Wolvercote 1st XI vs Shrivenham 2nd XI

I stepped out of Toftsy’s Alpha for my first appearance for the club with a mixture of emotions. Nerves, intrepidation, excitement, anticipation. All my fears that the season opener might be washed out seemed to have been without foundation as the wicket, although not bone dry, was more than playable.

Campo strode out to the middle, coin in hand, for what may be one of the more important tosses of the season. He returned to tell us that he had performed well in the tossing department and we would have first use of a wicket which would prove to be fair, but which certainly had something in it for the bowlers.

He tossed the new ball to Burnsy, a scar on the bridge of his nose the only sign of his batting indiscretion which resulted in his A&E trip last weekend. His first over was a sign of things to come. Tight bowling, with a good line and length regularly found. John shared the new ball and as with Burnsy hit the spot right from the start.

It might have been a different story had a number of simple chances been held in the field (hands held up here, i dropped 4). As it was, a fantastic spell of middle over bowling from Wayne and Rich, which saw the flow of runs stifled and as a result wickets tumble at both ends resulted in Shrivenham setting us a target of 119 to win.

After a lovely tea had been demolished, mostly by Asif, Tofts and I made our way to the middle to try and find the runs to take us home. I was out in the 4th over, with the score on 26 and Toftsy yet to get off the mark, but that was what he needed to get going. He batted superbly, playing himself in nicely before picking and putting away the bad balls.

He had ample support from Gilly and Dirk, who had both been livewires in the field, before Asif came in to help see the side home. Toftsy finished on a fantastic 50no and his linchpin innings was something we hope to see more of all season.

All in all, it was a fantastic all round team performance. Everyone from Gus behind the stumps, to Burnsy and John’s new ball bowling, Rich and Wayne’s middle over pressure and Toftsy winning knock contributed. A 7 wicket win with 18 overs to spare was more than we could hope for in the first game of the season, but inspires confidence that it may be the first of many. Bring on Kilkenny next week!!

Ben

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