Junior Awards Event

The annual Junior Awards Event was held on Sunday 14 September, the beautiful weather befitting that of the entire 2014 season. The Two Daves outlined the fine progress the team had made this year, finishing in 3rd place out of 14 in the Wirral Junior Cricket League.

All the boys were presented with medals and some of the season's standout performances described, including Jack B's four wicket maiden, including a hattrick, against Port Sunlight.

We all look forward to the 2015 season and keep our fingers crossed that the weather will be as good as it has been this year.

Signing off for 2014

Match report - New Brighton (home) Sun 13 July

Conditions: Sunny and warm

After the first defeat of the season to Caldy last week, the Oxton lads welcomed back some of the regulars in their bid to return to winning ways. Up against them were a very strong first choice New Brighton team.

New Brighton batted first and off the very first ball, the opener feathered a catch to Max off the bowling of Dhruv. Further wickets soon followed and after just four overs, New Brighton were 3 wickets down. However, a solid partnership between L Botes and van Geffen soon restored parity, and big innings from o'Mahoney and S Botes saw New Brighton eventually race on to 142-6 off their allotted 25 overs.

In reply, Oxton soon discovered that they were up against some of the fastest bowling they had met this year, and despite brave attempts to hang in, the openers were both gone within 5 overs. Jack C was struck on the helmet and had to temporarily leave the field. Ben B-J and Raghurams tried to keep the innings going, but with the steady loss of wickets and the required run rate creeping ever upwards, Oxton faced a mountainous task. To their credit, they managed to bat out their 25 overs, but in truth they were well beaten by a very strong side. No disgrace. 

Result

New Brighton win by 37 runs

Scorecard

New Brighton 142 for 6 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
E Hughes	c Max V (wk) b Dhruv	0	1	-
A Power	b Jack C	1	5	20
M Southall	c Sam P b Jack C	10	9	11	1	1
L Botes	Retired not out	37	28	132	1	6
K van Geffen	b Jack B	12	21	57		2
E o'Mahoney	Retired not out	35	27	130	1	3
S Botes	not out	25	37	67		4
N Jones	c Jack B b Luke C	1	5	20
K Battersby	c Max V (wk) b Luke C	0	2	-
J Hibbs	not out	5	4	125		1
Extras		16
Total	for 6	142	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	16	1	4.0		0	E Hughes
Jack C	4	27	2	6.75		12	M Southall
Tom G	4	24	0	6.0		21	A Power
Jack B	4	20	1	5.0		85	K van Geffen
Harry D	4	23	0	5.75		127	N Jones
Luke C	4	14	2	3.5		127	K Battersby
Raghuram	1	8	0	8.0

Oxton 105 for 9 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	lbw S Botes	7	10	70		1
Tom G	c van Geffen b L Botes	4	13	31		1
Jack C	b Hepke	16	28	57	1	1
Sam P	b S Botes	5	8	63		1
Harry D	b E Hughes	9	13	69		2
Ben B-J	b J Hibbs	20	41	49		2
Ollie P	Run out	0	4
Raghuram	c Hibbs b Jones	12	24	50		1
Dhruv	not out	9	7	129		1
Max V	c Louis b ?	0	3
Luke C	not out	0	0
Extras		23
Total	for 9	105	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
L Botes	4	15	1	3.75		17	Jack B
S Botes	3	12	2	4.0		17	Tom G
E Hughes	4	5	1	1.25		?	Sam P
K van Geffen	3	17	0	5.67		?	Harry D
I Hepke	3	16	1	5.33		41	Ollie P
E o'Mahoney	3	7	0	2.33		66	Jack C
J Hibbs	3	17	2	5.67		93	Ben B-J
N Jones	2	4	1	2.0		98	Rughuram
Olly	2	7	1	3.5		?	Max V

Match Report - Caldy (home) Sun 6 July

Conditions: Sunny and warm

So a mega weekend of British sport (Tour de France in Yorkshire, Wimbledon men's final, British Grand Prix) was completed by the Oxton lads' first home game at Townfield Lane of the season, where they hosted Caldy. Confidence was high after last week's impressive victory at Neston, though with five of the Birkenhead School players missing, it was a somewhat new-look Oxton side at took to the field.

