As the nights draw in and Autumn approaches, Enstone Cricket Club embarked on an epic journey to Northleach for the final game of the season. On reaching Burford it was clear more provisions were going to be required, Northleach is not just past Burford. Today’s reporter duly arrived 10 minutes before the start as usual so has no idea if there was a toss or not but wasn’t surprised to see Enstone lining up in the field first. Piers and Jon opened the bowling keeping it nice and tight in the early overs before Jon made the break through bowling the opening batsmen with a fine delivery that nipped back. Piers continued to bowl tightly and despite having a catch dropped in the slips by Nick soon got a ‘Pizza’ the action with an ‘express’ delivery that was served expertly into the hands of wicketkeeper Porno by the opening batsmen. The skipper replaced Jon after his 4 over spell and kept it as tight as a bunch of bananas, which we know he is partial to, a fine delivery clipping the top of off stump the highlight. 6 tight overs resulting in 1 wicket leaving Enstone in a strong position. Piers finished a great spell of opening bowling and was replaced by a bloke smelling of garlic, wearing a beret and bowling underarm trying to hit the batsmen’s legs. Pony trotted in for his 8 overs with the highlight being a quite simply breath taking caught and bowled to dismiss the opposition skipper, flying high to his left to claim the catch. The town of Northleach fell silent in awe of the athleticism on show. (Ah, the joys of writing the match report this week!) Despite being hit for 3 fours in a row Pony continued bowling in the slot for the new heavyweight batsmen, who couldn’t resist the buffet on offer and duly skied a catch to the onrushing Piers. Final figures for the returning French Pony 2 for 24 off 8 overs. The highlight and surprise of the Enstone fielding display came from TP. The team stood and waited for the usual 2 bounce wide from TP’s first delivery. Oh how wrong we were, TP flighted a beautiful delivery tempting the batsmen into a huge swing and miss to leave the wickets shattered and a rather ecstatic and pumped up TP to celebrate with a deafening roar and fist pump. A few lusty blows by a bloke who hadn’t played for 15 years added some vital runs for Northleach. One skied effort left Freddie running in every direction apart from towards the ball, only to see it drop just behind him showing village cricket at its best. Northleach only had 9 players and following some smart work by Pony and Porno resulting in a run out, the last man or child came out to bat. Bowling changes were made – Freddie was summoned for an over, could he claim the big scalp of a 9 year old to claim his first wicket for Enstone? A chance dropped short of TP at point who was walking backwards to avoid being the one to catch a child out. Freddie had a caught and bowled chance but made no attempt to take the return catch. It was left to Jon to shatter the dreams of a 9 year old taking a catch off the bowling of Adam. Northleach all out for 90. A great effort in the field and a well-earned tea was had. The run chase was pretty uneventful. A slight scare in the first over when Nick could have been given out LBW but Piers didn’t flinch and we continued. Some lusty blows from Nick including one huge 6 over the stream and into the gardens combined with good running for 1’s and 2’s led to the Skipper and Nick ticking the runs required off with ease. The main excitement came at the end, 4 to win, Nick needed a 6 for a splendid 50. The next delivery was slow and loopy, Nick swept hard at the ball only to see it keep low and run over the boundary for 4. A thumping 10 wicket victory for Enstone to close out the season, a great fielding display and an expert run chase by the skipper (32 Not Out) and Nick (48 Not Out). We will return in 6 months to do it all again. Report by Pete Anthony
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moral victory
noun noun: moral victory; plural noun: moral victories
