SUPER SATURDAY

Saturday May 24th was the day OTCC kicked started the season. Prior to the rains of Sunday and Monday it was always going to be an important weekend for the club to set down markers for the Season.

The 1st XI have struggled to bowl out sides so far this season; always looking comfortable with the bat the Town needed to get a result under it’s belt and the fact that it was done in emphatic style highlights the potential in this side. Jimmy Chambers side won by 10 wickets with both Martin Van der Merwe and Neil ‘Frodo’ Fox (On his 20th birthday) scoring 94 n.o and 52 n.o. respectively to cement a victory. Paul ‘Shambles’ Campbell took 4 wickets and afterwards dedicated his spell of bowling to his little friends birthday saying,

 ‘I’m a penniless student so I couldn’t buy him a present. The least I could do was bowl out their side to give him the opportunity to score a 50′  The mark of a noble and tax dodging friend!

I am now starting to feel old when I see a Saturday 1st XI with 8 players that have passed through school whilst I have taught there! But, yet again it highlights how successful the policy of OTCC is. The acquisition of Martin Van der Merwe this season is proving a revelation on all fronts. His contribution on the field has been first class already scoring 460 runs with 2 centuries. Off the field he is making an equally admirable contribution to the junior and senior coaching in the club.

Now in 6th position in Div 3 there will be a concerted push for the summit.

The development 3rd XI is proving a huge success giving a number of youngsters the opportunity to experience League cricket. This weekend saw them beat Kibworth 4ths by 6 wickets with what was a very young side, 7 under 16 and 3 of those under 13. It was the Oldies however who provided the bulk of the runs Adrian Cade & Nick Groom scoring 62 & 35 repectively. However, a team is only successful when they all contribute in the field and by all accounts this was a team performance. Up the 3rds!

Finally the triumverate of victories on Saturday was completed by the 2nds with a superb team performance and some excellent captaincy from Shaun Smalley. All I will say is the Oldies again did it with the bat, but the youngsters did it with the ball. Up the 2nd’s!