According to plan

The CCC league has now paused for Christmas, and at the moment things are going according to plan for the FGCW boys. Victory number four was completed last Saturday with a 41-run win over the NCF development side, thanks mainly to an unbeaten 69 from Femi Oduyebo, and a spell of 3-12 from Femi Olayiwole. There is still a long way to go, but so far so good.

In each match so far, one of our batsmen has produced a half-century, and on each occasion it has been a different player. It is important to have players throughout the side who can deliver runs in different situations, and so far we have demonstrated this capability. There are also a lot of bowling options in the side, particularly in the fast/medium department. We perhaps need to work on our slow-bowling capacity going forward.

Off the field, we are trying to move the club forwards in terms of organisation, equipment etc. Funding remains a challenge, which we are trying to address with a little support from some of our old boys. Keep reading, there is a lot of cricket to come...

Strength in depth

Fegocowosa CC showed the value of strength in depth in the victory over BIS CC on Sunday, in direct contrast to their opponents, whose reliance on a couple of key players was harshly exposed. Having elected to bat, the Warri top order was blown away by the left-arm swing of the host's opening bowler, but even with 6 wickets down, the Delta boys still had batting firepower left. Once the change bowlers came on, old head Obo (78) and young star Friday (48 not out) took advantage to compile a century partnership that took the game away from our opponents.

It was a similar story in the second innings. The same two players who opened the bowling for BIS held the key to their batting, but our bowling unit created early pressure, forcing them to take risks when they came together, culminating in a run-out opportunity smartly seized upon by Femi Oduyebo. Friday then completed a remarkable day by picking up the last 4 wickets in one over - including a hat-trick - to finish with 6-19, much to the chagrin of the new-ball bowlers. However, it was their early work which set the platform for his exploits, showing again the value of strength in depth.