It is also not true that in excess of 1,000,000 people visit every year and have to decide whether to speak French or Dutch when haggling in the duty free shops.
It is a FACT that they have a very lovely cricket ground nestling on the edge of the Cotswold hills, it really is a smashing spot. I can't think of many better places to collect 25 points.
In a return to winning ways I called the toss correctly and invited St Martin to bat. A hostile spell from Crab Hands, seemingly spurred on by the celebrity injury he now has set the tone for the early overs. Pace, bounce and Yorkshire parsimony built the pressure. New ball partner Pritch puffed up the hill generating marginally more pace then Crabbie. We took the chances and had Sandford at 51 for 5 in the 20th over. Two catches for Bernard stunned everyone. 'Screech' Cook made a simple catch look difficult, summed up well by Naughtie who said "he went down in more stages than the Tour De France". Quite.
A mid innings rally from The Saints was assisted by some comical fielding errors, denying Crabbie the Pfeiffer he craved. His face was a picture of tormented fury at one point and I don't think it was because his ankle hurt.
A frankly, inspired bowling change brought instant relief as Crabbie snaffled one in the slips from the now unplayable Pritch. Two more smartly taken catches from the now renamed Lobster Claws at slip and it was all over. Both Pritch and Matt ended with 4 for 36, ahhhhh, how sweet. The Judge picked up a couple as well, conceding less than 2 runs an over.
Tea was taken after James Perera and Bernard safely negotiated a tricky twenty minute session. Tea was, as ever a delight, especially for Lord Brockett who consumed cake like he was preparing for an Arctic exploration. Bernard also whipped The Judge into a frenzy of adolescent fever as he shared some JOGLE experiences. Could these two be the next Little and Large ? An unlikely double act is developing between them.
The innings recommenced with many of us settling down and actually relaxing for once. Vish played superbly, never looking troubled in his unbeaten 47. He mixed his trademark defensive wall with some cracking attacking shots including some superb pull shots. Eight 4's and a six - great stuff from the boy wonder. Brockett joined him with score on 47, equally untroubled he finished on 38 not out, in doing so cruelly denying Vish what would have been a cracking half century. On paper our easiest victory of the season. In hindsight it was never in doubt
Back at home next week, I am already excited. Cool heads, focus and some ear plugs may be needed.
Didcot II v Abingdon Vale 3
Didcot II comprehensively beaten by Abingdon
This was an important game for Didcot to win and had an opportunity go
up to 3rd place on the league table. However that wasn’t the case!
Abingdon won the toss and invited Didcot to bat first. Didcot had a
fairly good start but failed to capitalise on it and was bowled out for
186 on a good batting wicket. Viraj Perera 56, Prasad Kankadandi 22 and
Dave Allen 33 were the only notable contributions.
Didcot started well in their bowling department than in previous games
but on a flat unhelpful wicket could not make any inroads and A Inns
scored staggering 133 not out of the 188 for the loss of one wicket.
Abingdon Vale III 25 Points, Didcot II 4 points
Didcot II comprehensively beaten by Abingdon
This was an important game for Didcot to win and had an opportunity go
up to 3rd place on the league table. However that wasn’t the case!
Abingdon won the toss and invited Didcot to bat first. Didcot had a
fairly good start but failed to capitalise on it and was bowled out for
186 on a good batting wicket. Viraj Perera 56, Prasad Kankadandi 22 and
Dave Allen 33 were the only notable contributions.
Didcot started well in their bowling department than in previous games
but on a flat unhelpful wicket could not make any inroads and A Inns
scored staggering 133 not out of the 188 for the loss of one wicket.
Abingdon Vale III 25 Points, Didcot II 4 points
Didcot 3rd's have a moral victory over Oxford and Bletchingdon 4ths, but the match finishes in a draw.
Elvis lost the toss (again!!) and was invited to bat by the opposition. At the time we were unsure whether it was an aggressive move by the opposition, or the best way they thought to not lose the game. Once the quality of the opening bowling was seen, it quickly became clear they were playing for the draw! Raj and Sean got us off to a good start with an opening partnership of 30. The pitch was proving hard to bat on as it was very slow and coupled with the pace (or rather lack of) of the bowling it made scoring runs tough.
Once Raj had departed, wickets fell steadily until Elvis and Mick came together with the score at 74 for 5. Elvis renewed his acquaintance with their leg spinner from earlier in the season and dispatched him for 17 in an over. This brought about a change of bowling and Mick decided to see this one off, clubbing him for 21 before he was quickly taken out of the attack.