On a close afternoon, somewhat surprisingly, skipper Speke decided to bowl first after winning the toss. With a line up full of bowling talent he was confident of an early breakthrough, then knocking off the runs with a similarly strong batting line up, then getting home early to sharpen his colouring pencils in readiness for his first day at work following a tough 6 week holiday. Croft and Myatt steamed in after a drawn out discussion of who should bowl from which end. Both found their range and returned with fine figures of 0-27 from 8 overs. Chances were few and far between, with some edges through the vacant 3rd slip area and some playing and missing outside of off stump. A new wicket keeper was in place; Forder had taken the gloves in Taylor’s absence, and after some early helmet issues, showed he was an adept keeper, with some good takes. He was also keen to point out the moral victory in every play and miss or streaky edge. Despite the fine bowling, Astons continued to slowly accumulate runs; an opening 100 run partnership was reached with Enstone sweating over potential acceleration in the latter overs. After a range of bowling changes to try and break the deadlock, it was again Peterson (5-0-41-1) who made the breakthrough with a fine dipping delivery that clean bowled the Astons skipper just after he had reached his 50. While the remaining opener accelerated, K. Anthony (5-0-21-0), Speke (7-0-28-1) and Watts (7-0-40-2) chipped away at the opposition, keeping them to 189-4 from their 40 overs. A good total, but Enstone were not intimidated and remained confident of making a successful run chase. Indeed, as Speke and Parker started, the bowling seemed innocuous enough, until the skipper misjudged a short ball, hitting a loose cut to point on 16. The scoring slowed as Forder and Parker found their range. A bowling change did for Parker (18) defeated by the speedy Harris. Bussey and Myatt followed shortly after, both falling for 5. In the meantime Forder grew in confidence, he began pulling with assurance, taking his wife by surprise with a boundary that narrowly missed his younger daughter (Mrs Forder claimed that she wasn’t expecting Freddie to hit it that hard, so hadn’t been paying attention). Soon he was pulling sixes and driving powerfully, while others around him floundered. The chase looked on, with Wilson and Forder accumulating runs at a faster rate. Wilson fell after a cameo 19, he was followed back to the pavilion shortly after as Anthony was caught hitting out for 1. This brought Watts to the crease, and scoreboard confusion led to he and Forder hitting out a few overs earlier than they needed to. Forder fell for a well-constructed 64, again to the speedy Harris. Peterson and Croft then fell in identical fashion, caught at long on while seeking to reach the target. Enstone finished on 153, just 37 runs short. Clearly a moral victory… Report by Will Speke Click It is perhaps the oldest cricketing cliché that ‘catches win matches’, yet Enstone Cricket Club, marching on to their fifth victory in as many games seem to be doing everything possible to disprove this.
In many sides, the dropping of a catch is greeted with despair, anger and disparaging remarks. At Enstone, it is fast becoming something to celebrate. The only members of the team to fail to drop a catch today were Budgie (who was sadly given no opportunities), Jordan (who was so hungover that he clearly wasn’t thinking straight when his catch resulted in the first wicket of the OCCC innings) and the increasingly smug and soon to be ostracised Tom Peterson, who took two catches. The match begun with Enstone, as ever, taking to the field. The medium pacers were initially wayward but very quickly found their characteristic accuracy. Without a breakthrough in the early overs, Captain Jon Watts rotated the bowlers well, introducing the slow right arm of Budgie into the attack early on to provide added control. The bowlers all created chances, but as usual Enstone were, with one exception, unable to take them meaning that at the halfway mark, OCCC were well set at 95-1. Then in the 23rd over, Tom Peterson struck again, diving forward to take an impressive catch off his own bowling. This was then followed soon after by another impressive catch by Tom when a firmly hit shot stuck in his hand. Tom was very pleased and attempted an array of masculine poses in celebration. With inroads made into the top of the order Enstone were able to apply pressure and thwart OCCC’s momentum. Unable to rely on catches, Enstone found other ways to take wickets without resorting to the ‘Curtis Eyebrow Method’ of last week. Watts trapped OCCC’s number 5 batsman LBW. Budgie’s flight and guile was too much for one batsman who charged and played all round it, allowing Porno to whip the bails off with the batsmen in no man’s land (probably near Islip). Two run outs added to OCCC’s woes and they were