Five wins out of five for Oxfordshire’s Seniors Group teams
The Oxfordshire Seniors Group has got its 2024 season off to a flying start with five wins out of five in its first two completed rounds of the Over 60s and Over 70s County Championships.
The Over 60s 1st XI got the ball rolling with a first round home win by five wickets against Bedfordshire at a very cold and blustery Challow and Childrey CC on April 23rd.
Beds won the toss and chose to bat and mustered just 140 all out thanks to some miserly bowling by Steve Roberts 2-18 from nine overs and Tim Mahoney 2-20 from nine, with Paul Hemming weighing in with 3-22 as the leading wicket taker.
In reply a steady 60 not out off 105 balls from Darryl Woods saw the hosts home by five wickets.
The following weeks game on April 30th against Bucks was called off but Phil Manger’s side were back in action the following week on May 7th when they took on Northants at Banbury CC.
The visitors won the toss and opted to field and Oxfordshire soon had the runs flowing freely as skipper Manger and Nick Morman put on 76 for the first wicket in good time. Phil made 46, Nick 53 and together with good contributions from Paul Hemming, 22, Charlie Anderson, 24, and Nick Edmondson, 35, the hosts closed on 241 for nine.
In reply the visitors finished 49 runs short on 182 all out, despite a fine 65 from David Heathfield, well supported by Richard Denton with 40, mainly thanks to match winning spell with the ball by Paul Hemming who finished with figures of 7-44 from his nine overs.
On the same day – in the 2nd XI competition Andy Haynes and his men made the long trip to Grantham CC to take on Lincolnshire and came home with a fine win by 47 runs, after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
All rounder Graham Nelson batting at seven top scored with 53, with good support from both John Morton, 41 and skipper Haynes, 35. Rob Seymour took 3-38 for the hosts.
In reply Lincs made just 168-8 but looked well set when openers Mick Kearns,47, and Andy Shapp, 33, put on 51 for the first wicket. However Alan Weaver’s 3-20 from nine and Graham Nelson’s 2-28 from nine, backed up by a miserly 0-20 from nine by Steve Kelly, ensured the win for Oxfordshire.
Meanwhile, Clive Ricks’ 3rd XI were also in action at Shipton under Wychwood CC against old rivals Gloucestershire and won by the very narrowest of margins – just one run – in an extraordinary low scoring game that had just about everything!
The hosts lost the toss and were put into bat and ground out 140 for nine in their 45 overs mainly thanks to scores of 35 apiece by Mike Simmons and Tim Riley.
In reply two quick wickets from opening bowlers David Brook and Nigel Walker put the visitors under pressure after which they inched towards their target while losing wickets at regular intervals to Mike Simmons, skipper Ricks and Matt Todd.
At 99 for 8 the hosts looked well in charge but then the match turned when Oxon wicketkeeper Peter Howe suffered a dislocated shoulder when colliding with one of the batsman while attempting a run out.
The visitors number nine and ten then batted very steadily, stealing singles and hitting the odd boundary and, despite losing a wicket just short of the target, were poised for the win on 139-9, before a final twist dashed victory from their grasp.
A crisp drive towards mid-wicket looked a likely match winner as it left the bat. Instead it was brilliantly parried by (or hit – depending on who you ask!) Mike Simmons at short mid wicket and fell virtually at his feet. For some reason the batsman thought there was a run to be had and called his horrified partner through for a single to tie the game. He was however, run out by a comfortable distance to leave Oxfordshire the winners by one run.
In sharp contrast the combined Oxfordshire/Berkshire Over 70s County Championship debut on May 9th at Great Tew CC could not have been more emphatic. They crushed the joint Staffs/Derby XI by the small matter of 149 runs, after their scheduled first game away to Middlesex on April 2nd fell victim to the weather.
Asked to bat Ox/Berks put together a challenging 192-8, mainly thanks to 48 from Jerry Senior, supported by three other scores of 20 plus from the batting unit. Ian White’s 3-51 was the best of the visitor’s bowling
However, their reply really never got going with both openers going for 0 and only David Tingay getting into double figures with 12 – eventually leaving them 43 all out and the host’s bowlers enjoying some extraordinary figures. Trevor Spindler and Nigel Walker both turned in spells of 2-5 off nine, Ken Fuller 1-3 off six and Steve Partington 3-13 off six. Not to be outdone the fielding was pretty sharp as well with both Nigel Walker and Chad Cudjoe effecting run outs by way of direct hits from the outfield.
All in all not a bad start to the season despite the weather!