Elvis was out for 57 with the score on 146 for 6, and this quickly became 148 for 9. Before the game had started there had been questions asked as to why James 'Boggy' Bywater was batting at number 11 when he usually opens for the U15's. Had he upset Elvis? Was there a hidden plan? The real reason was that Elvis had not done his homework and didn't know that he could bat! However his decision was vindicated when Mick and Boggy put on a last wicket partnership of 40, to take our score to 188 all out in the 46th over, with Boggy scoring 20 and Mick finishing on 35 not out. Pick of the opposition bowling was Haroon Sarwar with 5 for 44 from his 19.3 overs.
In reply Oxford and Bletchingdon started positively, but the lofted drive flew straight to Lewis Wilcox and they were 0 for 1. This quickly became 1 for 2 when Mick got his 2nd wicket and when Raj clean bowled their other opener with a ball that pitched short of a length and hit middle stump 2 inches up, they were in trouble. Mick then picked up 2 more wickets, another couple of pies that were too good for them and the opposition were 26 for 5 and Didcot were looking good. Unfortunately they then decided to shut up shop and despite some excellent bowling from Boggy and Sam we could not break through the 6th wicket partnership for 20 odd overs. Maha finally removed one of them and then Boggy and Raj got one wicket each before we ran out of overs. Oxford and Bletchingdon finished on 109 for 8 and got 9 points whilst Didcot got 14.
The comedy moment of the day has to go to Santosh. Following another ball down the leg side that stand in keeper Elvis had dived across to get but failed to gather cleanly, Santosh ran back from slip, picked the ball up, turned and threw at the stumps. Unfortunately his aim was slightly off and all he managed to hit was Elvis who was still lying on the ground, 10 yards from the wickets. A great performance from all, and a clear example of a team taking advantage of the rules and playing not to lose, rather than to win.
The fourths fielded a weak side against 2nd placed Tiddington III due to illness, holiday and unavailability, but made a good effort in extending the game to 7 pm before the inevitable collapse and, on paper, a heavy defeat. Stand-in captain Jonathan Hall won the toss and inserted the opposition, as it "seemed like a good idea at the time", and due to the promise of rain later.
The bowlers all struggled with a slow sloping pitch offering very little, and difficult terrain for the run ups. Humza couldn't get his run up right but showed potential. Dan Stainthorp bowled well in his first spell, clean bowling opener Paul Gladdy . Normally accurate Jack Broughton went for 61 in 6 overs and was mercilessly dispatched to all corners. A learning experience from which he will come back stronger. In all, 7 bowlers were used, 4 of whom conceded more than 10 per over, as Tiddington's second wicket pair put on nearly 200 (Willis 83 and Simms finishing on 116 not out). Not that there weren't chances though. The most significant was a difficult catch to Clive at the square leg boundary which he made a valiant attempt, leaping like a salmon but crashing to earth rather unlike any known fish, landing heavily on his shoulder causing much pain. After a sit and some ice he returned to slip.
Les Addison put the brakes on the innings in his two spells, and eventually took the second wicket of Willis with a good catch at midwicket. That triggered a mini collapse as Dan returned with some of the best bowling of the innings, having the centurion Simms in trouble, bowling Evans for a duck and then getting the edge from Cheney to go straight to Clive at slip. Through the pain, he reached up and plucked the ball majestically out of the air.
Tiddington reached 287 for 4 in just 37 overs and declared, giving themselves 55 overs to bowl at Didcot. Clive batted magnificently, striking 8 fours in his 60, but he only received significant support from Nick Grain as the rest of the team succumbed tamely. It was a tale of two collapses, before and after the House/Grain partnership. Hall opened and never looked comfortable, inexplicable padding up to a straight one and almost walking for an lbw decision, it was so plumb. The next two were both bowled, including Tom Spears with a rare failure to a spinner bowling a yorker on the stumps which came as a surprise to him!
Then the highlight of the batting as Clive and Nick batted out 20 overs for 60. Clive lofted the ball to the boundary and played it into the gaps in the massive outfield, complaining at all the running he had to do and at one stage colliding with the bowler and hurting the same shoulder again. Captain Hall left the umpire's position and found as many drugs as he could from his car to offer to Clive.
Nick Grain made just 15 but it was a massively important innings, showing excellent technique and giving great support to Clive. Even with most of the field around his bat he remained the model of calmness, and took us close to our batting point.
However, once Clive lost his off stump to the returning opening bowler Chris Goodman, it was a different story, as the last 6 batsmen contributed 2 runs between them and we collapsed to 102 all out and a second point in the match.