restricted to 162 off their 40 overs, with Jon Watts and Tom Peterson the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets each. Tea came and went. Budgie was removed with an unplayable ball in the first over which nicked the top of his off stump. Freddie and Sparky then set about trying to set a foundation to the innings. Both were looking set, then Freddie tapped a low full toss back to the bowler, who despite being dropped four times when we was batting, decided not to return the favour. This brought Bussy to the crease who from the outset treated the bowling with the disdain that it deserved putting together solid partnerships first with Sparky, who made 29 and then Piers, who made 20. Enstone were looking comfortable however the loss of Bussey for a superbly crafted 60 and the loss of 11 runs due to a scoreboard error added to the tension. What was needed were two batsmen to cut through the highly charged atmosphere. Happily both Jon and Ju Watts were able to do just that. Ju came out to bat with the score on 147. Jon kept the score ticking over whilst Ju was resolute in defence. Then with 6 needed for victory Ju picked his spot and used his power to launch the OCCC bowler twice over midwicket, securing Enstones victory by two wickets with 6 balls to spare. Report by Freddie Forder here to edit. With a string of successful results in recent weeks Enstone arrived at Great Tew full of confidence. In need of someone to record what was sure to be a momentous match, Captain Speke needed someone with objectivity, wit and literary skill. Nobody fitting this description being available, Freddie volunteered, hoping that his writing talents would be more highly regarded than his understanding of when to unleash an lbw appeal. Having given up on tossing, Captain Speke reached an amicable agreement with the opposition skipper that Enstone would bowl. Piers opened the bowling with characteristic accuracy beginning with a couple of maidens. Ed ‘Colin, not Robert’ Croft opened from the top end, bowling with good pace and an immediate edge uncharacteristically dropped by the keeper. Under pressure, the opening partnership only lasted until the fifth over, when Jon Watts took a difficult catch. The first change bowlers, Jon Watts and Captain Speke continued the accurate bowling for which Enstone is becoming feared throughout Oxfordshire. However again the curse of dropped catches became evident as several chances went down. Despite the missed chances Jon Watts took two further wickets including a sharp caught and bowled. This brought Great Tew’s overseas professional and allegedly a former under-21 player of the year in Perth (Western Australia, not Scotland) to the crease. He went after the Enstone bowling like Mike Gatting after a lorry filled with baked goods, but not to be deterred Enstone’s bowlers kept it tight, with Tom Peterson and Jordan Rouse joining the attack. Jordan was rewarded with several wickets to keep the pressure on Great Tew. After a quick fire 78, the Australian retired. Sportingly, Captain Speke told Jordan to bowl at a lower pace to the new short young batsmen who responded by thumping a four through mid-on. Normal service was resumed the next ball Jordan upping his pace, finding the edge and Porno taking a sharp chance behind the steps. After 6 drops (which must be a record for the season, and one memorably off the eye socket of Paul Curtis in the deep), the chances began to stick. The closing overs saw good catches from Sparky, Piers and then a brilliant reflex catch by Captain Speke at first slip which also damaged his finger nail. At the end of their 40 overs Great Tew had scored 198 for 9, Jordan Rouse the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets. After tea, Captain Speke and Simon Parker opened the batting, putting together a solid foundation. Anything short was punished and there were scoring shots around the wicket. Unfortunately a delicately poised game was cut short by the elements after 16 overs with the score on 73, Captain Speke scoring 34 and Sparky 31. This was well ahead of the Duckworth Lewis par score of 50 so technically this can be put down as another sound victory for Enstone. It was men against boys. `We all arrived at the ground filled with excitement wondering what the skipper would do if we won the toss, surprisingly for us all he won the toss and decided to bowl first. I guess it must have been due to the overhead conditions and a very green pitch.
