Eastbourne College Old Boys vs OBCC, Sunday 21st June @ Saffron Ground, Eastbourne

Sunday 21st June - could it be the day that one of the most one sided contests we play was to be reversed?

Team To Play Eastbourne

Carl Igolen-Robinson (c)

Ed Dean (wkt)

Neil Green

James Mitra

Johnny Owens

George Hobden

Andy Whittingham

Richard Stringfellow

Michael Quest

Jim Berressem

James Maxwell Jnr

At the last minute this fixture was changed to the Saffrons 2nd XI pitch in Eastbourne as the College was unavailable which was a shame because neither the pitch nor the lunch/tea were up to Eastbourne's usual high standards. In came Michael Quest for his first game of the season and the remainder of the 11 had already turned out before.

Carl won the toss and decided to bat first on a small pitch that was rumoured to not play too well. Eastbourne are a strong bowling unit and there were a few familiar faces in the opposition especially to a few of the younger members of the team. Carl and Mitty started positively, getting us to 27 off 6 overs and it looked as though we had the potential to head for a big total. However, as the bowling attack found their rhythm and the Umpires gave a couple of contentious decisions, we found ourselves 35 for 1, then 41 for 2, 51 for 3 and then 57 for 4. For the second time in 3 games a strong batting line up hadn't managed to get on top of the opening bowlers. Carl scored 13, Mitty scored 18 and the side were bowled out for 133 with Johnny reaching 52 with a certain amount of luck! After a slow start and a couple of chances given including having a ball go past the outside edge and come back to nick the stump on the way through with the bails luckily not coming off, he connected with a few loose balls and hit 3 x 6s and 6 x 4s to reach the milestone for the first time for the Old Blues.

So, out for 133 in a little over 30 overs - not the score we were looking for, and suddenly the usual ending against Eastbourne was looking all too likely. On a small pitch we would struggle to defend that total.

All our bowlers bowled well in parts, but their no.1 bat was a class act. A few early cover drives made it clear we would struggle. Questy bowled some absolute jaffas when he got going, with the ball that took his second wicket swinging in a mile and taking the top of the off stump - an absolute cracker. However their no.1 quickly got to 41 and with a few fielding errors we were clearly never going to be in a position to win the game. Special mention must go to George for his throw which rather than going to either keeper or bowler's end, went to somewhere directly to his left, along the ground, and for an overthrow! In the end, Eastbourne knocked off the runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs. Questy took 3 wickets and Richard Stringfellow took his maiden OBCC wicket. I hope this will be the confidence boost he needs!

So, still no win against Eastbourne. It WILL happen, but just not this time round. 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss.... At least we progressed further in the cup than we have for a while and I hope all the boys have got a taste for the competition in the hope we make it further down the line next year.