Awards Night

Oakley held their annual awards night on the 23rd July, it was a successful evening and great to see all the parents supporting the evening.

The awards went to the following players.

Best Newcomer
Alex Gray

98 Runs 4 Wkts 4 catches

Best fielder
Matt Vickers

Best bowler
Julian Worthington
22 wickets at 3.82 runs an over

Best Batsman
Sam Bulley
Average 21.8

All Rounder
George Lethaby
15 wickets 136 runs 5 catches

Players player (4 votes)
George Lethaby

Kingsclere Humbled

Oakley proved them selves as a real force for the future on Monday night after humbling champions Kingsclere in a victory unexpected by the home side but anticipated by the management of Oakley.

Kingsclere’s strong bowling line gave the openers at Oakley plenty of problems and the score board was moving slowly with wickets tumbling, but a flurry of fours and sixes from Sam Bulley (25) and Alex Gray (13) edged Oakley up to a respectable 103 giving the bowlers something to defend.

What followed was the best fielding and bowling seen all season from this Oakley side, Julian Worthington tore in to the Kingsclere attack, ripping through them in a devastating and terrorising fashion. Bowling at the other end new boy Jack Green was the unsung hero conceding just 8 runs in four overs and with several LBW appeals turned down, with Matt Vickers also bowling well and narrowly missing out on a hat-trick.

This left Alex Gray, Matt Clarke, and Jack Bmbridge to clean up the tail with more tight more bowling as Oakley kept Kingsclere to 83 to finish the season in style in joint second.

Well done to all associated with the club, a fantastic season.

M.O.M Julian Worthington 4-1-12-4 Outstanding stuff

Two Quick Wins Re-Ignite Oakley

Two wins in two days turned Oakley's season around this week with comprehensive victorys over Hatrley Wintney and Rowledge at Oakley Park. These wins came off the back of a major fielding readjustment in an emergency training session last Friday, and the response was overwhelming, the fielding was like watching a different team.

Teamwork: Oakley walk off after a job well done.



If these lessons had been learnt earlier in the season by both management and players, the quality of the individuals at Oakley could have brought a trophy, but silly losses to Basingstoke and Aldershot ended those hopes. That said, a return of 6 wins 3 defeats and one tie is not bad, and a win at champions Kingsclere on Monday would really make intentions clear for the seasons to come. Good times are ahead for Oakley CC that much is certain.

Fielding Crisis As Oakley Lose Again

An improved display with the bat was not enough for Oakley, as once again they crumbled in the field at Basingstoke. Most of the players got a decent scores, which is encouraging as seven or eight scores between 4 and 15 is more encouraging than one or two scoring thirty and the rest out for nothing. Matt Vickers came in late an hammered 11 of the last over to give Oakley a decent score of 108 to defend.

Matt Vickers hits out in the last over

However right from the start of their innings Basingstoke put pressure on Oakley by running quickly between the wickets, and too many mistakes by Oakley let the score run away too quickly. Some of the fielders will need to learn that you have to fight for your bowlers in cricket, there were a staggering amount of byes, edged fours and overthrows. This comes down to the mangement and captaincy as well, as maybe some fielders are not sure of their tasks. Either that or some players percieve that fielding is not as important as batting or bowling, when that perception, changes so will the results.

Batting
Coates caught 1
Bambridge Bowled 4
Worthington Caught 4
Lethaby LBW 9
Bulley LBW 7
Gray Bowled 12
Lancaster Bowled 13
Newcombe Not Out 6
Blackall Caught 1
Vickers Not Out 12

Bowling
Worthington 4-0-18-1
Vickers 4-0-29-1
Lethaby 4-0-34-1
Bambridge 2-0-13-1
Gray 1-0-5-0

MOM
Matt Vickers: Fine late attempt to get the score as high as possible

Weather Hot Oakley Not

Oakley wilted in the heat yesterday as some uncharacteristic poor batting, bowling and sloppy fielding let an average Aldershot side win comfortably at Oakley Park. Right from the off, the scoreboard was ticking quickly as wides and no balls became the highest scorers. Too often a good delivery was followed by a poor one, and the body language of the side was tired looking, courtesy of perhaps a few too many late nights and very humid weather conditions. Over half of the Aldershot total came in wides and no balls, that is very deflating, and it showed in the field at times.

In reply Bradley Coates continued his return to form and tore into the Aldershot attack before a careless run out saw him depart for 16. From then on it all fell apart with all the opening batsmen going cheaply in a dramatic collapse, with Julian Worthington and Henry Newcombe the only other batsmen at the crease for any real amount of time. Some needless back biting and finger pointing left a bad taste in the mouth, but that’s sport, and Oakley must now come back a stronger team unit. The fact that there was a lot of emotion flying around at the end of the game shows that parent’s and children care about losing, a very positive sign from a bad day at the office.