Caldy won the toss, and somewhat surprisingly, given the heavy layer of dew on the ground, elected to bat.

Dhruv and Tom G opened the bowling well and were soon rewarded with their first wicket when Tom found the outside edge and wicketkeeper Joe B snaffled the catch. The fielding however was very sloppy, with several catching opportunities being eschewed, and a number of runs being given away needlesely by lack of concentration and technique. And the Caldy runs continued to flow freely once the regular bowlers were replaced. Harry D was in good form however and bagged a pair of wickets, whilst keeping the runs down, with some good assistance from Ollie P. Nevertheless, Caldy's middle order made hay towwrds the end of the innings, completing their 25 overs on a formidable looking 146-5.

With the outfield drying up quickly, the run chase was always on, and the opening pair of Tom G and Ben BJ put on a very impressive stand, offering few chances and keeping the scoreboard ticking at nearly 5 an over. For the second week in a row, Tom was retired on 35 not out, a feat matched a few overs by Ben. Well done to both. Things at the other end however were not quite as rosy with two golden ducks and another cheap dismissal. Again, it was Harry D who had to provide the backbone of the resistance, and though never really managing to hit top gear, kept Oxton very much in the game. Support however was increasingly patchy and the run rate crept inexorably upwards. With a couple of dismissals near the end, the Oxton reply eventually fizzled out at 124-6, 23 short of the winning target.

So a first home game and a first defeat of the season. Some of the regulars undoubtedly missed, but this was a very lacklustre performance. Let's hope we're back to winning ways next week.

Result

Caldy win by 22 runs

Scorecard

Caldy 146 for 5 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Ewan	c Joe B (wk) b Tom G	4	1625			1
Joe T	c Tom G b Harry D	30	36	83		3
Jack	b Harry D	27	31	87	2	2
Eden	c Harry D b Joe B	11	15	73		1
Erron	Retired not out	37	24	154		8
James	b Ollie P	4	10	40
Joe B	not out	7	14	50		1
Bank [?]	not out	2	6	33		1
Extras	11w 7nb 4b 2lb	24
Total	for 5	146	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	20	0	5.0		11	Ewan
Tom G	4	14	1	3.5		63	Jack
Harry D	4	13	2	3.25		76	Joe T
Chris F	3	23	0	7.67		85	Eden
Mackenzie R	1	7	0	7.0		105	James
Raghuram	1	11	0	11.0
Ollie P	4	17	1	4.25
Joe B	3	29	1	9.67
Ben BJ	1	12	0	12.0

Oxton 124 for 6 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Tom G	Retired not out	35	39	90		5
Ben BJ	Retired not out	34	55	62		3
Joe B	b Joe T	4	2	200		1
Chris F	b Jack	0	1
Harry D	c ? b Olly	17	25	68		2
Max V	c ? b Andy	0	1
Ollie P	not out
Dhruv V	run out	1	4	25
Louis	c ? b Ewan	3	8	38
Raghuram	not out	0	3
Extras	16w 2nb 6b 1b	25
Total	for 6	124	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Ewan	4	13	1	3.25		63	Joe B
Erron	4	15	0	3.75		63	Chris F
Joe T	4	23	1	5.75		102	Max V
Jack	4	17	1	4.25		114	Harry D
James	3	17	1	5.67		116	Dhruv V
Bank [?]	2	16	0	8.0		124	Louis
JoeB	1	10	0	10.0
Andy	1	6	1	6.0
Olly	2	7	1	3.5

Worm graph for match

Match Report - Neston (away) Sun 29 June

Conditions: Warm, dry, but breezy after heavy overnight rain

After suffering a comprehensive defeat by Neston in the Cup less than two weeks ago, it was interesting to see if Oxton could regroup and maintain their unbeaten record in the League.

After torrential rain during the night, full marks to the Neston ground staff for actually managing to get a playable pitch ready, even if it meant restricting the bowling to one end only. Given the wet ground but sunny and breezy conditions, this was a toss that captain Jack C needed to win, and win he did, deciding to put Neston in whilst the outfield was still wet.

