Old Students co-captain Oscar Lambourn.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
For Old Students Cricket Club the elevation of last year’s vice-captains is already proving a winner.
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Local juniors-turned-A-grade mainstays Oscar Lambourn and Sam O'Brien have been handed the joint captaincy of the club's Haisman Shield side, turning their well-worn batting partnership into a shared leadership role.
And under the teen titans’ tenure the Kialla Park-based outfit is off to a positive start.
Old Students have opened the 2026-27 campaign with convincing wins over Numurkah (five wickets) and Mooroopna (82 runs), and a win against Pine Lodge in round four’s two-day clash at Lemnos would herald the side’s best start in six seasons.
“We’ve had a big emphasis on just focusing on, and improving, ourselves,” Lambourn said.
“It’s on the core group now; we've played a fair bit of cricket together, now it’s (about) improving and motivating each other to continue to get better.”
Old Students co-captain Sam O'Brien.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Coming up through the junior ranks within the four walls of Kialla Recreation Reserve and on the representative cricket scene, Lambourn and O’Brien have now crafted more than 90 games of A-grade experience between them.
Already accomplished batters and often deployed at number five and six to prop up the Students’ middle order, their resumes already make for good reading in the leadership department.
Their partnership extends to the football field as much as the cricket pitch, as Shepparton thirds premiership teammates.
On that occasion, O’Brien was skipper and Lambourn vice-captain, and now they’re putting that leadership nous to use in aiding Old Students’ bid to end a decade-long Haisman Shield finals drought.
“SOB (O’Brien) and I are both really enjoying it,” Lambourn said.
“We’ve got awesome people around us with the likes of VG (coach Vince Gagliardi), Ryan Boswell and a few of the senior boys as well helping us out.
“We've worked out that I'll look after it for two weeks and then SOB looks after it for two weeks while working together and still bouncing things off each other.
“We're just focusing on how we can help the team and lead from the front and by example.”
Second-placed Old Students make the trip to Lemnos Reserve chasing three wins on the trot, with the season's first red-ball contest starting at 12.30pm this Saturday.
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