If the plan was for Ed to open the bowling with some tight line and length to frustrate our ‘League’ opponents, Ed being the maverick that he is decided that a mix of wides and long hops was the way to go and low and behold it worked as the opener who had apparently smashed 60 the day before slapped the ball into the grateful hands of John at point who showed all that hard work in fielding practice had paid dividends. What followed was mesmerizing to watch as Piers steamed in like an old Bob Willis at one end and the Skipper bounded in like a shaved chimp at the other. In fact it was so mesmerizing the skipper seemed to morph into Dan ‘fingers’ Stewart and spill a straight forward slip catch much to Piers’ dismay. The Enstone boys were not to be denied as Will and Piers continued to bowl tightly and the fielding was inspired with the return of the Ring of Steel. Despite the pressure the breakthrough did not come so the skipper turned to the old warhorse John Watts. A wise move as John found the edge and this time a fine catch by the skipper. Wickets continued to tumble (despite another drop from Will ‘safehands’ Speke) and a mixture of excellent bowling from John, Jordan and Tom and fantastic slip catching (including a memorable one from Ed) saw the Bampton innings come to a standstill. With the skipper being concerned about a potential large last wicket stand he turned to Budgie who produced a vicious spinning delivery to pick up a caught and bowled (to go along with an earlier catch at point). The innings was wrapped up for a score of just 117. After a hearty and classic Enstone tea, the openers Will and Budgie strode out to the crease full of purpose. Will playing a mixture of powerful cuts and classical drives and Budgie playing a mixture of inside edges and outside edges the openers brought up 50 before Will top edged a pull to be caught behind for a well-made 34. Freddie joined Budgie at the crease and the runs continued to flow before Budgie spooned up a caught and bowled for a patient 24 with the score on 73. This left Bussey and Freddie to finish the job in no time with a mixture of raw power from Bussey and some lovely elegant shots from Freddie with Freddie finishing not out 31 and Dave not out 19. A fantastic all-round team performance and now three wins on the spin for the mighty Enstone…although deep down we all know that Cricket was the real winner. On a warm but windy Sunday afternoon, 11 Men of Enstone (yes, 11, you read it correctly, the skipper actually managed to get a full side!) strode out to field first for a change. Buoyed by last weeks resounding victory over Wytham and with returning heroes Bussey, Sparky, Jizza and Jordan it was a strong looking line up ready to take on a very good Isis side. Unusually Skipper Speke decided that he would open the bowling from the Charlbury road end with Ed Page-Croft taking the new ball from the Old Bell End. Enstone got off to the perfect start when Will Speke took a wicket with the 5th ball of the first over, the batsman gloving through to Keeper Taylor for 0, Spekes metronomic action continued throughout his 8 over spell, beating the outside edge regularly and claiming his 2nd wicket when he bowled the other opener for 11, finishing with impressive figures of 8-7-1-2. Croft meanwhile bowled with pace and aggression in his first spell of 4 overs but unluckily not getting the wickets he deserved. Jordan Rouse then came on to bowl and although a little loose to start with quickly found his rhythm and started to trouble the Isis batsmen who were now feeling the pressure. Unfortunately, Croft dropped the best chance off Jordan that fizzed straight in and out of his hands at mid-on. But Jordan did eventually make the breakthrough with a sharp run out, Taylor whipping off the bails with the batsman well short of his ground. A. Speke (aka Jizza), was then thrown the ball to follow on from his little brother at the Charlbury road end and could have had a wicket early on in his spell when an edge behind was dropped by the keeper, who claimed that the bowler must have lost some pace over the years as the ball died on him. A deserved wicket came in the 5th over of the spell with Budgie casually pouching a 1 handed overhead catch at mid-off, Jizza finishing with figures of 8-1-17-1. The next bowler into the fray was TP from the Old Bell End, with his first over of mainly short, slow deliveries being punished for 9 runs, this was followed by a rare maiden. Then in the 4th over of his spell he managed to get an even rarer LBW call, the ball hitting the batsman's legs directly in front of leg stump, the cross wind helping keep the ball on line, and despite protests from the batsman that he'd hit the ball, he had to walk. Meanwhile Croft had been given a change of ends, this brilliant piece of captaincy paying immediate dividends as 2 wickets fell in 2 balls, first was Isis' most dangerous batsman who, having been previously dropped by Croft, gloved one on 53 to short third man with Freddie Forder taking a solid catch. There was debate as to whether the batsmen had crossed with the big hitting No 7, on 23, taking guard for the next delivery. He then proceeded to have a swing at one outside off stump and edged through to the safe hands of Taylor behind the stumps. 