The Oxton opening bowlers responded with some very tight bowling, and the in the very first over, five dot balls from Dhruv were followed by a brilliant one-stump direct hit by Luke C fielding at point to run out the Neston number 1. Neston however settled and built up some solid partnerships, with Will C dropping anchor for almost the entire innings. Whilst some of the Oxton fielding was a little sloppy, Louis was very solid again behind the timbers, keeping the byes to a minimum, whilst a fine overhead catch by Luke sent the Neston back to the hutch. Neston never really got on top of the Oxton bowling and only in the last couple of overs did they manage to accelerate the scoring. Two run outs in the final eventful over brought the score to a respectable, but not unassailable 124-5.

This set Oxton a target run rate of exactly 5 an over and with the outfield drying up rapidly in the sunshine, there was always the sense that it was match on. Jack B and Tom G opened the Oxton batting, and with some great running between the wickets, punctuated by a few boundaries, the partnership put on 35 in 7 overs before Jack was bowled. Captain Jack C continued the good work, and by the time he was out in the 15th over, Oxton had laid the foundations from which to attack. Unfortunately Sam P and Harry D were perhaps a bit too attack-minded and fell in quick succession, allowing a few jitters to enter the Oxton camp, just as they did a few weeks earlier against Tranmere Victoria. This time, Oxton had Ed T to steady the ship and he played a vital innings, defending the straight balls, scoring off the rest. All the while, at the other end, Tom G had steadily accumulated runs, nudging single after single down to fine leg, with a couple of well-timed cover drives thrown in for the cameras. When he retired on 35, Raghuram picked up where Tom had left off, and batted responsibly to the penultimate over. With Oxton closing in on an impressive victory, it was left to Ed to finish the innings off in style, dispatching the ball over mid wicket for 6. With a final score of 125-5 off 23 overs, this was the perfect riposte to the Cup defeat two weeks ago.

Result

Oxton win by 5 wickets

Scorecard

Neston 124 for 5 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Ethan	Run out (Luke C)	0	6
Will C	Run out	26	60	43		1
Elliot	b Jack C	22	20	110		4
Nick	c Luke C b Harry D	10	15	67		2
Alec	Retired not out	36	38	95		2
Luke	Run out	11	9	122		2
Jacob	not out	5	3	167		1
Extras	4w 5nb 2b 3lb	14
Total	for 5	124	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	22	0	5.5		0	Ethan
Jack B	4	13	0	4.67		29	Elliot
Jack C	3	8	1	2.67		43	Nick
Tom G	3	15	0	5.0		113	Alec
Harry D	3	17	1	5.67		124	Will C
Ed T	3	14	0	4.67
Sam P	2	17	0	8.5
Will L	3	18	0	6.0

Oxton 125 for 5 (23 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	b Josh	17	23	74		2
Tom G	Retired (not out)	35	53	66		2
Jack C	b Will C	20	21	95		3
Sam P	b Elliot	4	3	133		1
Harry D	c? b Tom	0	3
Ed T	not out	24	16	150	1	3
Raghuram	c? b Will C	13	17	76		2
Louis	not out	1	1	100
Extras	9w 1nb 1b	11
Total	for 5	125	(22.5 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Alec	4	15	0	3.75		35	Jack B
Nick	2	9	0	4.5		71	Jack C
Luke J	4	13	0	3.25		76	Sam P
Josh	2	9	1	4.5		77	Harry D
Jacob	2	11	0	5.5		118	Raghuram
Will C	2.5	30	2	10.59
Elliot	2	10	1	5.0
Tom J	3	17	1	5.67
Max	1	11	0	11.0

Worm graph for match

Match Report - Tranmere Victoria (away) Sun 8 June

Conditions: Dry, breezy and sunny

This was the Oxton lads' first visit to Tranmere Victoria and despite a few last minute changes to the line-up, we managed to field a strong team.

