Seconds and thirds stay in cup contention with important wins

But it’s another rain wrecked second round away fixture for the firsts in Wales

Andy Haynes’ Over 60s 2nd XI secured a vital home win this week when they notched up a three wicket victory over arch rivals Warwickshire, at Didcot CC, where the ground staff played a key role in getting the game played after heavy overnight rain put the fixture very much in doubt. 

The two counties are locked in a close struggle for second place in the Midlands Division of the 2nd XI County Championship. Leaders Worcestershire looked set to qualify for the main cup competition as division winners but Oxon and Warks are still disputing the vital runners up spot, with third place left to contest the Vase competition.

Oxon won the toss and opted to field and the left arm opening pair of Jon Wood and Richard Cook delivered skipper Haynes the dream start he hoped for when deciding to bowl when they reduced the visitors to 11 for 3 in the eighth over.

Cook struck with consecutive balls when dismissing Richard Jackson for 1 and Chris Layton for 0, and shortly afterwards Wood removed Mike Weir for 6, all three batsmen being trapped lbw.

However, Phil Clarke 16 from 52 and David Rogers 11 from 27 dug in and stopped the rot before Cook struck again removing Rogers, backed up skipper Haynes who bowled Clarke. With the score on 41-5 Warks needed an innings from the experienced Russell Longhorne and he delivered when required. 

After losing Steve Dellow and Russell Lowery cheaply, and with the score on 46 for 7, Longhorne was joined by Kennedy Paver and the two counter attacked effectively. Longhorne completed a vital 51 from 86, before being run out,  while Paver made a rapid 30 from 43, before being caught off the bowling of Wood. 

All of which gave Warks something bowl at with 132 for nine from 45. Unsurprisingly Wood and Cook were the pick of the home bowlers with 2-21 and 3-20 respectively, well supported by Steve Kelly 1-16 from nine and skipper Haynes 2-18 from nine

In contrast to the first innings Oxon’s chase got off to a nice steady star. Skipper Haynes and John Morton posted 44 for the first wicket in 11 overs, before Haynes went for 28 and Morton for 24 with the score on 57,  both dismissed by John Paton. 

Ajit Shah soon followed but Mickey Thomas with 31 took the score on to 92-4 leaving just 40 required before he went caught and bowled by Steve Dellow. However, Oxon then rather made a meal of getting over the line losing a further two wickets before Cook and Kelly steered them home in the 43rd over to secure the win.

The result moves the 2nds up to second place in the Midlands Division and maintains their push to progress into the knock out phase of the Over 60s 2nd XI County Championship. Next week they travel to Bitteswell CC near Loughbrough with everything still to play their final group game against a  Leicestershire side that have found wins hard to come by this season.  

Meanwhile, the Over 60s 3rd XI also clocked up another win when they beat a much improved Staffordshire side by four wickets via the DLS system when the rain intervened, leaving the hosts victorious on 144 for 6 chasing the Staffs total of 156. 

And like the 2ndXI’s game, the fixture was only possible thanks to the work of the Banbury CC ground staff at Ermont Road where the game took place, after very heavy overnight rain. 

The visitors won the toss, but it was a decision they were soon beginning to doubt when Oxon opening bowlers Anwar Pervaiz and Tim House both struck twice in their opening spells removing the top four before the score had reached 30.

However, Paul Holdcroft (32), and Kevin Ryan (45) first stopped the rot and then posted a fine 50 partnership before the dangerous looking Hallcroft was well beaten in the flight and bowled by Mike Simpson, who then also removed Ryan when advancing down the pitch, well stumped by Chris Butcher.

Simpson finished with his usual miserly figures from his nine over spell – in this case 2-23 – while at the other end Steve Williams wheeled away in similar fashion for 2-34 as the two spinners shut down any ambitions Staffs had to post a significant score, as they finished with 156-9 from their 45 overs.

In reply Oxon made a rather stuttering start as Danny Mackintosh gave Staffs every reason to believe they could defend their modest total when he removed Jim Head, lbw for 6 and then had the inform Simon Oldfield caught and bowled for 13. 

And when Paul Johnson bowled last week’s centurion Simpson for just three, the hosts were looking down the barrel as Chris Butcher and Roger Hutchence looked to repair the early damage. 

Butcher went for 14 and was replaced by Tim House and the all-rounder – well supported by Hutchence who made 24  – soon began to pull things around with a fine knock of 39 which took Oxon close enough to their target for Chalky White and skipper Ralph Orchard to get them ahead on Duckworth Lewis when the rain intervened, delivering a much needed win by four wickets.

The 3rds are now up to third place in the 3rd XI County Championship and look certain to qualify for the knock out phase of the main competition. Next week they entertain Middlesex at East and West Hendred CC when they will be looking to avenge one of their only two defeats to date.

The Oxs/Berks Over 70s XI continued their winning ways this week with a very comfortable nine wicket win over the combined Staffs/Derbys Over 70s at Rolleston CC near Burton on Trent. 

Staffs/Derbys won the toss and elected to bat and made a good steady start against the naggingly accurate Oxs/Berks opening attack of Ian Harvey and Trevor Spindler, putting on 40 before Robert Dumelow was trapped lbw by first change Ken Fuller for a well made 30 from 68 balls.

But the hoped for acceleration from the middle order never came and while Peter Parnaby (13), Keith Culverwell (22) and Ian White (23) plugged away and added useful runs they also used up a lot of strike doing so as the visitors bowling made them work hard for every single, as they eventually compiled a modest 118 all out from their 45 overs.

