Rugby Meteors 241 (50 overs) Oundle Rovers 244-7 (48.2)
The Rovers progressed to the quarter finals of The Nicholson Cricketer Cup for the 4th consecutive season with a hard fought victory at Rugby on Sunday 26 June 2022.
Having lost the toss the Rovers bowled first and encountered some high class batting from the Rugby top order, which saw the hosts to 115 for 1 at the halfway stage. Patrick Foster (0-30) bowled the opening spell but the breakthroughs were hard to come by. Nicholson Man of the match Will Street (4-30) contributed the most control and with Charlie Fernandes (3-44), in his first major Cricketer Cup bowling spell, they managed to take regular wickets during the second half of the innings. The Rovers held several good catches, including two from Cameron Wake, and with Jules McAlpine (3-55) mopping up the tail, the Rovers were happy to keep Rugby below 250. The fielding unit was exceptional and Simon Fernandes was impeccable behind the stumps, yet again yielding “no byes”.
A new opening partnership of Wake (18) and Rory Osmond (32) started quickly but the introduction of Rugby’s spinners slowed the rate and set off a string of unusual dismissals amongst the Rovers top order. Simon Fernandes (49) provided the glue and Greg Smith (36) a classy acceleration, but the Rovers found themselves 165 for 6 in the 37th over. 2019 School Captain James Esler (28) and his successor Tommy Simeons (34*) with watchful patience and skillful batting then took the game away from Rugby. Their partnership of 53 ended with Esler’s run out and it was left to Patch Foster to complete the chase with a quickfire 15 off 6 balls.
The Rovers will now host Old Millfieldians at Oundle on July 10, the team who defeated them in the final of the 2021 competition. All Oundle cricket family and all OOs are strongly encouraged to come and support.
With 3 tournament wins and having been 7 times runners-up, the Rovers remain the third most successful side in the 56 year history of the competition. This places them ahead of all of the other schools on Oundle’s traditional cricket circuit.
Oundle Rovers: Greg Smith*(St A 07), Cameron Wake (L 04), Rory Osmond (G 10), Simon Fernandes+ (Ldr 18), Charlie Fernandes (Ldr 17), Tom Bishop (F 10), James Esler (C 19), Tommy Simeons (St A 20), Patrick Foster (St A ), Will Street (Sc 10), Jules McAlpine (Lx 88), Alex Cunningham (L 19).