7 wickets down and only 122 on the board, things were looking good for Enstone. TP took the next wicket, tossing up a full delivery taking out leg stump, it was noted however that the stumps fell forwards and were not sent cartwheeling back, finishing with an effective if rather expensive 8-2-47-2 (this could have been better if the slip fielder could actually catch, I think it was a bloke who looked like Gareth Southgate). Croft then took a further wicket, bowling out the new man in style to finish with great figures of 8-1-33-3. Rouse returned to finish the innings Bowling the last man for 11 to finish with 7.4-0-45-1 and to leave a target of 146. After a decidedly average tea Simon Sparky Parker, returning from his epic cross continental journey and having spent the majority of the last week on the beer and Skipper Speke (opening the batting as well) strode confidently to the middle. They made a solid start with both scoring boundaries at regular intervals. Speke eventually perished, bowled by a very good delivery, for a very well made 33 (Although TP did signal a leg bye which Speke claims he hit, the scorer politely refused to amend the scorebook and was called a Twat). Freddie Forder then came to the crease and struck up a great parnership with Sparky and kept the scoring well ahead of the required rate. Sparky then 'cut loose' losing 2 balls with big sixes. He eventually fell to a slow looping delivery, bowled for a lusty 67 with the score on 123. With ony 23 more runs required the Enstone middle order decided to make the game more exciting, first to go was Budgie, contraversially given LBW by guest umpire Ned, for 4. Freddie followed next, caught for a solid 22. Dan ' Fingers' Stewart was then bowled for a duck, claiming that the ball came through quicker than expected, with this advice on board, TP expertley played late down the wrong line to the very next ball and was bowled for a golden duck. Bussey had already come to the crease and watched in dismay the dismissals of Fingers and TP, and with only 9 now needed he was joined by Jizza. Thankfully these two were able to see us through, Bussey playing some classic strokes including a boundary, Jizza finishing off in style by hitting the football posts in the outfield for 4. That makes 2 wins in 2 games, bring on Bampton next week........... All week expectation had been mounting. Several questions needed asking. Would we play our first game since 19th June? Would we have 8 players, or 9 or 10? Would everyone show up at the right time at the right ground? Were there any sore heads among the Anthonys? The answers as it turned out were a bit like confused calling on a quick single – yes, no, no yes, no, no and an emphatic yes.
Holidays, injuries and death had made selection policy difficult for the skipper, and rather than sharing the burden he kept it on a need-to-know basis from his lair in Suffolk - hence the surprise to most today that we did indeed have a near-quorate team. Somehow the skipper had lured Piers out of premature retirement – mainly by reassuring him that he wouldn’t have to bowl. Somehow the skipper had lured Pony into playing against Wytham – mainly by leaving the opponents name blank in the round-robin email. So as the sunny intervals scudded across the sky, 9 men of many places other than Enstone took to the sward, having elected to field for a change. Porno had arrived late at the Charlbury Road cauldron hot-foot from Wiltshire. Ben had arrived hot-foot at Queens College ground in Oxford, but didn’t arrive at the correct arena for 10 or so decisive overs. What he missed was a masterclass in opening bowling. Will Speke from the Charlbury Road end cunningly using the camber of the pitch to great effect to beat the bat consistently. Piers Myatt from the Bell End swinging the ball away from the batsmen to great effect inducing the young opener into a rash tickle of the new cherry which was gratefully-snaffled by the Porn behind the timbers. Such a delicate nick that the bowler in his follow-through wondered what the hell all the fuss was about and why the batsman had turned slump-shouldered away towards the Pavilion. Will was not to be outdone, and had one of our favourite opponents, the danger-man Hollis caught in the gully by Piers. He beautifully bowled another with a nip-backer of great quality. Suffice to say that the first 16 overs only cost 14 runs at the cost of 3 wickets, and Wytham were always going to be in difficulties from thereon. More wickets fell as Budgie bamboozled the Wytham batters by taking all pace off and induced one of their more barnacle-like batsmen into a rash heave at one that