1. Wolvercote loot the Steve Dixon Memorial Trophy from under the noses of West Witney,
2. West Witney let the Steve Dixon Cup slip through their fingers (makes a change from us dropping stuff), or
3. To quote Churchill (not the nodding dog), “Never was so much owed by so many to so few our bowlers”.

The weekend before last was a big one for the first team, having a top of the table clash on Saturday and the first chance of some silverware in recent memory on Sunday. It was strange that the Saturday game appeared to be (on paper at least) the harder of the two, playing away to a team riding high rather than a final against a team that had only won a handful of games all season, albeit it in the league above. So after achieving the much-needed win on Saturday, we turned up at Westbury on Sunday full of confidence.

Early signs were positive:  according to Tim the pitch looked full of runs (when don’t they Tim?!), the weather looked good , all the players made it (despite Ben and Quinny’s best efforts to have the game played on the Westbury chairman’s front lawn by supplying yet another dodgy postcode) and, in the least shocking event of the day, Burnsy not leaving until after he was supposed to arrive.

There were only two concerns at this point. First was that Ben had failed in the simple task of winning the toss (I blame Campo’s presence) and we were put in, although funnily, having a batsman for a captain we wanted to bat first anyway. The second was Brian, inexplicably, having topped off his usual giant headphone and sunglasses ensemble with what can only be described as a giant space invader crafted out of Lego dangling round his neck. Maybe after hearing about Stuart’s new day-glow cricket green shoes he felt it was the only way to “out bling him”. At this point we really should have realised the day was going to turn out to be memorable!

As with most games this season, we resorted to the tried and tested opening partnership of Tim and Tofts. We started well; after one ball we had five (thanks to a wide and a meaty four from Tim) and then Ben confidently informed me that we were on for a respectable 1,350. Things looked even better a ball later, with Tim having snicked one behind only for it to drop short. I think it would be fair to say there were some nerves as both openers played and missed more often than usual.

It’s fairly accepted that there are no two more contrasting players in the team than Tim & Tofts:  one tall, free scoring and all about flashing drives, cuts and flicks off the legs, and the other Stuart being watchful, patient and happy to bat through. But continuing the odd occurrences of the day, they had decided to reverse roles. Tofts, playing with abandon, seemed to be intent on throwing the bat and by the time the score hit 25, he had raced to 18. One wonders what his score would have been if he had decided to use the face of the bat rather than just its edges! But with one shot too many, his luck ran out and he was caught, bringing to the crease the second of our Saffers, Gus 2.

The usual array of attacking shots followed, including a particularly brutal pull to cow for four, and the score progressed to a respectable 52 before the man with the longest name in village cricket became the first of five to fall to Walker for 11.

With the score at 52-2, out strode Jamie, a man who averaged 30-odd for the club last season, but who apparently had never scored a run at Westbury in two previous innings. It was all aboutthird time lucky, which is exactly how it turned out. Sadly it was for the bowler and not Jamie, as he was bowled third ball for naught. To compound his batting horrors, upon leaving the pitch he went to take his frustration out on a stationary ball, and promptly missed that too!

What followed was a precession of 90s England proportions, with a number of batsmen making it into double figures but not much further as Walker completed his five for. Ben (bowled – 11), Tim getting one that popped (caught & bowled – 24), me (LBW – 10), Brian (caught – 13) and Rich (caught – 0) all contrived to get ourselves out each time we looked like we may be steadying the heavily listing ship which was our innings. The only light relief provided was more comical than cricketing, but ultimately costly for West Witney.

Having pushed a quick single to midwicket, relying mainly on Brian’s fleet of foot, the wicket keeper was not able to take the sharp return and the ball quickly raced down towards the boundary, fielder in pursuit. For the second time this season, I had assumed “Bellesq” that the ball had gone and was engaged in idle chat in the middle of the pitch, only to realise belatedly that it hadn’t, and that the ball was on its way back to the waiting keeper. Luckily, I realised just in time and was able to scamper to my ground. What followed was ultimately game changing, as some of the boundary spectators (possibly Gilly Snr) signalled it had gone and, much the fielder’s  annoyance, the boundary was given.

