 in a row.
Could the magic 5 be on the cards???
3rd Team Captain DDT Warner, seen here doing some late night groundwork on The Mire
Saturday 18th July, Ovington 3rd XI vs Dringhouses 2nd XI
Ovington: 115/10 (38.3): Shahzad 48; Thornton 3/16, Tompkins 3/20
Dringhouses: 92/10 (21.0): Crane 34; Smith 7/27, Chand 3/38
Ovington won by 23 runs
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351747
The lads rocked up to the MCG (Millthorpe Cricket Ground) to see a green seamer perfect for bowling. However this is thirds who very rarely turn up with 2 or more seam bowlers. Instead they turn the screw and do some weird things. Dringhouses skipper John was running late so Clifton Alliance stalwart George Brown joined stand in captain Luke Smith (Sponsored by Deniz Best Kebab) for the toss.
After losing the toss, Smith and the Ovo Invincibles took to the crease and things were looking good. A steady but structured start left the boys around 74-2 at drinks. Great batting partnership with Sharoon hitting 48 (bottled his 50 by giving the fielder catching practice) and Theo Life (Sponsored by M&A Solicitors) scoring 25. The pair batted very well hitting to all areas of the ground. Life didn’t get an extra life however and was caught behind square bringing Ed Bolt to the crease. He batted very well but was seeming to get a little frustrated and after almost being out 5 times in his first 4 balls he settled down at the crease for 12 runs from his 29 balls. Drinks came and wise words of “keep doing what you’re doing” from the skipper were ignored and an array of silly shots and good balls led to a classic third team collapse. However, in came the heavy anchor Smith once again, dropping a high score of 6 runs from 41 deliveries. In doing so he frustrated visitors and made sure that if runs weren’t getting scored at least Dringhouses were exerting themselves in the field. Ovington finished the collapse on 115 thinking they were probably about 60 runs short of a good game.
Tea for 2 went down well and Ovington grabbed the apples and got onto the field ready to start a hostile and energic fielding display.
Khurram Jillani opened the bowling alongside… well the plan had been for (Gaurav) Chandra to open at the other end but after he had cried off the previous evening it was (Mahendra) Chand bowling instead. Ovo hoping that the shedding of a letter or 2 would make them more streamlined and efficient. KJ went wicketless and with the scores at 48-1 after 8 overs, Luke said “it’s Kong time”. Mahendra had justtified his selection in bowling a very tidy 10 overs for 38 runs taking 3 wickets along the way, but as the old phrase goes “Cometh the hour cometh the Smith”. The cricket district star boy bowled 7 overs for 27 runs and took a couple of wickets (SEVEN) along the way. Mahendra again being involved taking 3 catches in a short space of time at a short midwicket. As the wickets began to tumble, belief was struck into the Ovington hearts. Dringhouses skipper John came out to bat and asked Smith “How are you taking wickets?” To which Smith replied with a slower ball* that looked like it had been hit just over Will Muskett’s head, however a big leap and a take from behind his shoulders sent the team into jubilation. The win was now in touching distance. Drinks came in the 20th over with the score 90-8 Dringhouses needed 26 runs with 2 wickets in hand. Ovington had other ideas and Smith proceeded to bowl 6 more deliveries, taking a further 2 wickets for just 2 runs leaving Dringhouses all out for 92. Smith dropped to his knees in celebration, taking career best figures for 7-27 and most importantly of all, beating the local rivals after a game of needle the first time around this season.
Man of the match goes to Smith without question but the scorecard doesn’t quite show how much of a team effort it was. This result under the leadership of stand-in skipper Smith shows Ovington 3rds do not know when they’re beaten. This made 5 wins in a row and surely next week cannot be 6??
*Editor’s Note: How do we tell which of Smith’s balls are slower balls and which are not?
3rd Team Vice Captain LSD Smith, seen here celebrating finally being allowed his own bank account number.
Saturday 25th July, Ovington 3rd XI vs Hovingham 2nd XI
Hovingham: 147/9 (40): Newton 35, John 30; Fricke 4/35
Ovington: 148/8 (35.1): Reid 52; Newton 5/38
Ovington won by Two wickets
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351754
After last week’s heroics this week saw a very new 11 face Hovingham. Losing the loss but getting to do what he wanted anyway, returning captain Dave Warner was 100% unsure of what to expect. The week leading up to the match had seen the skipper ask everyone within a 10 mile radius if they were available until he found his starting 11 and even that turned out to be a starting 10 until 2pm. But at the same time there was promise that he’d maybe found himself a couple of gems that were returning to the field after long layoffs.