had come out of the clouds above the trees at the Charlbury Road end. It resulted in the complete and utter failure to get anything on the ball which passed-through to a gleeful glovesman who promptly removed his bails. In the meantime Budgie had appealed – for leg before. Enstone debutant Simon Clarkson – another teacher – was becoming a ball magnet, as the father of one of his daughter’s classmates dads (I think I have that right) kept tickling Budgie round the corner. Simon was swiftly-inducted into the Enstone Ring of Steel and fielded well all day – taking a good catch later on. Ben Gregory also displayed his big ball skills swapping goalkeeping for diving saves in the covers and was another worthy inductee into the Ring of Steel. Unusually catching was proving to be difficult for Enstone. Edges and uppish-drives were carefully-evading desperately-diving and swearing fielders. A stubborn 50+ from Simon’s daughter’s classmate’s dad was the backbone of their innings. Wickets fell regularly, with even Dan “Slippery” Stewart taking a nice catch, finishing with a career-best 9 for 2. It was noticed however that the catch was off his own bowling and that he wasn’t so keen on pouching chances from other bowlers. Desperation at a slow run rate caused erratic calling for runs by Wytham and led to one of those moments when cricket is the winner. A little tickle towards midwicket, seemingly passing the diving Ben Gregory leaving him like a flannel-clad salmon flapping in shallow water, induced an attempted single by the Wytham hopefuls. The striker set off only to see with dismay the salmon turn into Mr Tickle with an arm snaking out to stop the ball already past, it seemed. Brakes came on for the Wythameers, as Bens’ throw arced toward the bowler’s end. They turned for home and safety as the ball arrowed for the area about 7 yards (Brexit allows for the reintroduction of Imperial measurements) east of the target. The bowler, Dan “Fingers” Stewart covered the 7 yards in what seemed like an instant pausing only to cannon into the stumps and deftly-remove the bails while somehow still travelling towards the ball. Collecting the ball, he took aim, and let fly. The Wytham batsman regained his ground with a sigh of relief as the ball safely-passed the bail-less stumps. Dan hadn’t had time to rebuild the wicket, which he as an experienced umpire knows would have needed to be done before a successful run out appeal could be made. Oh and he would have had to have hit the stumps with the ball too. While all this was happening at the top end Pony was quietly-beavering away at the Bell End, taking 3 wickets in two spells, so that he now equals Ed in the overall wicket-taking competition. However he is going to be playing French cricket for the remainder of the season, and those wickets don’t count. Tom Peterson had also had a good spell at the Bell End bowling his 8 overs for under 5 an over, bagging a fine wicket. So in the end, Wytham were restricted to 122 all out, so it was off for a fine tea prepared by the Anthony ladies. It is suspected that the state of Budgie’s digestive system following Saturday night meant that he may not have played a big part in the preparations. So to the second half, and strode to the wicket the opening pair of Will Speke and Nick Halliwell. Will’s tenure in the middle lasted as long as a pawnbroker’s in that the third ball proved too much and he got a feather through to the keeper who woke Umpire Budgie with his appeal and the automatic reflex index finger borrowed from Dan Stewart meant that Will, obviously-reluctantly, had to go. This brought Piers and Nick together. Some fine stroke play and good running between the wickets steadily-knocked down the total still needed. Piers struck the ball in a more than usual subdued fashion, but added steadily to his score, and ably complimented the Atherton-esque Halliwell who strangely for one in an Enstone team looked to know what he was doing. He hit the only 6 of the match, and cut and smote his way to a fine 72 before he was caught off a skier to midwicket when the scores were level. Piers meanwhile had perished to a catch in the deep, but not before more umpiring controversy. He was struck on the big toe in front; to us mere mortals on the boundary there appeared to have been two noises. Wytham appeals as Piers hopped up and down a bit turned to petulance as he was given not out after confirming he had indeed got a bat on it before it hit his foot. Ben came out to replace Piers and pushed and prodded for a fine 6 not out, letting Nick farm the strike and knock most of the last 29 runs off before perishing. Budgie came in to finish the job with an unbeaten 1. A sweet victory by 7 wickets. A close fought match ended in defeat for brave Enstone in thick sea fog… the Enstone captain Will Speke put Astons into bat having arrived late and having decided that he didn’t have time to put his pads on. Astons had been bolstered by the addition