OB CRICKET CLUB V 1ST XI
The final week of term sees OBs return to School to play the current 1st XI. You never know what kind of side they will bring but this year they got together a fantastic squad – credit to their captain for doing so! Bedford 1st XI lost the toss and were made to bowl on a wicket that had some life in it for the first time this year! Normally it’s a batsman’s paradise and a graveyard for seam bowlers. The OB’s were bowled out for 213. Elliot Wingfield bowled terrifically well with the new ball claiming 2 wickets of his 9 overs. The main man with the ball for the boys though was Rahul Sheemar who finished with figures of 15.1-1-62-5.
Bedford 1st XI got off to a strong start in their reply with the bat until Rahul Sheemar fell for 40 and then things started to go downhill being bowled out for 132. Other contributions came from Harry Gouldstone who made 29 and Ali Hassan who made 23.
The OB’s then had the pleasure off bating on a sticky wicket with a couple of hours to go on the final day and finished on 70-6, meaning there were 26 wickets to fall on the first day which is almost unheard of!
The next morning, two of the OB’s big guns came in and played majestically. Former professional cricketer Christian Davies (00-11) finished on 103* and captain Will Aitkenhead (04-09) made 51 before Charlie Thurston (07-14) came in and blasted a breezy 27. Alex Rennie finished with a 5 wicket haul and the OB’s finished on 274/9. The OBs finally declared leaving little time for Bedford School 1st XI to make a full assault on the huge total set of 356. As ever, the boys were keen to get themselves into a position to have a crack at the total and they did so. With 20 overs to go, the 1st XI needed around 180 and at the team talk decided to make a go of it. Unfortunately, Ali Hassan fell for a superbly constructed 109. After this, the boys played well to see the game out for a draw and finished on 201/6. Other contributions came from Harry Gouldstone 47.
As always a fantastic occasion for everyone involved and some great cricket on show. The game was played on the 29th and 30th of June.
Tom Brett (Staff)
OB CRICKET CLUB V 2nd XI
We hope to post a full write up of the OB Club v 2nd XI match in the very near future. Please do send us any further photos of this occasion.
We’d like to thank all OBs for playing, which we recognise may have involved taking time off work and travelling a long distance to represent the Old Bedfordians Club.