The OB Club and School hosted round 1 of the Cricketer Cup on Sunday 11 June. The competition was first conceived in 1966 for public school alumni cricket clubs and was seen as the equivalent of the Halford Hewitt in golf. The OB Club played in the competition in 1970 but then several decades on the periphery ensued before the club returned in 2010.
To start this year’s campaign we welcomed Lancing Rovers, last year’s quarter finalists, who provided the upset of the 2022 tournament by beating Tonbridge in the first round.
The OB team was made up of a blend of previous Cricketer Cup campaigners and recent 2022 leavers.
In glorious sunny conditions the OBs won the toss and decided to bat first. A strong batting performance resulted in the OBs scoring 361-7 in the allotted 50 overs with half centuries from Shiv Patel, Charlie Thurston and Jake Duxbury.
In reply, the Lancing opening batsmen both scored half centuries by the drinks break to give them an outside chance of chasing down the huge target. However, the breakthrough soon came with some fine spin bowling form Rahul Sheemar, who picked up four wickets, while there were three apiece for Shiv Patel and Christian Davis as the visitors slumped to 123 all out.
Following the match, both teams enjoyed some well-earned refreshments and a couple of beers.
Top L-R
Shiv Patel (04-15), Charlie Thurston (07-14), Rohan Mehmi (17-22), Dilan Sheemar (17-22), Anish Katechia (15-22), Jake Duxbury (11-16), Rahul Sheemar (12-19).
Front L-R
Jack Goldberg (09-11), Will Aitkenhead (04-09), Christian Davis (00-11), Ed Wharton (07-12)
Next game is on the 25th of June away to Old Tonbridgians who defeated Old Merchant Taylors’.
Thanks also go to Peter Rowe (03-08) our ever-present scorer.
OB’s Cricketers vs Old Tonbridgians – 25th June
Having lost the toss, (which proved a vital one) the OB’s were put in to field on a warm day down in Tonbridge. The opening duo of Ed Wharton (07-12) and Rahul Sheemar (12-19) set the tone well with the new ball but were unable to find early inroads. The Tonbridge openers both batted fluently with conditions to suit early on. We began to control the run rate with the introduction of spin. A special mention to Rahul Sheemar who bowled particularly well!
We managed to restrict the home side to 252-8 off their 50 overs.
A tough chase was ahead of us however, with the pitch deteriorating rapidly and becoming very spin friendly. We applied ourselves well with the bat with the top order getting in and accumulating starts. The innings was anchored superbly by Harry Gouldstone (12-19) but we kept on losing wickets at the wrong time, halting momentum. Unfortunately, we fell 41 runs short but it was a valiant effort given conditions.
Score: Old Tonbridgians 252-8 (50 overs) beat Old Bedfordians 211 (46.2 overs) by 41 runs