of three fine players from Islip. Enstone had called on the youth team to fill the ranks and were pleased to welcome Marcus Croft and Sam Eykyn both still at primary school but whom were soon to show the “old boys” like Freddy how to field! Enstone opened with Ed Croft, who took on the “attack leader” mantle and decided he would take advantage of the slope, he duly earned his right to lead by returning figures of 2 for 17 from 8 overs and may have had more were it not for some uncharacteristic drops in the slip cordon. Pete Anthony at the other end was also very tidy taking 1 for 38, figures which were slightly spoiled by a few late boundaries and a number of expletives which can’t be published. With Kev Anthony missing Tom Peterson decided to slow down his bowling to great effect for 2 wickets, including an excellent stumping. Sadly it was clear that with 92 for one of the Astons senior batsman, their score of 165 was always going to be tough. This was not before a fabulous last over from young Marcus Croft, in which managed to hurl down a maiden of the highest quality! So to the run chase, which commenced after very cheesy lunch provided by our resident Hollywood celeb “manly” Dan Stewart, whom was recovering from a long walk in the peak district. Enstone's batting lineup had a new look to it, with Adam Smith being welcomed back for his first game of the season and Alastair Eykyn (of BBC Radio 5 Live notoriety). After an early bath for Speke dismissed for 9 and a leg side strangle for Freddy for 8 runs a very nice partnership developed between the new boys. Adam Smith went on to make 19 including a sumptuous straight 6 which went into the Paddocks! His exit brought my good-self to the wicket and with promises of taking it easy to support Alastair in his innings, Paul promptly smashed his first ball to Cover and was caught for a golden duck…which was rather irritating. Alastair went on to score 40 including some very tasty boundaries, briefly joined by Tom Peterson who contributed a few lusty blows to take the team within 60 runs off the last 9 overs. “Big” Ed Croft was by this stage handing out a Churchillian speech on the boundaries about “everything being do-able…until it isn’t”. He sent out his son Marcus and his school friend Sam to do his dirty work for him and to their significant credit garnered 3 and 8 respectively. Ed Croft strode to the wicket eventually as our last hope, lever’s whirling like some giant threshing machine….sadly Freddy "the Finger" Forder was umpiring and he promptly gave him out for 1 and that was the end of that. Paul Newton It was with high spirits that Enstone arrived at Queens College Cricket field after their resounding, stonking win against arch rivals, Wytham (y-TH-u-m). Once the whole team had arrived after two players went via Oxford Station, they took to the field under a glorious blue sky and hot 23 degree sun. Would the high temperatures come into play as the game wore on? Our skipper chose to field first, for a change. J.Wazzer Watts and P. Pony Anthony opened the bowling and although there were no early wickets the Isis attack was very muted in the face of some fiercely accurate bowling on a wicket that was not offering anything, very unusually for the Queens ground. They commenced battle with the constant, unceasing, tireless, encouragement from D. The Finger Stewart. Not all of it had any coherent narrative and only some of the words could be found in a modern English dictionary but it had the desired effect and the overs ticked along nicely. Unfortunately for our brave openers there was again some Estonesque fielding and the opening batsman was dropped early twice. This would prove costly as the same batsman went on to score a healthy and game winning total. For one stout hearted fielder, he was just glad the ball was not coming towards him at midwicket and some one else could face the withering looks of his teammates. A breakthrough was made however after an astonishing catch in deep gully from P. Anthony off E Crofty Croft. After 15 overs Isis had been being kept to a relatively low run rate when our brave skipper took the baton. However Will-monkey-gareth-southgate-Speke began to tire in the glaring mid-afternoon heat and struggled a little. Never-the-less, his gallant spirits were kept high by the endless, incessant, continuous, interminable cheering from Finger Stewart. Finally it was too much, and after being hit for another sharp boundary, our Skipper beseeched Stewart to cease his eloquent words of encouragement as he felt himself not worthy. Stewart resolved that from this point on he would never allow his noble captain again such self doubt and modesty. He determined to redouble his efforts and forbid his comrade to become so downtrodden every time he got smacked for 4 through the covers. At the other end Croft had his eye in without any further luck while Anthony had now two very attractive maidens. The game was poised on a knife edge