A massive game versus Basingstoke next week is maybe what the players need.

Batting (oh dear)

Coates LBW 16
Bulley caught 0
Lancaster bowled 0
Worthington NO 19
Lethaby Bowled 0
Vickers Bowled 0
Blackall Bowled 0
Vickers Bowled 0
Van Dyke Caught 0
Grey Bowled 1
Newcombe Bowled 8
Rowley Bowled 0

Bowling

Worthington 4-0-18-2
Lancaster 2-0-18-0
Vickers 4-0-24-2
Lethaby 4-0-12-0
Bulley 2-0-16-0
Rowley 1-0-11-0
Grey 2-0-6-2
Newcombe 1-0-7-0

Tied Match Halts Oakley's Winning Run

Oakley will now have to rely on others faltering if their title challenge is going to continue after drawing an enthralling game against Fleet that went down to the last ball.

The home side started very well, and opening bowlers kept two very good batsmen and bay, with Worthington impressive again with 2 vital wickets. However in last few overs some sloppy fielding and too many wides allowed Fleet to progress to a slightly flattering score of 121.

In response Bradley Coates found his form and confidence again with a blistering 31 of 21 balls as Oakley set about the total. However, unlike Oakley, Fleet were not giving away wides and no balls, making the run race that bit harder.

Fetch that:Bradley Coates hits a huge six as Oakley chase 121

After Brad Coates retired,Bulley, Worthington, and Lethaby all got in and got out again when looking well set for big scores. This left the job to Gray and Newcombe, who both batted superbly to edge Oakley ever closer to the target, but needing six of the last two balls Gray hit a crunching four, but just fell short with a single off the last.

Oakley will be annoyed that they hit 11 more runs than Fleet and didn't win, tighter bowling and backing up in the field, and the game was there for the taking.

M.O.M Brad Coates with a crunching 31 not out

Batting

Bulley LBW 10
Coates Ret 31
Worthington C&B 15
Lethaby Bowled 9
Vickers LBW 2
Bambrige Caught 6
Blackall Bowled 0
Gray Not out 18
Newcombe Caught 10
Clarke Not Out 0

Bowling

Worthington 4-0-16-2
Lethaby 4-0-19-0
Vickers 4-0-19-0
Bambridge 2-0-14-1
Clarke 2-0-8-1
Gray 2-0-19-0
Newcombe 2-0-15-0

Oakley Bandwagon Keeps Rolling

Oakley U13's kept the pressure on the league leaders with a superb team performance against a spirited but inexperienced Yateley at Sean Devereuax Park. Captain Matt Vickers opted to bat first and despite losing in form opener Sam Bully early on, a superb partnership of 55 from Julian Worthinton (24) and George Lethaby (32 ret) put Oakley in control, with cameo roles from Alex Gray, Alex Blackall and Henry Newcombe taking the total to a decent 103 on a big pitch.


George Lethaby hits out during his knock of 32 retired

Defending the total Oakley bowled and fielded superbly with all seven bowlers taking at least one wicket demonstrating the depth of bowling, and it was particulary pleasing to see the first wickets of the season from Newcombe and Gray to add to those of Worthington (2) Vickers (2) Lethaby (2) Bambridge (1) Clark (1).

Batting

Bulley Bowled 2
Worthington Bowled 24
Lethaby Retired 32
Gray LBW 8
Newcombe Not Out 4
Blackall Not out 2

Bowling

Worthington 4-0-11-2
Vickers 4-0-24-2
Gray 3-0-7-1
Lethaby 4-0-15-2
Bambridge 2-0-5-1
Clark 1-0-2-1
Newcombe 1-0-4-1

M.O.M
George Lethaby 32 ret, 2 catches, 2 wickets, and a fat lip from an inexplicable tumble.

Winning In The Rain

Oakley batted through the rain to make it four wins out of five in the league against Fleet yesterday. Oakley had to make several changes due to injuries and other commitments, and had the Rowley family to thank for donating George, Oscar, and eight year old Alfie to the cause, with all three performing brilliantly.


Oakley come off in the rain after another win

Oakley put Fleet in to bat, but started badly with unusually expensive bowling from the normally reliable Lethaby and Worthington. This wasn't helped by Matt Vickers deputising for Brad Coates struggling behind the wickets with an injured hand, and some sloppy fielding all round. However as so often happens this season, this gave the opportunity for others to shine, and up stepped James Lancaster (3-16) and 10 year old Oscar Rowley (2-15) with two great spells of bowling to reduce Fleet to 94 off 20 overs.

