Oskar Kolk; Throwdowns from Grandad to Captain of Lansdown Cricket Club

Ahead of the scheduled start to the 2020 West of England Premier League Season starting in the South West, I had the opportunity to catch up with Oskar Kolk, the new Captain of Lansdown Cricket Club 1st XI. The joys of technology allowed us to catch up and I was able to ask Oskar about; how he was keeping, his plans as newly appointed skipper at Combe Park, an insight into his cricketing background and his bid for a full contract with a County in the near future, despite the global pandemic.

Oskar celebrates another Century

Oskar’s love of cricket came from a young age when his Grandad throw tennis balls for Oskar to hit (or attempt to hit) back passed him in to the spacious back garden in Cornwall. From Cornwall to the Home Counties, Oskar continued to develop as a cricketer, joining Surrey Academy from under 9s. Continuing his cricket development with Surrey, whilst knocking those tennis balls further into the garden when in Cornwall, Oskar was training and playing with soon to be big names of the sport; Sam & Tom Curran, Ollie Pope & Dom Sibley, but to name a few. Flourishing as a young cricketer he was awarded a scholarship to Reeds School, Cobham, where almost upon joining became a member of the School’s 1st X1. Where he met coach and now cricketing mentor Keith Medlycott, ‘Medders’, the former England & Surrey left-arm spinner and middle order batsman for Surrey and Northern Transvaal.

Having finished his time on Surrey’s Emerging Player Programme, Oskar focused on School Cricket at Reeds before, under Medders’ guidance, heading to Australia for the Winter playing for Mossman’s in the Sydney Area whilst using his spare time on an academy programme for 6 and ½ months.

Coming back to the UK, Oskar spent time playing for the MCC Young Cricketers before heading to the University of Cardiff to pursue a degree in Economics, a dual fold purpose to enable Oskar the chance to play MCCU cricket for the University. Despite an injury in his first year at University, Oskar played the 2016 season at Normandy in 2016, Oskar won the Surrey Premier League in 2016. His contribution to Normandy’s success saw Oskar being asked to play for Middlesex, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire 2nd X1 in the Summer of 2017 following his first ‘proper’ season with Cardiff MCCU.

In Summer 2019, Oskar made his first-class debut representing Cardiff MCCU playing against Somerset County Cricket Club in a pre-season match where he had a good experience of country cricket following his previous times representing county second X1s. He batted out a session with team-mate and good friend off the pitch, Dan Douthwaite. Continuing the following morning, Oskar continued batting with Douthwaite and scored 33 from 82 deliveries (Douthwaite 42 from 109) in a match that Somerset went on to win. A good season for Oskar representing Cardiff and Wales Minor County raised his profile further and the bid to play for Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

The 2020 pre-season for Oskar could not have started better when Cardiff MCCU travelled to South Africa. Scoring runs against Sussex would not have harmed Oskar’s chances of securing a full contract with a County. The pre-season presented a rather promising opportunity for Oskar on return to the UK, before COVID-19, as newly appointed captain of Lansdown Cricket Club in his second season at Combe Park. An impressive first season with the West Country Club in the top division saw Oskar leading the team with the bat scoring 3 centuries and contributing most games to Lansdown making a positive start. Oskar remains optimistic about being appointed captain of the club and leading (both in person and with the bat) a good, young squad in the topflight of recreational cricket in, arguably, one of the strongest Premier Leagues in the country. Given the pandemic, he continues to train his body and mind and improving his skills with the bat after purchasing a reasonably priced bowling machine to save his Grandad and Mum from having to give him throw downs with the tennis ball where Oskar’s passion for cricket emerged.

The plan this Summer is to graduate from Cardiff and to return to Oz once the COVID-19 Pandemic situation is resolved, and international travel restrictions are lifted. From there a return to the South West to continue captaining the club cricketers at Combe Park in the 2021 season where he (and every other cricket lover) is hopeful to get a complete season of cricket, and who knows, perhaps a playing contract with a County beckons for Oskar?

The full video can be found here: https://youtu.be/ZQ88lE1Lhe4