6th - 8th July

Mike Ireland (veteran seamer and occasional funky tweaker) has decided to plump for Oxfordshire this year in the hope that we might get a bit more change out some fresh opposition . Your finalised teams (injuries permitting) and their captains are...

Friday

Charlbury - 6:30

Saturday

Bampton in the Bush - 2:30

Sunday

Holton - 2:30

Sandy Peirson

Although we are staying at the Marlborough Hotel, other drinking establishments may be available(!). We are deeply indebted to the reconnaisance party of Tour Secretary, Chairman and Vice-captain who selflessly braved the depths of mid-winter to sample the pubs of Witney, and reported their findings as follows:

The tourmeister has also thoughtfully provided directions for the games (so any internet lurkers out there that feel like coming along can join us for the festivities)

Directions for Charlbury:

Turn left out of the hotel car park and head north, taking a slight right at High Street. At the roundabout take the second exit onto the A4095 / Bridge Street. At the next roundabout take the first exit onto the B4022 / W End. At the third roundabout take the second exit onto the B4022 / Hailey Road and continue to follow the B4022. Entering Charlbury turn left at the B4022 / Woodstock Road. Turn immediately left and follow the road passing the church on your left until you reach a junction with the Bull Inn facing you. Turn left. After 100yds turn left at the B4437 / Dyer's Hill and the cricket ground is a quarter of a mile on your right just past the bridge over the river.

Directions for Bampton In the Bush:

Travel through Curbridge and head for Bampton market square. In the square turn left down High Street (you will see Budgens on your right) and follow the road for half a mile. The recreation ground is on the right just as you leave the village and go round a left hand bend.

Last minute change of plan, as the original venue has been double-booked! We are now playing at the The Elms, Langford.  From Witney, take the A40 west to Burford.  From Burford head towards Lechlade - the directions should be on the map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Burford&daddr=51.719531,-1.644344&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=14&mra=dme&sll=51.727294,-1.623831&sspn=0.023871,0.05785&ie=UTF8&ll=51.727294,-1.623831&spn=0.190963,0.462799&z=11&om=1

Our meal at the hotel is booked for 9.30pm. The nightclub is just across the square for those wishing to dance the night away or meet The Fonz.

Directions for Holton:

Stay on the A40 all the way to Wheatley. Take exit signposted Wheatley / Holton and turn right at the next T-junction following signs to Oxford Brookes, Wheatley campus. Turn left at the mini roundabout and take the next left after several hundred yards, signposted towards Holton and the campus, then turn left opposite the fire station. The ground is next left, under a bridge towards the top of a hill at the Wheatley campus of Oxford Brookes University. Once on the campus take the right fork through the barrier and follow the road round to the left in front of the changing rooms and ground.

Match Reports

The following Match Reports have been submitted by (some of) the team captains, and are presented in their full unexpurgated glory - any errors and omissions should be referred to the authors(!)

Oxfordshire Tour 2007 - Charlbury CC v Barford CC - Friday 6th July 2007.

It is 9:00 am, the phone is ringing and to be honest, it woke us up! We don’t normally oversleep but I am off on Tour today and we are meeting old friends from Charlbury for lunch before the cricket starts so we switched off the alarm last night. Bugger, it is my old cricketing friend John from Charlbury – this has to be bad news? The Club President has just called John with concerns about tonight’s game. Apparently there was very heavy rain in Charlbury on Thursday and even though we are planning to play on the artificial strip the square is very wet and they are going to inspect at 12:00 noon. This could now go on for pages… suffice it to say that John knows the President well and he is famous for dithering over decisions, so he thinks I should meet Malcolm at the ground and stick my oar in over the inspection. Plan A – a nice relaxed start - out of the window!

We meet at 12:00 and as far as I am concerned, providing there is no more rain, this will be OK. The Charlbury ground drains very quickly because of the slope and the wind is blowing with the sun out – perfect drying conditions. Despite this, we apparently need another inspection at 4:00 pm! We swap mobile numbers so that Malcolm can call me with the decision and also discuss a contingency plan to play “Aunt Sally” if the cricket is off (mistake! but you now know the rules!!) we then chat about the current state of our two cricket clubs. I am very pleased for Charlbury and even more annoyed about Barford to discover that Charlbury’s second pitch is being leased from the Cornbury Estate for £100 per year. Up your arse D S-R with your £1500 per year!

We repair to the Royal Oak at Ramsden and have a superb lunch. I thoroughly recommend this pub. The Chairman and Tour Secretary were inducted on the pre – tour investigations.

Now to the Marlborough in Witney, hoping that the directions for all will be accurate and we will collect some players. Yes, most have found us in The Angel.

No call from Malcolm hits my mobile but I have already decided that we must be able to play. So off we go to Charlbury with some getting slightly lost, but all arriving at the ground on time. (SC you are excused but not for your batting). However, you did provide our first Campari moment when you were challenged about the rather smart but sombre state of your attire with the quip “looks as if you have been to a funeral” to which you calmly replied “Yes, I have”.