The predicted rain however threatened, it drizzled, lots of clouds came over but it was never quite dark enough or wet enough to come off. We occupied the crease for 40 overs and until 7 o'clock (Tiddington needed to bowl 15 overs in 30 mins to keep up with the rate at that stage) and had the forecast been right we would have salvaged a draw.
Its not all doom and gloom though. There was an excellent effort from all the team in the field, the bowlers tried hard on a very difficult pitch, which only Dan, Les and Chris Goodman really threatened. They had several players with experience of much higher divisions and were used to the idiosyncratic slopes and bumps of the Lewknor ground. We frustrated them, and Nick, Clive and Dan really stood out. Jack and Humza tried hard and will play a lot better with more reward on another day. Tom had a rare blip, Less bowled and fielded well, Ehsen bowled well in his over (almost having a catch taken) but was unlucky that it was going to be their last, and remained keen in the field. Jonathan won the toss which is about as much as you can say really...
Next up, Shipton III, who we were close to in the opening game of the season, and where we should have an excellent chance.
The bowlers all struggled with a slow sloping pitch offering very little, and difficult terrain for the run ups. Humza couldn't get his run up right but showed potential. Dan Stainthorp bowled well in his first spell, clean bowling opener Paul Gladdy . Normally accurate Jack Broughton went for 61 in 6 overs and was mercilessly dispatched to all corners. A learning experience from which he will come back stronger. In all, 7 bowlers were used, 4 of whom conceded more than 10 per over, as Tiddington's second wicket pair put on nearly 200 (Willis 83 and Simms finishing on 116 not out). Not that there weren't chances though. The most significant was a difficult catch to Clive at the square leg boundary which he made a valiant attempt, leaping like a salmon but crashing to earth rather unlike any known fish, landing heavily on his shoulder causing much pain. After a sit and some ice he returned to slip.
Les Addison put the brakes on the innings in his two spells, and eventually took the second wicket of Willis with a good catch at midwicket. That triggered a mini collapse as Dan returned with some of the best bowling of the innings, having the centurion Simms in trouble, bowling Evans for a duck and then getting the edge from Cheney to go straight to Clive at slip. Through the pain, he reached up and plucked the ball majestically out of the air.
Tiddington reached 287 for 4 in just 37 overs and declared, giving themselves 55 overs to bowl at Didcot. Clive batted magnificently, striking 8 fours in his 60, but he only received significant support from Nick Grain as the rest of the team succumbed tamely. It was a tale of two collapses, before and after the House/Grain partnership. Hall opened and never looked comfortable, inexplicable padding up to a straight one and almost walking for an lbw decision, it was so plumb. The next two were both bowled, including Tom Spears with a rare failure to a spinner bowling a yorker on the stumps which came as a surprise to him!
Then the highlight of the batting as Clive and Nick batted out 20 overs for 60. Clive lofted the ball to the boundary and played it into the gaps in the massive outfield, complaining at all the running he had to do and at one stage colliding with the bowler and hurting the same shoulder again. Captain Hall left the umpire's position and found as many drugs as he could from his car to offer to Clive.
Nick Grain made just 15 but it was a massively important innings, showing excellent technique and giving great support to Clive. Even with most of the field around his bat he remained the model of calmness, and took us close to our batting point.
However, once Clive lost his off stump to the returning opening bowler Chris Goodman, it was a different story, as the last 6 batsmen contributed 2 runs between them and we collapsed to 102 all out and a second point in the match.
The predicted rain however threatened, it drizzled, lots of clouds came over but it was never quite dark enough or wet enough to come off. We occupied the crease for 40 overs and until 7 o'clock (Tiddington needed to bowl 15 overs in 30 mins to keep up with the rate at that stage) and had the forecast been right we would have salvaged a draw.
Its not all doom and gloom though. There was an excellent effort from all the team in the field, the bowlers tried hard on a very difficult pitch, which only Dan, Les and Chris Goodman really threatened. They had several players with experience of much higher divisions and were used to the idiosyncratic slopes and bumps of the Lewknor ground. We frustrated them, and Nick, Clive and Dan really stood out. Jack and Humza tried hard and will play a lot better with more reward on another day. Tom had a rare blip, Less bowled and fielded well, Ehsen bowled well in his over (almost having a catch taken) but was unlucky that it was going to be their last, and remained keen in the field. Jonathan won the toss which is about as much as you can say really...
Next up, Shipton III, who we were close to in the opening game of the season, and where we should have an excellent chance.
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