Captain Jack B won the toss and chose to field first and was rewarded as the Oxton bowlers continued their good recent form. Assisted by a helpful breeze and some solid wicketkeeping (only 3 byes past Louis/Max in the innings), restricted the Victoria batsmen's scoring chances. The plan of switching Dhruv and Harry so that the latter bowled down the slope turned out to be a tactical masterstroke, and also earned Raghuram (who bowled the fill-in over) the first wicket. Replacing Harry down the slope, Tom G then hit his best form of the season, picking up 3 wickets in 3 overs for as many runs (all wides). From a position of 24-5 after 11 overs, batsman Ethan managed to steady the ship a little and then, with a 10 over partnership with Ricky, managed to stop the clatter of wickets. Runs however were very hard to come by as Oxton continued to bowl tightly, and Victoria ended the 25 overs on 63-7.

Although chasing a modest target, the Oxton top order managed to tangle themselves in knots, and a few ill-judged swipes across the line of a swinging ball inevitably resulted in leather against ash, leaving Oxton reeling on 12-4 off just four overs. With two wickets going in as many balls and the next batsman not even padded up, Max took responsibility and strode out to provide Jack B some much-needed support. With some nicely timed shots and quick running, the pair gradually restored the innings and put on 30 runs off 8 overs, benefitting also from a large cache of byes, wides and no-balls. When Max was eventually bowled with the score at 42-5, there was still danger. Fortunately Ben B-J was in great form with some great defensive shots against the better balls and adding 8 precious runs in the process, getting to within 2 runs of the target before eventually being bowled. Louis came in to help Captain Jack, who had batted through the innings, reach the 64 runs required for victory, off 15.5 overs.

So despite a panicky top order, a good enough response from the middle order to preserve Oxton's 100% record.

And a special word of thanks to a very welcoming and hospitable Tranmere Victoria, who supported and encouraged the lads from both teams and who laid on drinks and hot-dogs for the Oxton boys. The Spirit of Cricket at its best.

Result

Oxton win by 4 wickets

Scorecard

Tranmere Victoria 63 for 7 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Rees B	b Harry	12	16	75		2
MattyW	b Raghuram	1	8	13
Ethan B	not out	19	61	31		1
Charlie C	c Dhruv b Tom G	0	9
Tom M	b Tom G	1	9	11
DillonK	c Jack B b Tom G	0	2
Shaun H	b Sam P	3	13	23
Ricky P	b Sam P	13	29	45
Niall W	not out	0	4
Extras	10w 1nb 3b	14
Total	for 7	63	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	13	0	3.25		14	Matty
Harry D	3	10	1	3.33		16	Rees B
Raghuram	4	12	1	3.0		16	Charlie C
Tom G	4	3	3	0.75		23	Tom M
Jack B	4	12	1	3.0		23	Dillon K
Sam P	4	8	2	2.0		32	Shaun K
Jacob	2	5	0	2.5		63	Ricky P

Oxton 64 for 6 (15.5 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	not out	14	49	29
Tom G	b Shaun H	2	4	50
Raghuram	b Shaun H	0	5
Sam P	b Liam B	4	2	200		11
Harry D	b Liam B	0	1
Max	b Matty W	6	19	32
BenB-J	b Liam B	8	14	57
Louis	not out	1	1	100	1
Extras	7w 6nb 13b 3lb	29
Total	for 6	64	(15.5 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Shaun H	4	14	2	3.5		7	Tom G
Liam B	3.5	19	3	4.96		7	Raghuram
Charlie C	2	8	0	4.0		12	Sam P
Ethan B	2	4	0	2.0		12	Harry D
Niall W	2	8	0	4.0		42	Max
Matty W	2	11	1	5.5		62	BenB-J

Worm graph for match

Match report - New Brighton (away) Sun 01 June

An 'exciting' start to the day, as the team arrived at New Brighton's main Mortuary Road ground for warm ups, only to find there was no opposition! A couple of phone calls revealed the fact that the venue had secretly been changed and so we set off in convoy for the Wayfarers Ground in Bidston. Unfortunately we arrived to find only 9/11ths of a New Brighton side, but the Oxton lads were happy to make up the numbers in order to hone their fielding skills.