With the team teetering on 90 for 8, a partnership rarely seen outside the pubs and clubs of Oxford came together:  Messers Gillham and Burns. They promptly set about a masterclass in attacking stroke play and kamikaze running as they put on a quick-fire 32 and in the process took us past the hundred (twice if you believed Brian’s maths/misinformation). With the score a marginally more respectable 122, Gilly seemingly hit “the wall” halfway through a second run, which was probably never there, and was run out for 7 (although it felt like he scored more). All that remained was for Burns to clear the front leg and club another mighty 6 before being bowled for 31 trying to repeat the trick. All of which left us 128 all out, a score half as much as we wanted at the beginning of the day, but one we definitely would have taken at 90-8.

So after a great tea and some dubious-looking stretching, we took to the pitch looking to achieve what Stanton Harcourt had failed to do the day before, and defend a meagre 128 runs. Strangely, there was an air of confidence from all the Wolvercote fielders.

West Witney made a solid start, progressing to 30 for 0 after 7 despite the best efforts and great bowling of Burns & Chystal. However, what followed blew the game wide open. In the eighth over Wolvercote upped the hostility of the bowling and got the breakthrough, with Burnsy first bowling the opener for 13, and then two balls later getting another when the WW number three was out for a duck, again bowled. Burnsy’s figures went from 0-17 off three, to 2-17 off seven.

In the 11^th over, the B-man also entered the fray and almost immediately got amongst the wickets, trapping WW number four LBW for zero in his second over. It really was a bad day for number fours! West Witney had gone from 30-0 to 41-3 in 19 minutes.

The game was still firmly West Witney to lose, but Wolvercote fielders were swarming all over the batsmen, building the pressure with some fine ground fielding, including some full length superman dives (some more successful than others, Richie!).

Burnsy, obviously trying to impress the lovely young lady who accompanied him, then a cranked the pressure right up, with a three over spell of some note. First he had the WW opener, who was playing a solid innings, caught behind for 34. He then followed that up four minutes later with the WW number six (caught behind again) and then demolished the stumps for a third time in the innings to remove number five for 13. After completing his final over, he finished with figures of 5-29 and WW were 75-6, requiring another 54 to win.

So with one bowler bowled out, the weight of expectation switched to the rest of the Wolvercote bowling attack. And needless to say they stepped up.

After his unfortunate display with the bat, Jamie obviously wanted to set the record straight with the ball and immediately looked dangerous (despite carrying an ankle injury), which was a good job as WW had progressed to 98. With things seemingly swinging back in WW favour, Jamie proved that anything Burns can do he can do too, picking up two wickets in three balls. Having worked out the perfect length, Jamie bowled both. Game on!

After being supported by some tight bowling from Richie, Jamie was joined in the attack by Chrystal. The captain was looking for some experience and the kind of aggression that only John can provide. The change provided nearly immediate results, with JC picking up a wicket in his second over, Gus proving 100% reliable behind the stumps and pouching his third catch of the match. This all left the match on a knife edge, WW needing 10 runs with one wicket in hand.

It would be fair to say what followed was a bit of a rollercoaster… Firstly the umpire gave a mystery no ball for too many outside the ring (although he couldn’t tell us who), then the WW number 11 pulling outa heave to cow for four apparently out of nowhere, all before Wolvercote believing they had won when the WW 11 seemingly edged to the safe hands of Gus, only for the umpire to disappoint the celebrating players by not giving it. Was this the last chance?!

Entering into what would either way be the final over of the match, it would be fair to say that hopes of a Wolvercote victory looked slim. After failing to dislodge the WW number 11 in the previous over and requiring only 2, it brought the in form WW wicketkeeper on strike, who by this point was top scoring on 36. The only time he looked as though he was going to get out was with some suicidal running earlier in the innings, and he was only saved by Ben missing the stumps by inches (50p for that skip).