In response Oakley had a shaky start losing the openers early, but George Lethaby came in at three and hit a match winning 31 retired which was backed up by fine innings of 17 by Alex Gray who was a bit unlucky to be out LBW when going well. With Lethaby having to retire and the quick loss of Worthington (6) and Vickers (4), Oakley looked vulnerable, but Oscar (6no) and George Rowley (9no) calmly saw Oakley to victory with 6n.o and 9n.o respectively.

On current form Oakley are beginning to look genuine challengers, but the wides and sloppy fielding need to be addressed against stronger teams before this can happen.

Bowling
Worthington 4-0-18-1
Lancaster 4-0-16-3
Lethaby 3-0-24-0
O Rowley 3-0-15-2
Bambridge 2-0-8-1
Gray 1-0-2-0
Clarke 1-0-2-0
G Rowley 1-0-3-0
A Rowley 1-0-4-0

Batting
Bambridge bowled 2
Lancaster bowled 0
Lethaby Retired 31
Vickers bowled 4
Gray LBW 17
Worthington bowled 6
G Rowley Not Out 9
O Rowley Not Out 6

M.O.M George Lethaby 31 Retired

Winning Run Continues

Oakley were worthy winners against Alton on a beautiful morning at Oakley Park yesterday. Another fine bowling display by Oakley reduced Alton to 86 all out, with stand out bowling jointly coming from Worthington and Lethaby with identical figures of 4-11-1-3. The target should have been less but for some tiredness in the field allowing a decent last stand from Alton as they rallied from 48-8.




Oakley reversed the batting order to give opportunities to lower order batsmen, and Grey (4) Brown (7) and Newcombe (9) all contributed well, before leaving Lancaster and Bulley to set about the Alton attack at destructive rate, with Bulley proving there was to be no "After the Lord Mayors show" performance after blast weeks 32 n.o with another 30 n.o appearance taking his average is a staggering 87 this year in all competitions.

With Bulley retiring and Worthington going for 5, this left Lethaby and Lancaster to comfortably see Oakley home with Lancaster finishing the game in style with a thumping six



Bowling

Worthington 4-1-11-3
Lancaster 4-0-24-0
Lethaby 4-1-11-3
Vickers 4-0-22-1
Grey 1-0-9-0
Clarke 1-0-7-0
Brown 2-0-5-1

Batting

Brown bowled 7
Grey Bowled 4
Newcombe Bowled 9
Clarke Bowled 1
Bulley Ret 30
Worthington Caught 5
Lancaster Not Out 25
Lethaby Not Out 5

DNB
Coates
Vickers
Blackall

M.O.M: Too hard to call, great bowling from Worthington and Lethaby, great batting from Bulley and Lancaster. No award this week.

Odiham Bulley-ed

A tremendous batting performance by Sam Bulley guided Oakley to victory over spirited Odiham last night. Oakley got off to a poor start in the field with some misfields and off line bowling, but tightened up with some accurate bowling by Worthington, Lethaby, Clark and Grey and a devastating three wicket spell of slower bowling by Bambridge, who recovered well after an expensive first over. Oakley did ever so well as a team in keeping Odiham to 102.

Oakley chased the total with a controlled batting display to keep the run rate going, with Sam Bulley and Jack Bambridge totally in control until Jack comitted suicide with a daft reverse sweep that saw him clean bowled. Worthington joined Bulley at the crease and normal service was resumed with some fine running between the wickets with Sam retiring with an excellent 32. Oakley then lost the wickets of Worthington (13) and Lethaby (0) but Alex Blackall and Matt Vickers calmly saw Oakley home to a deseved win.

M.O.M Sam Bulley

Batting
Bulley ret 32
Bambridge Bowled 7
Worthington Bowled 13
Lethaby caught 0
Vickers not out 4
Blackall Not Out 7

Bowling
Worthington 4-1-11-2
Vickers 4-0-28-0
Lethaby 4-0-16-0
Bambridge 4-0-23-3
Grey 2-0-13-0
Clarke 2-0-8-0

Poor Batting Costs Oakley

Oakley must learn how to play good balls and wait for the bad ones to hit if they are to start winning games. Only James Lancaster (17) Julian Worthington (9) and late resistance from Henry Newcombe performed with the bat, with the rest of the team out to poor shot selection rather than good bowling by Cove that ultimately cost them the game.