Winning the toss, Oxton elected to bat. With an outfield resembling a hay meadow, reaching the boundary overland was always going to be a challenge. Jack B and Tom G opened with some nice shots, but failed to build on a promising start, paving the way for Jack C, Ed and Harry to inflict some damage on the mid-wicket boundary, opting for the aerial route and scoring four 6s along the way. Jack C eventually retired on 35 (narrowly outscoring New Brighton extras on 34), with Harry also contributing a valuable 20 runs. The final third of the innings saw Max, Chris, Louis, Ben T and Luke move the score onto a respectable looking total of 125-7 off their 25 overs.

New Brighton's response ran into immediate difficulties in the first over as Dhruv clean bowled the opener second ball, and had #3 caught by Harry off the final ball of the over. Supported by incredibly stingy bowling by Ed at the other end, who allowed only one solitary run off his three overs, the game was effectively over by the time Harry and Tom G came on as first change. Jacks B and C then inflicted further damage, and although the New Brighton tail wagged briefly, Luke and Chris came on to finish off the innings just inside the allotted 25 overs, skittling them out for 63.

So, 3 wins out of three continues a perfect start to the 2014 season. Keep going lads!

Result

Oxton win by 62 runs

Scorecard

Oxton 125 for 7 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	c Will T b Tom D	7	8	88
Tom G	b Tom D	4	21	19
Jack C	Retired	35	33	106	3
Ed T	b Keiran	6	10	60		1
Harry	Run out	20	30	67	1	1
Max	b Charlie	1	11	9
Chris F	Run out	1	1	100
Louis	c Adam b Will A	8	8	100	1
Ben T	not out	8	26	31
Luke C	not out	1	3	33
Extras	21w 6n 7b	34
Total	for 7	125	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Adam	3	16	0	5.33		8	Jack B
Arran	4	20	0	5.0		32	Tom G
Charlie	4	19	1	4.75		41	Ed T
Keiran	4	21	1	5.25		98	Harry D
Nathan	3	17	0	5.67		99	Max
Tom D	4	13	2	3.25		107	Chris F
Will A	1	5	1	5.0		112	Louis
Will G	2	14	0	7.0

New Brightton 63 for 8 (all out, 24.4 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Will A	b Dhruv	0	2
Adam	c Jack C b Dhruv	1	2	50
Keiran	b Dhruv	0	6
Tom D	c Jack B b Harry	0	16
Arran	b Jack B	6	63	10
Will G	b Jack C	11	20	55		2
Charlie	c Harry b Luke	8	9	89		1
Will T	not out	12	12	100		2
Will T	b Tom G	4	5	80		1
Nathan	b Chris F	15	18	83		3
Extras	1w 7b 2lb	10
Total	for 8	63	(24.4 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Chris F	1.4	15	1	9.0		0	Will A
Dhruv	4.0	8	3	2.0		3	Adam
Ed T	3.0	1	0	0.33		7	Keiran
Harry D	3.0	6	1	2.0		10	Tom D
Jack B	4.0	3	1	0.75		26	Will G
Jack C	3.0	4	1	1.33		28	Arran
Luke C	3.0	18	1	6.0		46	Charlie
Tom G	3.0	8	0	2.67		63	Nathan

Worm graph for match

Match report - Upton (away) Sun 18 May

Conditions: Dry, warm with sunny periods


After the good win at Chester in the opening game of the season, the lads travelled to Upton on a beautiful sunny morning to see if they could build on their good start.

Upton won the toss and put Oxton into bat. Tom G and Jack B formed the new opening pair and got off to a solid start, running their singles and byes very effectively to get the scoreboard ticking over, despite some good accurate bowling from the Upton lads. A good foundation was set for the bigger hitters in the shape of captain Jack C, Sam P and Harry D to take the score past the 100 mark, before Upton tightened things up with a good last few overs, Oxton finishing on 125-7.

Given the low bounce and slowish outfield, this felt like a defendable total, but the lads were going to have to bowl and field well to ensure victory.

