Skipper Dom Finn reckons Broad Oak have all the components to brush off being underdogs and become T20 Trophy champions.
The Colne Valley side travel to Delph tomorrow to take on the unbeaten Drakes Premiership leaders in the final of the Total Indoor Cricket Solutions sponsored competition.
It promises to be a spectacular showdown at Huddersfield Road, where the T20 Shield final between Thongsbridge and Clayton West kicks things off at Noon.
The Oak and Delph won’t be in action until 4pm, but it will be worth waiting for.
While Delph have carried all before them this season, Broad Oak are fresh from ending the four-year unbeaten run of Hoylandswaine in the shortest format of the game.
Restricted to just 134-8 in their 20 overs, the Oak responded with a compelling bowling and fielding performance to confound the favourites and hold them five runs short.
That’s given them massive confidence for the final of a competition the Oak haven’t won since it was the Examiner Mini Cricket Trophy (eight-a-side) back in 1993.
“The final is an identical scenario to the semi-final for us,” admitted Finn, who has some big guns under his command.
“We are the underdogs and, while Delph won’t be underestimating us, there’s really no pressure on us.
“We know our game plan of bowling in the right areas, backing our spinners and taking our catches and, when you’ve got Henry Cooper and Charlie Roebuck at the top of your order you’ve always got a chance with the batting.
“They are so destructive as a pairing and, if Charlie comes off for five or six overs, there are a lot of runs on the board.
“In truth, we are massively confident in our top players and, if they come off, we are more than a match for the opposition.
“We definitely accept Delph are the favourites because they haven’t lost a game all season, and it’s disappointing they won the draw to be at home, but we are going to have a good day out and we will definitely make it hard for them, whatever happens.”
With regular skipper Lee Baxter not involved in the T20, Finn has the armband and some very gifted, willing and spirited cricketers at his disposal.
“I’ve got the captaincy because Baggy has always backed me as someone who knows the game pretty well, but I talk to the likes of Jack Hargreaves, who is a good mate of mine and knows the game, and Matt Butters, who was skipper at Marsden, and there are two or three others as well, so it’s a real team effort,” explained Finn, 25.
“I think our batting is the strongest point of our game plan, but the excellent ground fielding and discipline we’ve shown with the ball have made a big difference.
“The team spirit is magnificent, too, and the coach Richard Horner keeps going on at us about how one stop, or one brilliant catch can always turn things around for you.
“The club is great, to be fair, and when you go to other clubs and see people arguing and having a go at each other, that never happens at the Oak.
“Everyone who joins gets into the team ethic and there are no fall-outs.
“Everyone enjoys playing together and being together, win or lose, and I think the short format suits us because we are all fit lads, we never give up and our supporters give us tremendous backing.”
All-round talent, too, is a big ingredient.
Kiwi Cooper, from Northern Districts, former county man Roebuck, Harvey Booth, Hargreaves, Adam France and Alex Slack all fall into the all-rounder category, not to mention keeper Butters, arguably the best gloveman in the Drakes League.
Finn has productive and destructive spin options, too, thanks to Cooper and John Keeling.
“I didn’t think we had quite enough runs against Swaine in the semi because the outfield was like lightning, but looking at the whole game in hindsight, Boothy’s 51 was an unbelievable knock because everyone else struggled,” he reflected.
“We got off to a great start thanks to Harvey and Henry (Roebuck wasn’t playing) and while we stumbled in the middle, our bowling and fielding brought us through.
“The six of them bowled brilliantly (Slack, Cooper, France, Keeling, Booth and Hargreaves) and we gave them very few freebies to get after.
“There was an odd mix-up in the field, but we didn’t let that bother us, and Jack’s brilliant catch to get rid of Cranmer – who is Swaine’s most dangerous player – was probably the turning point.
“Jack has been brilliant in the field throughout the competition, anything that goes near him he catches and he’s a superb asset to have.
“Going to Delph might mean a lot of those balls we have been catching will be sailing out of the field, but we won’t let go of our bowling disciplines and our ground fielding and we will build up the pressure.
“That’s what told against Swaine in the end, the pressure we created against a constant stream of good batsmen, and we didn’t give them an inch with regard to rubbish bowling.
“We were in the right areas pretty much all the time and that’s what we’ll be looking to do again in the final.”