And there it was JVS vs. Elliot for the cup…

What followed was Roy of the Rovers stuff or the cricket equivalent at least. Fourth ball of the over and Elliot’s eyes lit up and he tried to smash it out of the ground… only to see the ball beat the swishing blade that up to that point had looked so resolute, and destroy the stumps for the sixth time in the innings. Jamie, following the ball down, almost cleared Gus with his celebratory leap into the safe hands of the Saffer stumper.

Cue scenes of wild celebrations from the Wolvercote team and amassed onlookers, in stark contrast to the dejected WW team. With the game having been played in a great spirit, and as a testament to the character of the team, a number of the Wolvercote players consoled the unfortunate and understandably upset WW batsman before joining in the celebration.

All that was left to do was for Captain Ben to collect the long overdue silverware from the confused OCA presenter who decided WW had won, for Burnsy to pick up his MOTM trophy and for the ever generous Tofts to supply the celebratory champers.

While the 11 men on the field in the final will understandably get the plaudits, it’s important to remember that a number of other players made huge contributions to get us there. There were particularly fine bowling performances in the quarter final away to Dorchester from Quinny, Pog, Kurt and Campo (who could have ended up with a bucket load of wickets if we could catch). It was also good to see such a good turnout from Wolvercote at the final, with our fans vastly outnumbering WW. So all in all it was a real club effort.

Full(ish) Score Card

Bowling

Braving a gentle force nine gale, and a ground so vertiginous fielders had to abseil to cow corner, Wolvercote Is won the toss and elected to bat. McIntyre (70) and Tofts (45) got us off to an almost perfect start, with the latter outscoring the big Saffa (a fine, surely?) as Wolvercote put on 70 odd runs for the first wicket. This feat was particularly impressive as a knackered Tofts had hit 93 the day before, and McIntyre, in order to avoid being blown over in the wind, had taken the precaution of adding a pair of anvils to his lead Wellingtons. With the loss of Tofts, Proctor strode to the crease with the sole intention of scoring more runs in a weekend that his former Gibbon team-mate. The mission was accomplished some 67 runs later, with the younger man beating the older by two on the weekend, but with the pair level-pegging on 203 in the season.

History does not record whether or not Matt Taylor actually took his pads off over night but, having sat for 45 overs on Saturday, it was not until the 30^th over of Sunday’s game that he got the chance to beat out his frustrations on a piece of red leather. A brutal, if somewhat agricultural, 44 runs followed, supported by cameo performances from Asif (18 no) and Burns (13). The latter’s innings including a pair of towering sixes biffed down the cliff at cow, and followed what has to be the longest “comfort” break since Cyril the Constipated ate 4 dozen hard-boiled eggs whilst reading the Doomsday book on a dunny in Bungay in 1087. This took the Wolvercote total to a (surely insurmountable?) 270.

Now comes the less impressive part. Having watched a modest Garsington attack concede runs by bowling short and wide, the Wolvercote bowlers elected to follow suit and, as a consequence, failed to break through the Garsington top order. There cannot be many cricket matches where the number of lost balls exceeds the number of wickets, but, with at least 5 Wolvercote cherries AWOL in the cornfield, and only one wicket each to Burns (12-1-46) and Oliver (12-1-57), the away side’s total started to look vulnerable. Credit is due to the Garsington batsmen with Day (87no), Bound (48), and Wharton (75) playing their way to within 20 or so of Wolvercote’s mountain of runs. However, the undefeated Day slowed down as the innings wore on and, mindful that, if removed, he may be replaced by a slogger with more swagger, Proctor wisely chose to put down a simple catch on the boundary and Gilly, following Ben’s lead, was almost casual in what must surely have been a deliberate drop at mid-on? Thus victory was assured, with Quinn the pick of the bowlers with a stabilizing “taking-the-pace-off-the-ball” mid-innings 54 for 0 off 12.

Tim and I progressed quickly to our first century partnership, scoring at 4 to 5 an over. We got to about 110 before Tim clipped one off his legs which didn’t clear the fielder. Next in was Ben, who started slowly – at least for the first couple of balls. Although Chalgrove have seen me bat before, they decided to push the field out for me, but keep it in for Ben, which help Ben push the score along quickly. With some big shots and cultured drives Ben quickly progressed past his 50. With a century within his grasp, he decided it was time to have a little walk down the pitch and was stumped on 73 with the score past 200.

