Wantage & Grove Rove to Chalgrove – Radley v Wantage I (A) – Cherwell Div 5C WL

Haiku Review Hope springs eternal We had it in our own hands But we lost again Full Review Arriving to Radley’s second ground in the curious village of Chalgrove, the team were buoyed by notions of glory. Perennial achievers of second place (2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2021 and probably others), Wantage held their own destiny in their hands – namely, beat mid-table Radley and win the Division above our friends and rivals Dorchester, who were hosting bottom club Sunningwell. Concerns about the way the pitch had handled last season were raised, but on…continue reading →

Heatwave Heroics: Wolvercote I (H) – Cherwell Div 5C WLD

A glorious summer day dawned – the precursor to a heatwave amid talk of worldwide climate disaster but more locally, talk of an even more unprecedented event: skipper winning the toss. Buoyed by a winning performance by the England Rugby Union team against Australia (watched by the team before the match began), the ranks were pleased to be batting first on a day where temperatures seemed likely to hover around the 28 degree mark. So to business, as Colin and Robbo set about the needs of opening our innings. Wolvercote had a couple…continue reading →

The IC-eman Cometh – Cherwell League Div 6C – Thame Town III (A)

A big Saturday dawned for Wantage which saw us travel to promotion rivals Thame Town III knowing it was a ‘winner goes up’ affair, with the possible outside chance of a league winners play-off for us if Dorchester’s result at home to Aston Rowant went our way. An early start was the order of the day, with one of our longer trips of the year, and giving ourselves plenty of time was, in the end, necessary, as confusion reigned over where we were supposed to park. Spenny, IC and Chief had a scenic…continue reading →

Wantage March on at Marcham – Cherwell Div 6C – Marcham (A)

A grey day came to an early end on the outskirts of Abingdon on the 19th June to the tune of Gala’s Freed From Desire: the World Test Championship final may have being played in the Southampton gloom; Germany may well have been taking Portugal apart at the Euros; but there was a little slice of Wantage’s own history being made in Marcham as they bullied the opposition into a considerable defeat, among good performances from a number of batsmen and some stellar opening bowling, backed up by a near-faultless fielding performance. Early…continue reading →

Stokenchurch II (A) – Cherwell League Div 6C

After a first week wash-out, Saturday finally saw a return to league (Covid) cricket, with some now familiar requirements, including changing outside, ‘washy-washy’ on a recurring 6 over basis, and the strict absence of traditional handshakes. Some changes, though, with our first away fixture in our new, ‘localised’ Cherwell division and a visit to a new ground (for most of us) in Stokenchurch. Early weather forecasts saw confident predictions of a 45 minute drive to look at some rain for 4 hours, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that every single team member took…continue reading →

Witney Swifts (H) – OCA Div 2

The day was bright and sunny as we welcomed Witney Swifts to the home of cricket. The pitch was as glorious and flat as a newly constructed Chinese road, outfield lightning fast and the weather set fair, so Baz astounded the cricketing world by winning the toss and electing to field first. Clearly he had a master strategy... The bowling was opened by Grant and Will, the powerhouses of the Wantage attack. Grant started beautifully with three maidens on the trot (akin to a normal night in Shush), with Will taking a little…continue reading →

Broughton & North Newington (A) – OCA Div 2

One of our longest trips of the season, to just South of Banbury, meant an early start to the day for the team – although rarely can there have been as few as four people meeting up the club for car pooling. In any case, after a journey up the M40 the majority of the team rocked up to the ground in good spirits, noting the grassy wicket. Ryan, whose own journey was somewhat shorter, mused that his 'audition' for his most local team might see him get a bit out of the…continue reading →

Faringdon (H) – Airey Cup

Saturday arrived and the forecast looked good for our first cup game of the season, in the Airey Cup. Having reached the final of the Telegraph Cup last year, but unfortunately finished second, we were keen to begin another good run in the Cup format. Our opposition for the day were Faringdon, who we hadn’t played for a number of years due to the disparity in levels between the two clubs. Thanks to our rise up the leagues in the last few years we now share the same league as Faringdon, so the…continue reading →

Cairns Fudge (H) – OCA Div 3

The big weekend began with a game against our well known rivals Cairns Fudge. With the big game this weekend on the Sunday availability was scarce, so it was imperative that we won the toss, due to some planned late arrivals. Spence was rushing to the Wantage WACA direct from Heathrow airport after some work abroad in Turkey, whilst Summerset was planning a late arrival due to a first half football appearance which should have allowed arrival 10-15 minutes after the start. Somewhat inevitably, IC lost the toss and Wantage were asked to…continue reading →

Westcott (H) – OCA Div 3

Saturday started like so many have done in this year; rushing from the house to the car trying not to get too wet before driving to the ground with the windscreen wipers on. With most people at the ground and only two bags in the changing room the optimism of the game going ahead was clearly lacking. With the rain falling gently the umpires declared that the game would be reduced to 25 overs if any play was possible. Not long after the rain stopped and the new covers were removed to reveal…continue reading →