The Old Bedfordians continued their good form in 2018 as they recorded three wins and a draw in the traditional Cricket Week at School. The star of the show throughout was Shiv Patel (04-15) who scored a remarkable 454 runs including three centuries and was only out once.
The OBs insisted on a toss against the MCC and, having won it, promptly compiled an enormous 338/4. The innings was built around a partnership of 227 between the Aitkenhead brothers as Will (04-09) scored 112 and Harry (06-12) 118. In response, the MCC were going well at 124/1 but a flurry of wickets left the OBs with 10 overs to take the final wicket. It proved the hardest to take though and it was left to George Wood (83-94) to bamboozle the number 11 with his left arm spin as he took the wicket for victory in the final over for a 117 run win.
An entertaining T20 against the Ousels saw the OBs score 177/6 with 70 for Patel and 65 for James Skirrow (09-14). The Ousels were in the game all the way and needed 12 to win from the final over but Paddy McDuell (04-15) held his nerve as the OBs won by nine runs.
The traditional two day game against the School was a hard-fought encounter as the OBs struggled to 226 all out in the first innings despite 103* from Patel. In response, the School recovered from 27/4 to score 209/9 before another Patel hundred helped the OBs set an intimating 285 to win. The School were never really in the chase and reached 100/6 heading into the final hour. The OBs struggled to take the final few wickets though and the School finished nine down at the close to draw.
Will Aitkenhead (04-09)
A big thank you to all the OBs who took part. The OBs now face Cranleigh here at the School on 5th August for the semi-final of the Cricketer Cup. We do hope OBs and friends will be there to show their support. Find out more about this here.