And how well they did so! An opening maiden over from Dhruv set the mood of the innings, and by the time he and Ed T had completed their opening spell of 3 overs each, they had picked up 3 wickets, with only 14 runs on the board. It was then great to see Jacob and Luke C given a chance with the ball and both lads absolutely rose to the occasion, with good, tight, accurate bowling starving the Upton batsmen of runs. Ollie P and Jack B kept up the pressure, backed up well in the field. Special praise for Chris F who kept wicket fantastically, yielding one solitary bye from the entire innnigs. Well done Chris! Late overs from Harry D, Tom G, Jack C and Sam P swept away the remaining wickets, bringing the Upton reply to an end on 75-9, with injured Matty at #11 deciding not to bat.

All in all, a clinical performance in which each and every one of the Oxton lads made a significant contribution to a resounding victory. Keep it up!

Result

Oxton win by 50 runs

Scorecard

Oxton 125 for 7 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	Run out	9	16	56		1
Tom G	b Ally H	6	25	24
Jack C	b Will C	28	22	127	2	2
Chris F	Run out	6	16	38		1
Sam P	b Ally H	24	29	83		4
Harry D	b Zac H	19	24	79		3
Ed T	not out	3	14	21
Luke C	Run out	1	3	33
Dhruv	not out	0	1
Extras	11w 17b 1lb	29
Total	for 7	125	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Ally H	4.0	10	2	2.5		22	Jack B
Callum M	4.0	16	0	4.0		30	Tom G
Liam M	2.0	15	0	7.5		55	Jack C
Luca D	4.0	17	0	4.25		78	Chris F
Matty B	0.2	4	0	12.0		114	Harry D
Sol T	4.0	7	0	1.75		123	Sam P
Will C	3.0	28	1	9.33		124	Luke C
Zac H	3.4	28	2	3.5
Will M	2.0	11	1	7.64

Upton 75 for 9 (23 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Callum M	b Dhruv	0	7
Will C	Run out	14	41	34		1
Zac H	b Ed T	4	6	67
Chris G	c Jack B b Ed T	4	6	46		1
Luca D	b Jacob	1	11	9
Ally H	b Ollie P	8	18	44		1
Sol T	b Jack B	11	7	157	1	1
Ryan F	not out	20	26	77		2
Liam M	b Tom G	4	5	80		1
Will H	b Tom G	1	11	9
Matty B	Did not bat
Extras	4nb 3w 1b	8
Total	for 9	75	(23.0 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	3.0	5	1	1.67		3	Callum M
Ed T	3.0	9	2	3.0		8	Zac H
Harry D	1.0	5	0	5.0		14	Chris G
Jack B	3.0	6	1	2.0		16	Luca D
Jack C	1.0	2	0	2.0		34	Ally H
Jacob	3.0	5	1	1.67		46	Sol T
Luke C	3.0	10	0	3.33		61	Will C
Ollie P	3.0	21	1	7.0		65	Liam M
Sam P	1.0	1	0	1.0		75	Will H
Tom G	2.0	11	2	5.5

Worm graph for the match

Port Sunlight (away) Sun 11 May - Rained off

After heavy rain throughout the night, the match at Port Sunlight has unfortunately been called off.

Hopefully the weather will improve and there might be the opportunity to reschedule the fixture at a later date.

Match report - Chester BH (away) Sun 4 May

Conditions: Overcast, cool, but dry

Much excitement ahead of the opening fixture of the 2014 campaign. A slightly different look this year as last year's U11s are merged with the older year to form this year's U13s. And of course a different format, as we ditch the fixed batting overs and start to play real 25 over matches (out when you're out, lbw, stumpings and the rest), Just hoping that we get the same weather as we did last season, when the team managed to play all their games without a single weather interruption.

Chester won the toss and put Oxton into bat first.