Club Secretary Simon Fricke made the early breakthrough bowling to a plan, thinking isn’t something we always do in the 3rds so it was nice to see. Brandon Bishop then took the biggie. Opening the batting for Hovingham, ex-Ovo junior Danny Cameron was averaging above 50 with a mean strike rate so when the ball ballooned up in the air it was already a case of drop this and you might lose the match. Thankfully the fielding this year has been good and Warner snaffled it up to give Bishop his first wicket of the day. From there it was a different job than the Ovington boys have been used to. Division 4 normally sees wickets fall in bunches but not this time. Attritional cricket at times was fought between both sides as Hovingham dug in and Ovington did anything they could (apart from click their fingers) to take wickets. Bishop took, 1 more, Fricke took 3, Mahendra Chand who was outstanding took 2 and Ranjan took the other dangerman batsman. Sakib Saadat on debut took a good catch, Bishop managed to miss a catch with 2 hands and it ended up with a 1 handed catch. Some would say sublime others would say rubbish, I will reserve comment. The standout fielder though was Tom “Tosh” Reid on debut, a good catch was the absolute least of his fielding display, he was everywhere and like a wall. In the end Hovingham finished 147/9 off their 40, not a bad return at the MCG.
It’s worth mentioning there was maybe 30+ runs scored in edges and poor Graham Walton appeared to be shielded by a force field, no matter where we stood him the ball would go 2 yards either side and if it didn’t go to a side it would land 2 yards short or pop up and go 2 yards over his head. So as we had tea there was a thought 147 was maybe a few too many for us.
Out to bat after tea and Ovington were 4/1 with Walton going early. Will Stockton went in at 3 and did a stellar job, rotating strike and hitting the bad ones. He ended up with 19 before been bowled but a valuable 19 it was. On a day when top order batsmen were at a premium he really stepped up. From here it became the Tosh Reid show. Whilst at one end Mahendra was steady away picking up singles along with the occasional classy shot for 4, Tosh at the other end was showing us what we and maybe the club have been missing in recent times. A genuine display of power and good running. He was clear when it was 1, he was clear when it was none and he made sure if he was playing to hit a boundary then the ball was going there. 2 huge 6s, 6 ironed 4s and good running in-between.
Mahendra fell to a great piece of bowling by a young gent on debut for Hovingham but Sakib joined and looked confident. Drinks arrived and were taken and Ovington went back onto the field at 88/3, 60 needed off 20 overs with 7 wickets in hand, simple right??
Unfortunately not, star bowler Coultard was bowled out so Hovingham made a change at the houses end and it paid dividends. His first over went dot, dot, Sakib bowled, Ollie Thrift bowled, 4, Warner bowled and dot. A mixture of swing and slow looping deliveries saw the game turned on its head.
Reid sensing the issue pushed to get things done, unfortunately against the same bowler he went 6, 4, 2 and then out. At this point Warner was kicking himself for the collapse as Ovington looked close to a loss. But, and a big but, Simon Fricke had other ideas.
The evening before Fricke was told he may have to open if we batted first so was rumoured to have spent all morning using his sons bowling machine at home, and boy did it pay off!! The first few runs were streaky but as he got his eye in (telling himself each ball “hands & feet”) he became solid. He played the danger bowler well, blocking out the wicket taking deliveries and then hitting the loose ones. At the other end Tomlinson was building the Great Wall of Holgate and suddenly from the jaws of defeat victory was well within sight. After a few shouts of Geoffrey and with scores tied Tomlinson did let loose only to get caught by the bowler.
It mattered not though as Mr Fricke hit the single needed and Ovington completed the 6th win in a row.
Simon Fricke will feel very unfortunate not to receive man of the match after hitting the winning runs and taking 4 wickets. This week though MOM goes to debutant Tosh Reid. Fielding at a standard Millthorpe rarely sees and then batting with heavy power and comfortable running means he walks away with the award and hopefully we get to utilise his skills a few more times before the season is up.
We go again next week where vice-skipper Smith looks to maintain his 100% record as stand-in captain.
3rd Team Captain DOA Warner, seen here failing the obstacle course section of his army physical exam.
