Match Reports

Eynsham – Home – Friendly

Olly continued his run as Sunday captain by losing the toss, unusually doing it on the boundary rather than in the middle, since both Captains had already checked the middle. Wantage were made to field, and as we went out Olly just about remembered to check how many overs we would be playing. The answer was 40, which was to prove his first mistake of the match, as we’ll see later. Stewie, back from his trip around the world and therefore full of South American cricketing inspiration opened the bowling and kept a…continue reading →

Great Horwood II – Away – OCA League

After last week's defeat, we were keen to get the show back on the road. And on the road we went, all the way to that well-known part of Oxfordshire that lies between Buckingham and Milton Keynes. Eight hardy souls met at the home of cricket, including Colin, who had to trek down from Oxford because he'd forgotten to collect a match ball. Barry took Chaz, Mongo and almost everyone else's kit, while Grant, NiB and Timmy were shoehorned into the back of Colin's Astra while Duncan stretched his legs at the front.…continue reading →

Crowmarsh – Friendly – Away

The Wantage team arrived at Crowmarsh keen and ready to put on a display for some special foreign guests (a Scotsman and an American) along with the usual Zimbabwean crowd. After winning the toss and deciding to bat, Timmy and Putty opened and put on a display of how dull cricket can be. After a few runs at the start they allowed Crowmarsh to bowl three consecutive maidens, a tedious 22 dot balls. This did, however, see off some dangerous bowling that might have taken the wickets of lesser batsmen. There were two…continue reading →

Steventon – Friendly – Home

Weather: fine but breezy Upon arrival (at about precisely 13:46) I was surprised to see Steventon geared up, ready and waiting (game wasn’t meant to start until half 2) – it turned out that they knew the club bar would be open! Unusually the toss never happened – the away skipper not wanting to bat first and Wantage wanting to bat first – skippering so far so good. The away skipper’s aspiration to field first was motivated by an apparent lack of batting amongst his compatriots – shame, but he wasn’t kidding! Wantage…continue reading →

Cairns Fudge – Home – OCA League

And so to intriguingly named Cairns Fudge (y’know, Chris Cairns… and fudge!) who we recognised as one of the leading teams in the division after their fourth placed finish last season. So when Colin won the toss and put them in, we were feeling confident when we had them 15 for 3, Duncan taking 3 good wickets, including a catch behind, a catch to gully and one that slipped through to take middle stump. The Fudge fourth wicket partnership though, began to dominate, and Small played some powerful shots through square cover, using…continue reading →

Cassington – Away – OCA League

The early afternoon goings-on are a bit of a mystery to me, as I only turned up 20 minutes in, so someone else could fill you in on those. We were playing at the extravagantly titled Cassington Oval, which was our first away trip of the league season. Going on what I can comment on, I can safely say that Ryan and Chaz opened the bowling and kept it pretty tight, with runs at a premium for the Cassington openers. Chaz eventually found an opening, forcing a sharp, low catch at short cover…continue reading →

Welford Park – Friendly – Away

After losing the toss but being in to bat first on a wicket that looked as hard as concrete, we were warned that the wicket had “variable bounce”. Their skipper wasn’t kidding. Some balls came on to the bat quite well, some shot through and the occasional one jumped up over head height. This led to an interesting innings. Coach and Benny opened but Benny was sent back to the pavilion after 10 balls with only one scoring shot (a four). Rich Lonnon also scored 4 before being caught. Nordic saw himself in…continue reading →

E&W Hendred – Friendly – Away

After some long awaited rain over the past couple of days, the sun was out and the Hendred wicket was slightly damp on the surface to give a little bit of interesting bounce, but nothing too nasty. Steve “Nordic” Bramley won the toss and elected to bat against a team that were an assemblage of youth and (to put it nicely) experience. Barry “Coach” Martin and Nordic opened and put on 56 runs, Coach playing shots and Nordic conspicuously defending, before Nordic top edged a ball to the keeper and was dismissed for…continue reading →

Swinbrook – Home – Cup

For our third successive Saturday home match, a quirk of the Cup draw saw us playing in the preliminary round against fellow Division 5 side and current Cup holders, Swinbrook. Heavy rain during the morning and previous evening had left the wicket damp and when the opposition captain called wrongly at the toss, Colin had no hesitation in inviting them to bat. Swinbrook’s opening batsmen had contrasting styles, with one looking to launch into anything loose and the other playing more watchfully. Ryan and Will Harvester opened the bowling and after several tight…continue reading →

West Witney – Away (Played at Wantage) – OCA League

So, to the first league match of the season as we began our division 5 campaign at home against West Witney. Colin continued his lucky streak for the season in winning a second toss on the trot and again putting us into bat on a very good wicket. [Captain’s edit – I lost the toss, they put us in] We started well and found ourselves in the surreal position of being 106-2 at one point with decent stands between Ben and NiB (33) and Ben and Barry (56). When Ben was 5th man…continue reading →