Captain Campo decided it was time for the big hitters to have a go and try to push the score on to 300. First in was Gus2; Gus’s innings was short, but still golden! Given out LBW to one that looked a little high. With Gus’s departure, it was time for Mr Burns, promoted from number ten to number five. With the bowler on a hat-trick, Burnsy started with what would be a very rare occurrence in his innings, a defensive shot (there were only two other dot balls in his innings, one of which went for 4 byes).

Watching one of the most destructive innings which followed some of the best batting I’ve seen from both Tim and Ben was excellent. I have to say I was happy for burnsy to continually clear the boundary rope, meaning there was no need for quick singles! Scoring his 50 in what I guess was 20 or so balls we quickly progressed past 300 to end on 311. One of the best batting displays I have had the pleasure of watching – luckily from the non strikers end.

With tea next, where Margret put in an excellent performance, as well as Asif, who put in his best performance of the day getting through 3 cup cakes!

The bowling started well, with both John and Burnsy putting in fine performance, Burnsy had a whole over beating the outside edge. With both runs and wickets coming slowly, the captain decided to turn to the Wolvercote bowler who was top of the averages, and described by one person (himself) as our main strike bowler. Landing it on a sixpence and turning it sideways, his decision proved to be a good one. With strong support from Richard at the other end Jon ‘strike bowler’ Campion finished with excellent figures of 12-3-42-4.

With some poor catching – including a full length diving slip catch which I just got a hand to (the reason I’m writing this)! And some belligerent batting, Chalgrove managed to hold on with two wickets remaining.

Overall a superb batting display, and an excellent win by 161 runs.

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

Team below for the 1st XI game vs Kilkenny.  If there are any problems concerning availibility then please contact Stuart.

Stuart T

Dave G

Brian G

Jamie VS

Gus 1

Gus 2 (wk)

Rich O

Pog

Pablo

Sir John Chrystal

TBC

Game is away at Kilkenny which apparently is in Carterton.  Obviously with not being around last week, I am unsure of the availibility of everyone. I am not around from tonight so if there are any problems then please talk to Stuart.

The TBC is open to anyone who fancies a game in the team. Again, not sure who was free and who wasn’t so leaving it open.

Best of luck!

Jonathan

However Tofts’ first contribution was to lose the toss and Ilsley elected to bat. Whilst strike bowler Burns has been in supreme form this season, his punctuality left something to be desired, arriving just as the first over was commencing! John Chrystal (2-33) stormed in, fired up as ever. Indeed JC seemed to be particularly hot under the collar on what was a balmy day. With one opening batsman persistently stepping away when people crossed behind the bowler’s arm, Chrystal quipped, “It’s a f*****g park!” You tell ‘em John!

The Ilsley openers started well but once removed the batting line up proved to be dodgier than Pablo’s chat up lines. Simon ‘the Bernabéu’ Burns was probably only at 75% fitness for the game but nonetheless managed to pick up a brace of wickets. Tim MacIntyre supported well with his big away swingers, but it was JVS who produced one of the moments of the match when a delivery hit the stumps with sufficient velocity as to send a bail over the boundary for six! Angus ‘Big Merv’ Stock bent his back as usual and picked up 1-11. The only batting resistance came from John Marston (41 n.o.) whose unconventional technique – holding the bat more like a sabre than a cricket bat – proved effective. The Wolvercote fielding was mixed – some excellent stops and catches (for example Brian George’s diving effort which resulted in a rib injury). However there were a number of dropped catches from Angus Gardiner-Morrison, Asif Amin and there may have been a missed chance (or two) by John ‘Teflon’ Beard.

A top class tea was laid on, as ever, by Margaret which included a wide array of cakes and cookies. Patrick was the surprise teatime guest.

