1st XI
The 1’s had a torrid day vs the combined might of East and West Hendred at Cutteslowe Park. Fielding first the 1’s found themselves chasing 267 as E&W declared in the 50th over for 9 wickets down. E&W bowlers Cook (4 for 36) and George (6 for 12, including a triple wicket maiden!) had a good day at the office as the 1’s collapsed to 71 all out in reply.
(Match report Chris Babbs)
2nd XI
The twos batted first on the nursery pitch at Shipton-under-Wychwood, which was so small that the 30 yard circle was intersected by the boundary straight of the wicket! Darren capitalised on this, striking 2 sixes clean over the pavilion before being given out when the ball struck him possibly a little high, to be BBW, which broke a nice partnership that he and Gareth were building. Richie with 30 and Dan James with 23 saw the 2’s post 167. This wasn’t quite enough as, although wickets kept falling as the bowlers chipped away, Shipton made it over the line with 5 wickets down in 34 overs. Special mention to Mark Hinkling, who bowled a brisk spell in the heat and finished with excellent figures of 4 for 55.
(Match report Chris Babbs with notes from Chris Potter)
3rd XI
The 3rd XI had a humdinger of a match against Westbury on a pitch like an old man’s face at a private school so posh that the outfield had a haha big enough to hide Phil Walsh. Westbury opened with an angry fast bowler trapped in an old man’s body who toiled away without much fortune and being denied an LBW against Marc Lewis certainly didn’t improve his mood. Marc fell to the other opening bowler and Daniel made 22, including 5 sparkling fours before holing out on the boundary to pretty much the only fielder on the leg side. Ayyaz made an excellent 50 on debut enabled by stout defense from David Axten. The other batsmen struggled and the 3’s posted only 114. Wesbury were 62 for 2 in reply when Phil brought on spinners Ayyaz (4 wickets) and Yousuf (3 wickets), who expertly exploited the conditions to reduce Westbury to 99 for 9. Daniel thought he’d dropped the match when a sharp chance went down at mid-on, but Luke saved the day with a scorcher at 2nd slip four balls later.
(Match report Chris Babbs with notes from Daniel Crouch)
4th XI
On a sunny day at Kennington, Wolvercote 4’s won the toss and elected to put league leaders Stanton Harcourt in to bat. The opening partnership was finally broken just shy of 100, with Ali Dent turning his arm over successfully for the first time in years. A maiden wicket for Tom T in his first outing for the club barely halted Stanton’s progress, as they motored along at close to a run a ball.
All changed, though, when Josh Cooper (pint-sized and only 14 years old!) returned for his second spell. He warmed up with the wicket of Stanton’s centurion opener, then took a hat trick, and could have had 4 in 4 balls but for a little miscommunication in the field. Josh wasn’t to be denied his 5-fer though, and ended up with quite frankly astonishing figures of 6 for 31 off 9 overs!
Chasing 222 for victory, openers Dom Sheehan (29), and Gabe Farrell also fell just shy of a century partnership. Gabe did write Wolvercote 4 history though by bringing up the team’s – and his own! – maiden century in the last over of the match. He carried his bat for a beautifully crafted 101*, which was highlighted by some ferocious pull shots and classic cover drives.
Having reached 160-3 in their allotted 40 overs, Wolvercote 4 secured a losing draw, also a first for the club!
(Match report Philipp Lohan)