Our opposition is a Charlbury Youth Team containing three young ladies (one a county junior) and thanks to a re-arranged Cup Semi Final, no First XI players.

I agree with their captain’s suggestion to play a 20 x 6 ball over game and to comply with ECB rules (Juniors) a max of 4 overs per bowler and to ensure that it is not too one sided a batsman must retire at 25 (He doesn’t know Barford very well).

Charlbury win the toss and I am then asked “what do you think we should do?” to which I reply “how many of your players are here?” “6” “I think you should bat”.

I am totally impressed with the Barford Team effort in the field. All of the bowlers keep it straight and Sandy does a great job behind the sticks, but my Campari moments are: a stunning piece of fielding by Paul Henderson at fine leg, a brilliant recovery by young Richard from an over in the previous mid-week game which he will want to forget and the eventual introduction into the attack of ‘destroyer Timms’. I was very aware that Tony’s first ball would be a hat trick ball after his ‘7 for’. That didn’t work out which is a pity because another jug would have been good. But he still took two wickets for very little in only two overs!

Charlbury scored 84 for 6 which I think could have been a great deal more if one senior player had batted earlier. Anyway our batters now have to face the girls!

You could smell the concern!

We opened with Chris Prince and Chris O’Reilley who both batted well and also provided us with more Campari moments. The Charlbury scorer was having trouble identifying the two batsmen in their armour and asked for some means of sorting it out. We debated this for a while and eventually came up with the conclusion that the “waistline” was the key (Sorry CP) but in the meantime he had been given quite a few of C O’R’s runs. A couple of England players have done well in the “Strictly Come Dancing” show but the performance of our two C’s mid run was not really up to scratch! CP gets out but is chuffed with his score.

After a very brief two ball have a look at it, SC departs and PH plays a nice aggressive innings as C O’R becomes more becalmed with female bowling. In the end CO’R has to retire (well batted) and the game is won with overs to spare. We don’t normally do this, but if asked, my man of the Match would be Paul Henderson – tight bowling, brilliant fielding and a very nice 25 no to see us home.

Off to Witney.

The Indian restaurant turns up trumps and I am happy that the Tour has started with a win. Can’t say any more than that.

Oxfordshire Tour 2007 - Bampton In the Bush CC v Barford CC - Saturday 7th July 2007.

It was Saturday, the 7th day of the 7th month of 2007 and as I staggered down the stairs of the Marlborough Hotel I felt a strange anxiety invade my curry flavoured hangover. Once again the often poisoned chalice of Barford's captaincy had been pushed my way. What would the day bring? Would it be lucky 7 for Barford or for our opposition? Could we repeat the Saturday victory of the last year's tour and make it two wins out of two on this one? Being the sort of person I am I had already worked out the likely batting order, potential wicket keeper and likely bowling attack about half an hour after receiving the Tour Sec's email several weeks earlier. But would it all work and what would the replacement ground bring as Bampton had already advised us that we were to fight it out on a neutral ground as theirs was double booked for a wedding.

Initial signs were good as we all seemed to find our way to the Bell Inn, a pleasant pub in Langford. This was despite Steve and I heading out of Witney the wrong way on the A40 towards Oxford, hotly pursued by Tim and having to negotiate a u-turn on a very busy stretch to get pointing in the right direction again! Maybe I was missing my satnav! When we got to the ground at the Elms it all looked set fair. The sun was out and it was a pretty ground with flatish outfield, a traditional style pavilion and a rather stylish Italianate style church in the distance. As usual we all approached the wicket with some suspicion for an inspection and were again pleasantly surprised to see that it had been freshly prepared, seemed pretty dry on top and looked as if it would play well. Encouraged by our success at Charlbury, and with the same openers available, I decided that we might as well have first use of it with the bat if the coin fell the right way. I met up with my opposing number Richard Pitt, called it correctly and the two Chrises (or should that be crisis!) got their pads on. So far so good.

Thirty minutes later we were 4 wickets down for about 18 runs and in deep trouble. The pitch had now revealed its true colours. It was desperately slow and low and obviously quite soft underneath. Very little bounced higher than half-stump height and at least two balls an over shot through at ankle height. It was a minefield and with the in form Chris O'Reilly, Chris Prince and Paul Henderson all back in the hutch and Simon Clark failing to hit himself out of a trouble things looked grim. Two experienced campaigners in Pete Fisher and Richard Jones were now trying to establish some sort of partnership and get the board moving again, but progress was slow and very tricky with the ball not coming on at all and still keeping very low. I was not at all confident that we would pass our lowest ever total. Then the wisdom of Martyn Lilley intervened. With not much batting to come Martyn convinced me (in about 3 seconds) that if either Fish or Jonesey went we needed the obdurate defensive capabilities of Mike Ireland at the crease to hold up one end while the rest of us tried to score a few. Having seen Mike defend his wicket many times and be not out at the end I knew that Martyn was dead right. A slightly startled Mike was hastily summoned from the other side of the ground, where he had gone for a stroll as he was not due to appear until no 11, and asked to put on his pads.

