OB Cricket vs The School

On Friday 24th May, after a number of years' absence, an OB Cricket XI returned to School to take on the current 1st XI team. The OBs, a unique blend of youth and experience (including two father and son pairings - Ant & James Raeburn and Nick & Jeremy Watson) won the toss and elected to bat first.

After a somewhat shaky start, the batting grew stronger and thanks to a well crafted innings of 60ish from Richard Horswill, the OBs finished on 167-8 from their allotted 30 overs.

Following a delicious hot lunch between innings (was this intended to slow down the OBs in the field?!), in reply, the School lost an early wicket to the wily left arm over of Nick Hobbs, but made steady progress towards their target and ended up winning by seven wickets in the 28th over. Hobbsy bagged all 3 wickets!

It was a most enjoyable afternoon and a welcome return to the School for the OB cricketers. The Cricket professional at the School, former Essex batsman, Jaik Mickleburgh is very keen for the fixture to once again become an annual affair and will be holding further talks with OBCC President, David Wasley, in the Autumn to strengthen the cricketing links.

The full OB XI (not in batting order!) was : 
Nick Watson
Jeremy Watson
James Raeburn
Ant Raeburn
Ed Gooday
Paul McGowan
Nick Hobbs
Lee Austin
Richard Horswill
Connor Whetstone
Kris Ali