A ferocious fightback led by excellent Bowling and tight fielding almost got Oakley back in contention but 70 was never going to be a competitive score. Julian Worthington steamed in and deserved better than 2-17, and he was well backed up by George Lethaby (2-14) and MattVickers (2-19) with James Lancaster and Alex Grey also bowling well helped by strong fielding.

Changes in the batting order will come tomorrow v Odiham

Overall: Batting Poor
Fielding: Excellent

M.O.M Julian: Great bowling, stoical last stand

Batting

Coates Caught 0
Blackall Bowled 1
Lancaster Bowled 17
Lethaby Caught 6
Vickers Caught 1
Bulley bowled 0
Worthington Not Out 9
Grey LBW 4
Brown Bowled 0
Rowley Bowled 0
Newcombe Bowled 5

Bowling

Worthington 2-15-4-0
Lancaster 0-23-4-0
Lethaby 2-12-4-0
Vickers 2-19-4-0
Grey 0-2-1-0

Poor Bowling And Bad Light Knocks Oakley Out

A poor bowling display from Oakley blew their chances of causing an upset against Holyborne last night, with only Julian Worthington and George Lethaby posting reasonable figures. However in fairness to the bowlers the strong cold easterly that blew across Oakley Park couldn't have helped. To emphasise the point 64 of Holyborne's total of 152 came in extras.

Having to chase a huge total Oakley had to bat with agression which proved the undoing of Blackall (1) Coates (0) Lethaby (3) and Vickers (3) before Lancaster 18 and Bulley 13no showed the way before the game was conceded in bad light with Oakley well behind the total.

This was a night to forget for the bowlers, but one to learn from also, and positives come from the fact that Oakley were certainly not outplayed by a team two leagues ahead. Man of the match was newcomer Sam Bulley with an excellent fielding performance and 13 not out with the bat meaning he is yet to be dismissed this season. Well done Sam.

Stats below note that they were 8 ball overs

Bowling

Worthington 1-22-3

Lancaster 1-35-3

Lethaby 1-20-3

Vickers 0-28-3

Clark 0-16-2

Bulley 1-13-1

Batting

Coates caught 0

Blackall bowled 1

Lancaster bowled 18

Lethaby caught 3

Vickers LBW 3

Bulley N.O 13

Worthington LBW 1

Grey N.O 1

MOM Sam Bulley

Oakley Beat Eversley

Oakley played extremely well to beat Eversley today in what turned out a comfortable victory at Wellington College. Oakley recovered from the early loss of Brad Coates, and James Lancaster (17) and Alex Blackall (10) set about building the innings. George Lethaby then made an impressive 21. Sam Bulley (11 n.o on debut) and Julian Worthington with an excellent 20 boosted the score aided by a thumping 6 from Alex Grey taking the total to 110

In reply Eversley got off to a good start before Julian Worthington took the vital wicket of their impressive opener, and terrorised Eversly with a cracking spell of opening bowling superbly assisted by James Lancaster. The two openers were then backed up brilliantly by George Lethaby , Matt Vickers, Matt Clarke and Aaron Brown, with new boys Newcombe, Bulley and Grey also doing their bit.

What impressed the most today was the spirit of the team, the constant backing and helping from the more experienced players, and the overall will to do well. Well done lads.

Oakley 110-Eversley 75

Batting

Blackall bowled 10

Coates bowled 0

Lancaster C&B 17

Lethaby bowled 21

Vickers Caught 0

Bulley N.O 11

Brown run Out 0

Worthington C&B 20

Gray N.O 6

Newcombe DNB

Clarke DNB

Bowling

Worthington 1-17-3-0

Lancaster 1-10-3-0

Lethaby 2-5-3-1

Vickers 3-12-3-0

Clarke 1-9-2-0

Brown 0-7-2-0

Newcombe 0-11-1-0

Grey 0-2-1-0

Bulley 0-2-0.4- 0

Eversley Away

The team for Eversly away is as follows: 10.00 am Start. This due to take place at the lovely Wellington College in Crowthorne
Drive through main gates at the college, go past the first pitch on right and carry on as if you are exiting on the other side, and you will see another pitch an pavillion on the right. This is a special place to play so enjoy everyone.


In order of Batting

Bradley Coates
Alex Blackall
James Lancaster
George Lethaby
Matt Vickers
Sam Bulley
Aaron Brown
Julian Worthington
Alex Grey
Henry Newcombe
Matt Clark

Res: Ben Farragher, Duncan Van Dyke

Fielding positions below:

Oakley In Narrow Defeat

Oakley just about got a team together tonight and started with just 5 players due football and school cricket commitments, with George Lethaby joining the team late and batting at six.

