All three fixtures posed opportunties for learning and that is what it is all about at this stage of the season. The Dev XI arent far away from being at the level required to challenge in Division 2 and i'm sure that with a few minor tweaks we will get th

- Elliot Powell - Academy Director

There were plenty of reasons to be proud of OVCC's juniors this weekend despite their mixed bag of results. The Development XI went down valiantly to Farmers 3s on Saturday, that after setting the hosts a more than respectable 168 to win from 35 overs. This impressive total (167-4) was reached after some mightily impressive knocks from Charlie Brennan (47), George Ricahrdson (36) and Will Hodgson (28*) and was the most pleasing element of the performance which should in turn bode well for the rest of the season as the group only become more accustomed to senior men's cricket. The target could and should have been big enough to defend but some inexperienced and naive bowling from the OVs enabled the likes of veteran John Douglas and young duo Will Perchard & Stan Norman to score at ease as the hosts cruised to victory with 9 overs to spare.

Those who were involved on the Saturday clearly took these positives into their game for the Vipers on Sunday morning. An impressive display in the field, especially by Louis Kelly who finished with figures of 2 overs, 2 wickets for just 2 runs, limited the SOS XI who they were taking on, to just 157 off their 20 overs. Credit must also go to Lewis Ham Howes who, at late notice, took up the gloves and did superbly well off both the pace of Brennan and the turn and bounce of Kelly, a challenging test for even the most experienced of keepers but one that Lewis passed with flying colours! The OV reply got off to a steady start with opener Archie McKeon, recently redrafted back to the Vipers, looking solid and hitting the odd boundary but the innings really caught light when his partner Will Hodgson got on strike. The Jersey age group representative continued his fine form from Saturday as he found the boundary at ease whilst limiting the chances that he offered up to the fielding side. Ham-Howes, with his confidence high from keeping, joined Hodgson in the run scoring party and the pair would eventually both retire when they reached the 30 mark. The pair had got OVs close to the finishing line but the black and golds crossed it in some style when skipper Charlie Brennan joined debutant Will Read at the crease. The latter rotated the strike maturely whilst Brennan delivered lusty blow after lusty blow, finishing on 24* off just 7 balls as the OVs stormed to an impressive pre-season victory.

Whilst the OV Vipers were taking on their western counterparts the Under 11s, in their first fixture for the OVs, were up against Farmers on FB3. It was fantastic to see so many young cricketers climbing the first rung on the club cricket ladder and there were plenty of positives to take from the display. Head Coach Elliot Corbel noted the superb display his side had shown in the field and whilst there are some areas to work on with the bat, the fact that the match went down to the penultimate ball before Farmers sealed victory highlights just what a fantastic occasion it was.

The Dev XI now have a couple of weeks off whilst the Vipers begin the defence of their Fairway Super League crown against SOS Scorpions on Sunday 12th May.

Olim Hoc