Saturday 1st August, Copmanthorpe 2nd XI vs Ovington 3rd XI
Ovington: 258/3 (40): Reid 101*, Shahzad 71, Moorehouse 49
Copmanthorpe: 236/6 (40): Newton 59, Oakes 53*, Wollard 47; Shahzad 2/45
Ovington won by 22 runs
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351756
David Warner rallied the troops together for yet another game where he was unavailable….. Could Luke Smith make it 3 from 3 as stand in captain? Could it be an unthinkable 7 wins in a row?? Copmanthopre themselves were 7 wins straight so a great match was anticipated.
Stand in skipper Luke Smith (Sponsored by Deniz Best Kebab) won the toss and elected to bat. The surface was solid and looked interesting with some cracks but played very well. Smith decided to ignore captain Warner because he likes to live dangerously and annoy the skipper. Warner had sent Smith a batting lineup to follow but Smith had other ideas. And each time Warner messaged Smith in the first innings he got a reply of just 3 words. Trust The Process. Graham Walton was scheduled to be batting 5 but was moved back to opening batsman with words of belief from the captain.
A great opening stand between Walton and Moorhouse (Sponsored by Nutripact) saw Moorhouse almost hit his first half century (49) before being clean bowled trying to swing through a straight ball. Walton accompanied him well at the crease well but unfortunately fell for 12 runs in the 23rd over. Doing a very good job of building the foundations, this opening stance gave Sharoon and Tosh a licence to swing. Something they did to perfection. When Walton Fell, Sharoon was on 33 runs, hitting to all parts of the ground. Tosh said, “you’re batting too slowly mate, watch this” and proceeded to beat Sharoon to the half century mark in only 26 deliveries. His 2nd in as many games. The runs kept flowing and Sharoon found himself on 49 and was asking Gaurav if he could borrow his gloves as his were very wet. The skipper told him to grow up and not change gloves, he’s seen this happen before and it always leads to the batsman getting out. Sharoon hit his half century in style and then proceeded to tell himself that he would beat Tosh to the century mark. This ended when he missed a straight one on 71 runs. A very good innings. At this stage Tosh had around 84 runs on the board, dreaming of a century. The ball kept flying to the boundary and with 6 balls left of the innings, he found himself on 97, 4 dot balls and nerves started creeping in. But Tosh held his nerve and smashed the ball over the boundary for 4. Averages are in the minds of lots of batsmen so guess what happened for the last ball… Correct, NO RUN. This completed a very well structured innings from the third team putting a good total of 258-3 on the board.
Teas were good and then the usual apple stop with Luke Smith came into play, Ranjan and Gaurav started bowling well but then Gaurav injured his hamstring and could move less than Smith, which is saying something. Smith, after a 7 wicket haul in the last game he played then replaced Gaurav. The first ball was the worst ball to have ever been seen on a cricket field (no sarcasm). Some say it didn’t even reach the other crease…. And it went downhill from there. Everything paddled to leg and smashed between fielders. Heads were dropping and drinks found Copmanthorpe in the driving seat. 120-1 after their 20 overs.
Drinks came and the troops were rallied. Heads lifted and dot balls crept up and boundaries kept to a minimum. The game firmly in the balance. Smith came back on to bowl after his paddy and bowled a good over, dismissing the opener and reigniting the belief of the Ovington side. James Mason (1-45) continued to bowl excellently at the other end restricting runs with a tight line. Sharoon stepped up with Ranjan to bowl at the death and with the injured Gaurav bravely agreeing to stand at slip it allowed the extra fielder out on the boundary. Every single Ovington player can hold their heads high with that fielding performance. It was mentioned before the game that fielding will win the game and it proved to be vital. The saved runs and heroic fielding left Copmanthorpe needing 26 from the last over and unlike England and the World cup, the team knew, it was coming home.
Player of the match this week is shared by the two men who made this all happen, Tosh and Sharoon. Very well done to all the lads involved though. They all played a vital role in claiming the victory to make it 7 wins on the bounce.
TRUST THE PROCESS
Surely next week won’t be 8???
3rd Team Smashers TMI Reid and SMH Shahzad, seen here celebrating playing out a maiden over for the first time in their careers.