Oakley got off to a terrible start with some fine bowling reducing them to 12 for 4 before they rallied to 104 all out aided by some stoical batting by Matt Clarke (9) and a half decent 8 not out from George Lethaby.

Oakley bowled well defending the total but were ultimately undone by a bit of sloppy fielding, though two fine catches were taken by George Rowley and George Lethaby off the bowling of Brown and Clarke. There were many positive things about this match with the batting from Clarke, and the fielding and bowling of George Rowley particulary pleasing.

Overall I can't fault the efforts of all the players, but my MOM goes to Matty Clarke for his resillience with the bat under huge pressure, and his obligatory wicket taking spell of accurate slow bowling. Well done Matty it's great to see such a massive batting improvement.

Batting

Lancaster bowled 1
Clarke caught 9
Brown bowled 1
Rowley bowled 1
Van Dyke bowled 0
Lethaby not out 8

Bowling

Lancaster 2-0-24-0
Clarke 3-0-24-1
Lethaby 3-0-20-0
Brown 3-0-27-1
Rowley 1-0-4-0

Oakley Hammer Odiham

Everything came together for Oakley tonight at Dummer as they dished out a hammering to Odiham. With a decision to umpire strictly on anything down leg side, Oakley bowled first and tore into Odiham with excellent opening spells from Lethaby and the hostile Worthington, but even more credit goes to less experienced bowlers Brown and Clarke, who backed up the opening pair with brilliant accurate bowling. The fielding was also tight helped by a superb debut appearance by Alex Grey behind the stumps as Oakley restricted Odiham to 84.

Chasing down the target George Lethaby and Julian Worthington took the the total to 65-0 (including wides) before both reluctantly retiring with 20 not out each. This left Aaron Brown and Alex Grey to finish off the game comfortably, with Alex finishing the game in style with a thumping six.

This was a major boost for Oakley, and shows the efforts of children and parents this winter are paying dividends. With very promising new recruits recently joining the the club, the summer season, with the right application from everyone, promises rich rewards. Well done to everyone tonight I am a proud manager, and my able assistant Mark Vickers has already rang with his congratulations to you all.

Bowling

o m r w
Worthington 3-0-20-0
Lethaby 3- 0-24-1
Brown 3- 0- 17-1
Clarke 2- 0- 18-1
Van Dyk 1-0- 13- 0

Batting

Worthington ret 20
Lethaby ret 20
Brown N.O 1
Grey N.O 8

M.O.M Worthington/Lethaby

Bradley Coates-Players and Parents Player of The Year

Congratulations to Bradley Coates who narrowly beat James Lancaster to players and parents player of the year award for his all round batting, fielding, and wicketkeeping.

Bradley will be presented with the award at the annual dinner in March.

Well done Brad

Oakley Summer Fixtures

The Oakley Colts fixtures have now been organised with a couple of TBA fixtures with Fleet. Please add them to your diaries. We are are now in division 3 which should put us in with a fighting chance of doing well this year..........IF WE LEARN TO FIELD PROPERLY!!!!

Please click here for full fixture list.

Team For Odiham at Dummer

Oakley A are to play Odiham at 6.00pm on Friday 20th Feb. Meet at 5.30 please

The team is as follows:

Bradley Coates
Alex Blackall
Matt Vickers
Julian Worthington
George Lethaby
Alex Grey

Good luck boys, Odiham are a very strong side.

Defeat for Oakley U13 B

Oakley 77 off 12 overs
Easton 78 0ff 9 overs

Oakley B slumped to defeat v Easton at Dummer last night after an unconvincing batting performance left the bowlers not enough of a total to defend. Some poor running between the wickets and bad communication contributed to not one crossed over run being completed by the batsmen. On a positive note debutant Alex Grey top scored with 10 and fielded really well, he has a bright future.

Defending the total Oakley bowled quite well, in particular Aaron Brown, whilst Matt Clarke was pretty tight allowing just 12 off his two overs. Wicket takers were Matt Vickers and Duncan Van Dyk. Matt will feel his bowling could have been tighter but he could be forgiven for chasing wickets as our total was so small.

All in all, Coach for the evening Mark Vickers thought that this was a game that could have been won, and it was Easton's better organisation rather than overall ability that won them the game. The talent is there at Oakley and the team work and communication is improving, but it needs to improve a lot more yet before needless defeats turn in to victories. It will come.

Batting

Farragher 2
Vickers 0
Van Dyk 4
Brown 1
Grey 10
Clarke 1

Bowling

Brown 3-22-0
Clarke 2-12-0
Vickers 2-22-1
Van Dyk 2 -15-1