Raghuram and Tom G opened the batting against some good, accurate bowling, but managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over by running well between the wickets and finding the odd boundary, before Tom got a stump removed in the 5th over. In the next over, Jack C lifted his head and played across a straight delivery and followed Tom back to the hutch for a single. Enter Harry D, who'd warmed up well by bludgeoning the opposition bowling in his school debut last week, and who continued in a similar vein today, peppering the boundary with 7 fours before being retired on 37 not out. Very next ball, Raghuram, who had provided solid support at the other end, was bowled out for 17, bringing together a new partnership of Sam P and Ollie P. Unfortunately, birthday boy Ollie went for almost exactly the same shot as Jack C earlier, and ended up with the same result, being bowled by Danny P. Straight bat next time Ollie! This brought Josh C to the crease and the start of a fruitful partnership with Sam, taking the score briskly on to 123 by the 20th over. After mistiming a few, new man in Max V soon started to find the centre of the bat to keep the score moving. Sam progressed to 35 before being retired in the 23rd over. Ben B-J was unlucky with a good straight delivery first ball, before Dhruv joined Max to see out the final couple of overs, taking the final total up to a very respectable looking 154-6.

Chester weren't about to lie down though, and their opening pair of Joseph W and Jack B got off to a brisk start, almost matching the Oxton innnigs run for run for the first 20 overs. Will L eventually managed to break the opening stand at the end of the eighth over by bowling Joseph. Alex W was in very good form and the partnership with Jack B formed the backbone of the innings, both batsmen retiring. Still neck and neck after 20 overs, the match was set up for a thrilling finale. Fortunately, excellent second spells from Jack C, Dhruv and Tom G managed to throttle the Chester run chase whilst picking up regular wickets, which saw a superb over the shoulder catch by Jack C at cover and a good take behind the stumps by Max. Ollie P was entrusted with the ball for the last over and celebrated his birthday well by keeping it tight and restricting Chester to 137-6 off their alotted 25 overs.

A really evenly balanced game against a well turned out and friendly club - great start to the season Oxton!

Result

Oxton win by 17 runs.

Scorer's Man of the Match (Oxton)

Harry D

Tip for next match

A great start to the season. Let's just try to keep the extras down - we gave away 27 in this match

 

Scorecard

Oxton 154 for 6 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Raghuram	b Brannigan	17	36	47		2
Tom G	b Jack B	8	16	50		1
Jack C	b Will H	1	4	25
Harry D	Retired	37	24	154		7
Ollie P	b Danny P	1	3	33
Josh C	Run out	15	20	75		2
Sam P	Retired	35	29	121		7
Max V	not out	10	10	100		1
Ben B-J	b Will H	0	1
Dhruv	not out	6	10	60
Extras	13nb 5w 1b 1lb	0
Total	for 6	154	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Abraham	2.0	15	0	7.5		24	Tom G
Alex W	2.0	20	0	10.0		26	Jack C
Brannigan	3.0	30	1	10.0		77	Raghuram
Danny P	3.0	12	1	4.0		79	Ollie P
Jack B	3.0	12	1	4.0		123	Josh C
Joseph W	3.0	24	0	8.0		137	Ben B-J
Nick B	3.0	16	0	5.33
Will H	4.0	14	2	3.5
Will M	2.0	11	0	5.5

Chester Boughton Hall 137 for 6 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Joseph W	b Will L	10	23	43		1
Jack B	Retired	33	39	85		6
Alex W	Retired	36	28	129		7
Nick B	b Jack C	15	19	79	1	1
Will H	c Max V b Dhruv	2	11	18
Brannigan	c Jack C b Dhruv	1	6	17
Wright		5	12	42
Danny P	b Tom G	3	5	60
Sheehan	Run out	3	4	75
Will M		2	4	50
Extras	2nb 12w 12b 1lb	27
Total	for 6	137	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Josh C	2.0	21	0	10.5		35	Joseph W
Dhruv	4.0	15	2	3.75		116	Nick B
Harry D	3.0	17	0	5.67		121	Brannigan
Jack C	4.0	15	1	3.75		124	Will H
Ollie P	1.0	4	0	4.0		128	Danny P
Raghuram	2.0	9	0	4.5		132	Sheehan
Sam P	2.0	23	0	11.5
Tom G	4.0	19	1	4.75
Will L	3.0	14	1	4.67

Worm graph for the match