Skipper Adrian Manger with 3-13 from seven and Chad Cudjoe with 2-11 from five delivered the best returns for Oxs/Berks, but with nearly all the attack returning economy rates of less than three runs per over, the stats for once told a clear story of a tight all round bowling performance backed up by good fielding.

In pursuit of the hosts target Oxs/Berks openers Adrian Beecroft and Derek Watts made pretty light work of the chase. The two posted 110 for the first wicket, only eight short of the target in just over 23 overs. Beecroft was bowled by Phillip Maddock just three runs short of a well deserved 50, while Watts made no mistake and remained 51 not out when the winning runs were struck.

Next week the Oxs/Berks Over 70s are looking to continue their current winning streak when they host to Somerset at Bradfield CC near Theale, Berkshire. 

 Away from Over 60s and 70s County Championship matches two other Oxfordshire seniors sides were also in action this week.

A mixed 60s and 70s side took on the Fossils XI – a friendly cricket team largely drawn from players from the 60s and 70s squads of Worcestershire.

The game took place at Minster Lovell CC, where Tim Gush from the host club and captain for the day, won the toss and decided to bat. The Cropredy pair of Adrian Beecroft and Ralph Orchard opened the batting and looked in no real trouble in taking the score to 24 in the 10th over.

However, when Beecroft departed for 11, things started to go badly wrong. First Orchard retired hurt when looking well set on 15 with the score on 28-1. Three wickets then fell for the addition of just four runs, as Jim Head, Howard Voisey and Tim Yeates all went with the score on 32.

Effectively five wickets down, the rapid tumble of wickets brought together the inform Roger Hutchence and Peter Howe, who proceeded to not just arrest the slide, but launch the counter attack.

Hutchence made a patient 41 with just three fours before he became the second run out of the innings, while Howe made a fine 51before retiring not out, ensuring respectability for their side with a total of 144 from their 40 overs.

In reply the Fossils always looked well in control of the chase which was no surprise as last minute drop outs had shorn the hosts’ attack of almost all of their regular bowlers. 

Hobbs and Price added 29 for the first wicket in eight overs, when Hobbs (20) fell lbw to Norfolk (on loan from the Fossils!), who also then accounted for Price by the same manner for 16, with the score on 56 in the 17th over.

However, Fossils number three Sample settled in and was soon striking the ball fluently to all parts of the ground, well supported by Morrisey who made 32 as the pair then proceeded to add 78 before Sample retired not out on 52 with the game all but won, as the Fossils cruised to victory by eight wickets.

Of the Oxon bowlers Suresh Patel returned the very respectable figures of 0-22 from eight overs, well supported by Tim Gush with 0-29 from eight and Adrian Beecroft with 0-19 from five.

The UK is hosting the Over 70s World Cup this summer and naturally the Aussies are ‘in town’ and keen to get some meaningful warm up games before the serious business starts on July 28th.

Needless to say the Oxfordshire Seniors Group was more than happy to host them at Challow and Childrey CC with strict instructions not to play them into any kind of form!

The Oxfordshire Seniors side skippered by Adrian Manger won the toss and elected to field and got off to a dream start when Charlie Anderson ran out Simon Lyon in the third over with just 14 on the board. 

However, Asoke Wijeratne and Phil Dresher soon repaired the damage as they posted 62 for the second wicket before Dresher was caught by Adrian Manger off the bowling of Colin Houseman.

Wijeratne and skipper Kevin Lanigan then took the score past 100 in the 15th over when Witjeratne retired with 40 from 48 balls. Lanigan was then joined by keeper Murray Harrison and the two began to up the scoring rate, with Lanigan retiring on 42 from 49 balls and Harrison 40 from 53, adding 64 in the process.

Graeme Wilson (22) and Vince Bulger (27) both made useful runs in the latter stages, while Ian Davis’ strokemaking also caught the eye as he made 43 from 28 before he too retired not out, to leave Oxfordshire with a mountain to climb facing a formidable chase of 275 in 45 overs, at more than six runs an over.

And the reply didn’t get off to the best of starts when Derek Watts was run out by Kevin Lanigan in the fourth over with the  score on 11 and only seven runs later fellow opener Adrian Beecroft was caught by Ian Davis off the bowling of Ian Southall for 3 in the tenth over with the run rate already heading in the wrong direction.

New batsmen Charlie Anderson and Ajit Shah repaired the damage somewhat as they then added 70 for the third wicket with Anderson reaching his 40 and retiring in 26th over, but with the required run rate now all but 10 an over the incoming batsmen were facing a tall order.

Shah battled on before he went for 29, bowled by Graeme Wilson, and Jerry Senior made just three as the pressure to score quickly began to take its toll, with the score now 98-4, as skipper Adrian Manger joined Andy Haynes at the wicket in the 30th over.

Haynes was striking the ball well and the pair added 26 before Manger perished to lbw to Vince Bulger for 11. With a long way still to go the incoming batsman were having to throw the bat at everything from ball one and unsurprisingly wickets fell at regular intervals, as Peter Howe, Haynes (38) and Alan Weaver  all perished in the final overs, leaving Oxon 70 runs short of the target and the Aussies comfortable winners.

Aussie skipper Lanigan used no fewer than eight bowlers and ensured all got useful spells with Ian Davis the pick of them with 2-13 from five overs.