Report by Ferdi Rex:
With apologies to the author of this SkySports article.
"You cannot do that Olly Rex!"
Sir Nick Clarke had 2011 (133*), James McNamara 2016 (133), while 2019 belongs to Olly Rex.
"No way. No, no way. You cannot do that, Olly Rex!"
Romsey's not so remarkable summer started with an "innings saving 50* off 71" from Olly against Comberton on May 11, with Glenn McGrath quoted as saying "This is the year. This is Olly's year." He couldn't have been more right.
Romsey turned up at Milton feeling very confident; they had 12 players, the best batsman of the season was in the ranks, and there was the optimism that's always found in a new captain. This time, Catherine took up the mantle with 1 (or 2, or 3, . . .) vice captains.
"I'm certain I've never seen batting better than that at Milton", was Romsey's Ferdi Rex's reaction. "The changing of gears through the innings was a class above, matched only by their poor fielding".
In the last game against Milton, questions were raised over their use of first team players to reinforce their batting and bowling. However, this wasn't to deter Romsey Town and a very gutsy performance saw them fall agonisingly short of the win that day.
Sir Nick Clarke had 2011 (133*), James McNamara 2016 (133); there can be no doubt that 2019 belongs to Rex, averaging 98 with the bat.
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Romsey Town put Milton into bat, with Stephan and Andy opening from Tree End and The Tree End, respectively. Unfortunately, heroics with the ball from Andy were not to be seen as he pulled a muscle and had to go off the pitch. Luckily, Romsey had a 12th man in Nathan Wright, who came on mid-beer as a replacement. Robin took over the bowling from Andy, and together with Stephan they kept the openers pegged back on what appeared to be a very flat and dry wicket. Special recognition to Robin who caused all sorts of problems in his second match in two years!
Having not managed to get the vital early breakthrough, Catherine turned to Ferdi and herself to make a difference. Unfortunately this caused the wrong difference, as the extra spin and flight gave them opportunity to make use of the short boundary and up the run rate. At 20 overs, they were sitting very comfortably at 115/0, and Romsey were staring down the barrel of a possible 300+ total. However, turning to Huw and Olly immediately reaped rewards, with Huw inciting several edges that unluckily went beside, between and through keeper and slip, while at the other end Olly put the ball on the spot. Having broken the partnership with the opening ball of his spell, he proceeded to cause havoc on the wicket, confusing the batsmen with right arm medium, right arm off spin, and left arm something . . . leading to him taking a wicket an over in his first 3. With both openers gone, there was a renewed energy in the field, leading to some fine/flying ground work by Olly, Arnie, Catherine and Nick (on debut), and some even better catching. Nathan snatched an unbelievable catch having misjudged the ball - somehow the ball stuck with one arm up and behind his body! Unfortunately, Olly couldn't have a perfect day - he dropped the opener on the long on boundary . . . next time.
Catherine turned to Stephan and Robin to utilise this renewed Romsey energy - but although Milton never quite turned up into fifth gear, they still managed to make use of the short boundary and make it to 265/6 off 40. Robin finished with 2/28 off 8, which together with Olly's 3/44 off 6 showed the importance of line and length today.
After tea, Romsey sent out Ferdi and Vaughan to see off the new ball. This turned out to be fairly difficult, with Milton using an interesting tactic of bowling most balls just down the leg side. This would have been okay, except Ferdi wasn't able to punish it and ended up feathering one such ball through to the keeper and Vaughan played around a straight ball that "should've gone for six".
So, at 20/2 off 8 overs, debutant Nick was joined at the crease by our in-form batsman Olly, with a daunting target of 240 off 32 overs to deal with. Both enjoyed fairly slow starts, with the opening bowlers keeping them pegged back. Once they'd got their eyes in, both started to score with a bit more freedom, looking to punish the bad balls and work the good balls to rotate the strike. Unfortunately, Nick was out LBW before he could really kick on, but early indicators show he's one to watch for next season! Robin joined Olly at the crease, and while he played cautiously to start, Olly began to kick on and punish the first change bowlers.
Olly reached 51 off 57 balls, with only 5 fours and no sixes. A couple of let offs allowed him to get going more fully, including one ball that deflected off his glove to 1st slip - who decided he wanted to see more of Olly and just fell over near where the ball landed.
Having got his fifty, Olly really started to push on. It was a true gear change as he began hitting fours and sixes at will. Robin fell just as he began to look good, bringing Ev to the crease. At 122/4 off 28 overs, Romsey needed a daunting 144 to win off 12 overs (or 2 runs a ball). This didn't seem to bother Olly and Ev, as they proceeded to hit the next 5 overs for exactly 60 (keeping to the 2 a ball requirement). Through this carnage, Olly reached his maiden century with a staggering second fifty off just 24 balls. Ev fell at that point having played a crucial role in rotating the strike for Olly, and Stephan joined him. They carried on exactly as before, hitting 55 off the next 4 overs, with Olly reaching his 150 off only 102 balls! A massive feat that secured his place at the top of the highest individual scores for Romsey, sailing past Ferdi, James and Nick.
After the 36th over went for 20 runs, Romsey were looking at 3 overs to score 29 runs. Not the easiest target, but with Olly sailing it was looking set for us. At this point, in the dwindling 8pm light, Milton brought on their fast(er) bowler, who managed to snatch a caught and bowled from Stephan, before at the other end their opening bowler came back and had Olly caught on the boundary. With that Olly was out for 150 (off 104 balls), having carried Romsey out of the darkness back in with a fighting chance. Catherine and Huw were the two new batters, and with the fastest bowler of the day bowling in the darkest period of the day, there was not much they could do. A few nice shots from both meant that Romsey finished their 40 with a highly respectable 249/8, but 16 runs short of their target.
A fantastic match with really high quality cricket from both teams meant that both teams could walk away happy. The first Romsey 150 ever, including his last 99 runs coming from 47 balls. Unbelievable effort from Olly and the team, really well captained by Catherine. When you can sit in the pub past midnight celebrating with your cricket team after a loss, you know that you're part of the right team!
Tim Paine says Rex was too good for Milton and wouldn't like to come up against him wearing an England shirt.