Saturday 8th August, Ovington 3rd XI vs Sheriff Hutton Bridge 4th XI
Ovington: 197/7 (40): Shahzad 48, Moorehouse 33; G. Bell 3/59
Sheriff Hutton Bridge: 118/10 (34.5): Hammond 27; Smith 2/25, Fern 2/26
Ovington won by 79 runs
Scorecard: https://ovington.play-cricket.com/website/results/7351766
Another week so another Saturday of cricket as Ovington 3rds hosted SHB 4ths. In truth the Ovington 3rd team side was the strongest it has maybe ever been, realistically been more a Ovington 2.5’s rather than 3’s but with strong availability and people needing to get back into form before the 2’s relegation fight the team picked itself.
Wining the toss and batting first Kareem Baqui and Moorehouse put on a really strong start. SHB opened with pace but this year Millthorpe is more of a spinners track and whilst mostly accurate the father and son pace team struggled to create any chances, Ovington found themselves 49/0 after the first 10. From there it became a battle of wits and spin. The young and very successful leg spinner George Bell firstly had Baqui caught with an edge through to the keeper before bowling Moorehouse. Morgan came and went quickly. Most on the sideline thought it was a very harsh decision from Umpire Smith, Morgan had taken a large stride down the pitch to take LBW out of play. It is even said that his front foot was somewhere close to midoff when he was struck but Smith, well known for his mystical foresight and 20/10 vision, gave himself a few seconds before sending Noah back to the sheds. As always in this 3rd team we value honesty and integrity and Smith called it plumb and said he can only give what he can see, so fair play. (For future reference, if you’d like to pat his guide dog, its name is Spot).
Not to worry though, we have a men in rich veins of form in the 3rds so enter the scene Life and Shahzad. With instructions to take no risks and get us past 30 overs they did just this. Even when the skipper wrongly told them we had 167 on the board with 14 overs left (it was actually 127) they still stuck to the plan. Life eventually fell upping the ante and Spencer Fern (Sponsored by The Plant Man) the same as he looked to get the total towards 200. Warner joined and between some awful calls of yes and then NOOOOO Ovington managed to stick 49 runs on the board in the last 6 overs. Sharoon did fall after a classy 48 but Moazzam came out to heave a huge six and with good running Ovington ended the innings on 197, the highest total this year at the MCG. Warner himself finishing with a very useful 25 off only 12 balls.
After a half an hour break in the beaming sun Ovington came out to field and got to work. Fern opened up and it soon became clear one of the SHB openers was keen to hit 100% of deliveries faced into the cow corner region for 6. He did get off to a quick start but by 15 overs he was caught LBW by Warner and at 49/1 they had some work to do. It must be made clear the SHB team contained 4 adults so they were doing their best to spread the batting about but it was always going to be hard work. SHB best chance was the skipper who this season is averaging over 50 at this level. He came in at 4 but lasted only 3 balls as a quick slide and throw from Warner caught him ran out. If Smith’s camera had worked properly Warner’s display may have gone viral and finally got him that big money move away from the club he has been looking for, unfortunately not to be so we’ll say no more about it.
From there it became a well though and professional display from the Ovington boys. The fielding was excellent, Fern and Moorehouse on great from, Life the same until the dreaded 3rd team hamstring injury came to play. Simon and Spencer both took a wicket a piece with good c&bs. Luke Smith between the odd ropey one had 2 unplayable deliveries and took 2 wickets and a very sharp run out from Morgan left SHB 9 down. Bell Snr and Jnr were at the crease, Jnr played a lovely reverse sweep. Albeit for no runs but the technique was exquisite, the same cannot be said of his father who was caught lbw and with that the game was done, Spencer taking the last. 8 wins in a row was never in the playbook and looking across the season how we’ve managed it has been unbelievable.
The only man so far not mentioned in this report is Tomlinson. 34.5 overs bowled and 1 genuine bye conceded. As a wicketkeeper the best thing you can ever hope for is no-one mentions your name and every week we really do underplay what a huge difference it makes having a man behind the stumps who stops just about everything. On top form once again.
Man of the match goes to Sharoon, another hatful of runs. And who knows, next week he may even take the catch off the skipper but we’ll talk about that another day. Well done all and we regroup next week for what will be an incredibly hard game against Old Malton.
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, those words would prove prophetic as Malton were the team to end the amazing run of wins.
3rd Team Captain DUI Warner, seen here being birthed by the cricketing Gods, fully formed and can in hand.
Match reports by Dave Warner and Luke Smith