First XI Match Summary
Yesterday the 1’s registered a solid win away at Eynsham despite some debate as to which side of the Eynsham roundabout the ground was actually on. Bowling first, the 1’s restricted the home side to 115 in 43.3 overs with 3 wickets apiece for Toby, Brian and Barkat and a miserly spell of 11 overs from Rahul that went for only 15 runs. The Wolves took 34 overs to knock off the required, with Chris Lynch (42) doing the hard yards before a spritely run-a-ball 26 from Amit and a cameo from Madhav saw them home with a six wicket win.
Summary by Chris Babbs
Second XI Match Summary
In a clash of the Wolf packs the 2’s played host to Wolverton Town, put in to bat on a sticky Cutteslowe track, the 2’s did well to post 164, based around 59 from Ben Madden with a good contribution from Cam before Potter and Tom Field saw the Wolves home to post a competitive score. Sam (3 for 29) took the first 3 wickets with good catching in the slips from Madden and Neil finished with remarkable figures of 5 for 6! Tom Field took a wicket with his first ball and Gareth invented a new catching technique, ending up flat on his back, ball on chest. All this wrapped up the Wolverton innings for 79, meaning the Wolves of Wolvercote emerged the alphas from this skirmish.
(Summary Chris Babbs with notes from Rich Oliver)
Third XI Match Report
The day started with an 8am positive note from our can-do groundsman, Norm, to say that the pitch was playable and that he had marked out creases anew. Thanks Norm!
The Wolvercote skipper lost the toss and we were put in to bat against a very youthful and scarily athletic-looking Cropredy. The opposition opening pair of Sparkes and Leather exploited the variable bounce with a challengingly accurate first spell – the first 10 overs included 4 maidens, several proper bouncers, and yielded only 21 runs, with Lewis given LBW in the fourth over. Abeer and Crouch ground on stoically against an equally parsimonious pair of first change bowlers, until Abeer was caught off the bowling of Ayres for 9, swiftly followed by Sprigings for a streaky 5. The stage was set for Ayyaz and Crouch to move the game on, and the Chairman demonstrated intent by taking 10 off “JT’s” 3rd over before disaster struck and he was run out for 30 by his partner whilst attempting an uncharacteristically cheeky single. Ayyaz sought to make amends and struck some fine blows in a brief but aggressive partnership with Walsh, before both fell to Boardman – LBW(ish) for 18 and bowled for 10 respectively. Sherwood holed out driving shortly afterwards, and things were looking decidedly sketchy for the home team. In strode Bird and Murgotroyd, whose combined age was probably equal to a half dozen of the opposition, and within the remaining overs of the innings, the field was spread and the ball biffed to all parts in a glorious cameo partnership of a useful 31 runs. Bird fell just before the close for 18 to leave Murgotroyd and Gupta with red inkers worth 37 and 5, and the home side having (FOR ONCE!) batted all 45 of their allotted overs for a total of 162.
162 felt like a competitive total on a tricky deck with a stodgy outfield, and so it proved to be. Early honours went to Ayyaz and Murgotroyd as they combined with guile and skill to winkle out the Cropredy gun bat (and only player over 30) – Ayyaz extracting turn and bounce to catch the flailing bat of the opposition opener before Luke dived from slip to in front of the crease to take an astonishing one-hander. Ayyaz snaffled his second via an LBW appeal shortly after, while fellow opener Sherwood toiled away with speed, accuracy and absolutely no luck at all at the top end of the pitch for 32 off his 7 overs. Sherwood was duly replaced by Bird, who caught Dunlop off his own bowling for 16, and then bowled the dangerous-looking “JT” for 22, the latter following a shrewd bit of captaincy by Walsh in keeping Bird (6-1-27-2) on despite having taken some tap in his previous over. Man-of-the-Match Ayyaz then picked up a brace of poultry with the wickets of Evans and Stearn to complete his maiden “Michelle” for the Wolves (12-1-39-5). At 70 for 8, it felt for a moment as if the match were over, but the youthful pairing of Leather and Ayes racked up 31 and 18 respectively before the introduction of Yousef (5 overs, 2 maidens, 2 runs for 3 wickets – yes, you read those figures correctly) cleaned up for The Pack. Buoyed by back-to-back wins, the 3s take their campaign to Freeland next week in good spirits and in keen and mouth-watering anticipation of Mrs Ayyaz next picnic basket!
Report by Daniel Crouch
Fourth XI Match Report
The 4th XI is currently making it a habit to play the league leaders on any given Saturday. This week we were hosted by Swinbrook at their lovely ground, brook murmuring beyond the boundary fence. The spongy pitch promised a torrid time for batsmen first up, and none of the team needed reminding that we’d lost our very first 4th XI game against the same opposition only a few weeks earlier!
Put in to bat having lost the toss, the top order found scoring opportunities hard to come by against a granddad / grandson combo operating from both ends, but everyone dug in to the best of their abilities and we closed the innings on a respectable if sub-par 98 for 9. Highlights were 12-year old Ben Ferrett’s confident innings (15), and sixes in consecutive overs for Norm R and David Q (some confusion remains on the number of career maximums for DQ, with the chairman’s claim that it’s only his second roundly rejected by the man himself). Swinbrook made short work of the chase – not before Dom Sheehan took yet another catch to carry on his enviable record of holding a catch in every game he’s played so far!
Report by Philipp Lohan