Fish was starting to look more confident than most on the treacherous wicket when Jonesey unfortunately ran himself out. However this set back now caused Mike to appear as an unlikely no 7 - and what a hero he turned out to be. While Fish started to play more fluently Mike defended superbly, not attempting to score but just to keep the partnership intact as overs were not a problem. Another significant development was that the opposition's support bowling was nothing like as good as the opening attack. Wides, no balls and byes were more plentiful than runs off the bat and the score started to mount. When Fish finally perished for a well played 16 his partnership with Mike had put on well over forty runs and the scoreboard looked a little better. After all, I thought as I went out to join Mike at the crease, they still had to bat on this wicket and we had a good bowling attack. I don't know why I batted in a helmet as the ball was still coming through at ankle to shin height. The score nudged along with the aid of a few singles and a swipe to leg for a boundary, but mainly with the extras that the opposition were so keen to give us. Eventually Mike was bowled (by another chap called Fisher!) for about the best score of 1 I can remember and returned to the acclaim of his team mates. Martyn and Richard Johnson then came and went in fairly quick succession and eventually I holed out to a good catch at cover point, leaving Simon Hawkins unbeaten. Our total of 88 all out in 34.1 overs comprised 37 off the bat and a massive 51 extras. Amazing!

It was a bit early for tea so the umpires decided that 10 overs of the second innings should be played before tea was taken. In that 10 overs Martyn Lilley and Simon Hawkins made excellent use of the wicket and Bampton were 4 wickets down with very few on the board. It was the mirror image of our innings. After tea scoring remained difficult and most importantly, because we were defending such a low total, very few extras were conceded and the fielding was tight. The introduction of Mike Ireland's off spin further tightened the screw but some bold hitting by the Bampton skipper, Richard Pitt, briefly threatened to take the game away. However he eventually went for 21and Barford's bowlers stuck to their task. Mike's stunning figures of 6 overs, 3 maidens, 5 runs and 4 wickets, ably supported by Martyn's 7-1-7-3, Simon's 5-1-13-2 and Richard Johnson's electric burst of 2-1-2-1 ensured the game was won within 25 overs. Significantly only 17 extras appeared in Bampton's total of 57, a tribute to some tight bowling and excellent wicket keeping on a tricky pitch by Chris O'Reilly. Barford had won by 31 runs.

On the way back over to Bampton for more convivial drinkies at the opposition's local (good pint of bitter) I reflected that 7 had been lucky for Barford this time. It had been a struggle for both sides to bat on a very difficult pitch and despite the extras and the low scores it had still been a great game of cricket. Man of the match? Well for me it had to be Mike, with his epic defence that allowed some sort of total to be set. To follow that with four wickets for 5 runs was special and all I can say is bloody well done mate! Martyn's idea to promote Mike up the order also had a major influence on the game so thanks and well done for that.

After a good dinner and despite being robbed by Judge Jolly as usual, I went to bed with a smile on my face.

Oxfordshire Tour 2007 - Holton CC v Barford CC - Sunday 8th July 2007.

TBA - C'mon Sandy - where's your report?

Tour Highs & Lows

Highs

Getting a sunny weekend in the wettest Summer ever

The Morris Clown in Bampton

O'Reilly and Prince in Strictly Come Dancing

The range of Hook Norton at The Eagle

The Fleece as a meeting point for coffee (and Campari)

The barman at The Sun Inn convincing Timmsy that Beck's is alcohol free and him having two bottles!

Statto the human dustbin

The Falkland Arms in Great Tew (superb place to stop for lunch on the journey down)

The chairman's disciplined approach to captaincy - not even knowing which day was his turn, and subsequent haranguing of the fielding at Holton

Erdsy bullying an eight year old (girl) at footie

Timmsy's facial hair sacrifice

The tourmeister's run (and attendant press coverage) at Langford

Paul Henderson replacing Knitwear as the tour dancer

Pete Romyn continuing his unbeaten(?) tour record

Suffers unable to attend

Lows

Suffers unable to attend

The chairman's curry blow back at Langford

Tourmeister's career average takes a nosedive below double figures

Richard's Aunt Sally explanations

Scary assistant manager in the hotel

Unpredictable wicket at Langford

The Eagle closing in the afternoon!

The Bell at Langford closing in the afternoon!

'The Final Countdown' blasting out of the wedding marquee during the Charlbury match

STOP PRESS

Mushie has sent some pictures of the horrendous flooding that subsequently followed us on tour - it's hard to believe that we played cricket there!