but still Isis’ opener stood firm and started to amass quite a total. As the batsmen became even more confident, the skipper went for a change of pace and brought in P. Olivia. Newton and K. Budgie. Anthony. It proved to be decisive and almost immediately Anthony. K struck with another of his unplayable ‘bombs’ that shaved the leg stump following a wild, awful swing by the Isis batsman. Then Newton sank another whose eyes lit up only for it to be snatched out of the air by a catch of the highest order from Croft. His first of two that he made seem easier than they were. Isis were quick to learn however and backed off the slogs and rapidly scored singles and twos. The brothers Anthony struck again as always and as the 40 over break loomed Enstone snatched one last wicket and left the field needing 185. After tea Speke and Anthony marched to the crease and after an opening delivery near disaster they went on for 14 overs and were unbreakable notching up a clever 38. Speke was the first to fall though and Freddy “Henry” Forder replaced him. He too found the wicket horribly slow and the outfield even slower. Patience was the order of the day but the run rate began to drop behind that of Isis. Forder fell and was replaced by S. Enrique. Wilson who more than made amends with a flashing bat. And then, calamity. Enstone lost 5 wickets for just 4 runs. Stewart was completely tied up by a wicked delivery from Isis’ spinner which swung away from leg stump and then spun ferociously back at off. As he shouldered arms and sulked from the crease he overheard comments that the delivery might have been as good if not better than a certain S. Warne’s “Ball of the century”. And indeed Mike Gatting could have fared no better against such a monstrous delivery. A sterling rear guard action was mounted by a fierce Wilson and Croft who put on another incredible 50 between them. But finally Croft fell to a catch from a player who might need help bending down to tie his shoelaces due to old age let alone a sharp drive through mid-wicket at ankle height. Enstone’s stalwart keeper brought up the final bat and seemed quite comfortable until a horribly controversial LBW was given by Umpire Forder. Stewart must surely feel that a return to his place as an opening Umpire is not too far off. Easton had made 109 and lost by 75 runs and 3 wickets. Questions were asked as to whether it was an accurate summary of the captain’s fielding positioning. These were soon answered as our youngest player Rouse was put at cover, despite having a healthy hangover, while Curtis was positioned at second slip.
After some ball confusion, Croft and Watts steamed in, the latter in particularly fiery mood. It was Croft who made the break through, bowling a stunning swinging delivery to take out leg stump. This was followed by a period of consolidation by Wytham, who becalmed Watts, before Speke joined the attack. He could only bowl a series of wides, which allowed Wytham to push toward 40 for just one wicket. Croft then made a further breakthrough in his 5th over, finishing on 4 for 28 after eight overs, including 2 wickets in 2 balls. His hat-trick missed thanks to a ‘jug avoiding’ leg side delivery. By this time the flood gates were open and Enstone were picking up wickets regularly, Speke picked up 2 for 13 from 8 overs, while the pace of Rouse (his head now clear) picked up 4 for 17 from 5.2 overs. Wytham were all out for 78. In sharp contrast to the fielding of last week, the catching was much improved. Forder held 2 good catches; Taylor took 4 behind the stumps. A couple of sharp drops at slip off Speke and a drop off Rouse at cover were the only blemishes on an excellent fielding performance. With tea not ready, Enstone had a testing 10 overs to negotiate beforehand. Speke and Halliwell headed to the middle after a quick turnaround. Speke perished for 3, caught and bowled. This brought Forder to the crease, who alongside Halliwell; guided Enstone to a tea break after 10 overs. This was a tea the Enstone team particularly enjoyed, partly due to the quality of the tea, but also due to the unusually confident position they found themselves in. When play resumed Enstone serenely batted to victory, with Forder (25 not out) consummately cutting and Halliwell (32 not out) pulling with power. There was even an opportunity for Stewart to hone his umpiring skills under Newton’s watchful eye, with lightening nearly striking twice as his trigger finger itched. With the game wrapped up by 5pm, Enstone headed to the White Hart for a pint, feeling confident for next week, only to realise that a three week cricketing hiatus due to cancelled fixtures will test any momentum gained. The winning streak starts here… Team: W Speke (c), N Halliwell, F. Forder, P.Curtis, K.Anthony, J.Watts, P.Newton, D.Stewart, E.Croft, J.Rouse, W.Taylor (w/k). |
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August 2017
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