The sound of the vuvuzela could be heard as Wolvercote’s ‘bafana bafana’ openers, Angus and Tim, took to the field. The pair made a solid start but were both bowled to unconventional strokes. JVS (19 runs) was his usual pugnacious self at the crease and was perhaps unlucky to be triggered leg before. WCC’s answer to Tamim Iqbal – Asif Amin – has been in encouraging form of late and this he continued with 31 runs.

On the sidelines Burns and resident cheerleader, Phil Tristram, cracked open the beers whilst JVS tucked into a bottle of vodka. The celebrations may have been somewhat premature but victory was not long in coming, secured by Gilham (24 n.o.) and Beard (11 n.o.) with more than 20 overs to spare. A fine performance lads – keep striving for the double!

Asif Amin
Jon Campion
Angus Gardiner-Morrison
David Gilham
Rich Oliver
Andrew Pogorzelski
Tim McIntyre
Phil Tristram
Angus Stock
Stuart Tofts
Darren Campbell

Campo
Asif
Chrystal
Gus 1
Gus 2
Brian
Gilly
Rich Oliver
Tim
Stuart Tofts
Crouch

Any problems with this then let me know. See you all Saturday.

Angus Stock
David Gilham
Jamie Van Santen
John Beard
John Chrystal
Brian George
Simon Burns
Tim MacIntyre
Stuart Tofts
Asif Amin
Angus Gardiner-Morrison

Please meet at Cutteslow for 1.15pm.

The day didn’t start well for Cairns Fudge (CF) as two of the players they selected were unable to play following an administration gaff meaning they would only play with 8 players. It got worse for them when stand in Wolvercote captain Jamie Van Santen won the toss and elected to bat first. Tim MacIntyre opened the batting with the skipper and signalled his attacking intention by hitting the first ball passed the bowler for four however Van Santen (0) was bowled with the last ball of the first over. This brought D.Gillham to the crease who steadied the ship along with MacIntyre until Gillham (12) was out LBW. Asif Amin was next in and looked comfortable against the bowling hitting a series of classy shots including a great hook shot for four. This partnership took the score above 100 before MacIntyre (49) was cleverly caught at fly slip. Amin continued to play his shots as he was joined at the crease by Angus Gardiner-Morrison who played a number of excellent cut shots. Gus 2 hit a huge six down the ground before being bowled for 34. Angus Stock (9) was the next man in and didn’t hang around long before being caught. Asif (60) completed his half century as the Wolvercote score approached 200 before he nicked one behind. Pog (2) was soon bowled and Simon Burns (12) was superbly caught in the deep by a CF fielder. The Wolvercote tailed briefly wagged with contributions by John Chrystal, Brian Gillham and Dave Henwood as Wolvercote posted a score of 223 runs in 40 overs.

After an excellent lunch provided by CF, Wolvercote took to field only needing to take 7 wickets but against a side who had scored over 300 runs the previous day. A fired up John Chrystal took the new ball with Simon Burns who both opened with excellent overs. Chrystal took the first CF wicket when Ragg (1) hit an aerial shot into the covers which was taken (eventually) by Jamie Van Santen. Later in the over another wicket fell when D.Gillham took a good catch to dismiss Milne (0). After some hostile bowling from Burns the CF batsmen looked to go after Chrystal but Race (5) only succeeded in finding Asif at Mid Off who took an excellent catch. Then Chrystal took a superb catch off his bowling to dismiss Small (0) as CF were left in ruins at 10-4. A mini revival was offered from Hanscombe (21) until he was well caught by Asif to give Chrystal a ’5-fer’. Next ball he bowled Hatfield (0) to get his sixth wicket (8-3-30-6) leaving the cup holders in disarray. Burns (8-3-10-1) was rewarded with the final wicket when he bowled Pinnington (6) leaving opener Clark (7*) at the other end. CF were bowled out for just 40 runs and Wolvercote did not concede a single extra during the 16 overs bowled.

An excellent all round performance by Wolvercote against a team in the top region of Division 5. The reward is to play Swinbrook at Cutteslowe ‘Sabina’ Park on the 18th July.

P.S – A long sleeved Slazenger cricket jumper was left at the ground after the match. It was picked up by Jamie so get in touch with him if it is yours.