A Tour For All Seasons

A Friday late summer evening in the south of England

Amazingly (given how tough it has been in the past to get 11 people to Oxford on a Friday evening) a full team, two umpires, scorer and a gaggle of supporters gathered in the evening sun at Horspath CC to play FFTMCC, a team we have mostly lost to. Equally amazingly the FFTMMC captain got enough of his team out of the bar to start on time. Capn’ Bob (replacing Paul stuck in traffic) chose to bat. As so always in T20 games we rather crawled to a distinctly average score. Sam Keayes, David W and Gemma made good contributions but it was the late arriving Paul who hopped his way to 34 retired including four consecutive fours and got us to 119 (while adding a thigh injury to the calf and ankle injuries he was already carrying.)

FFTMCC made a good start but once their outstanding bat retired on 38 (apparently he hasn’t been out since June) the rate gradually climbed. All Mandarins bowled well but Alton pro JP showed all his league skills with flawless figures of 4-1-11-1. The final score of 107 suggests it was a bit tighter than it actually was. So a good win followed by a beer or two and for many of us an excellent Thai at the Queen’s Head.

A winter Saturday in Newcastle

The weather had truly changed on Saturday with a bitter North East wind and heavy cloud greeting us at Midsomer, sorry Warborough, to play the Erratics, a team clearly intent on revenge after last year’s shock defeat. Skipper Healey chose to bat first and we found it tough going. At 70-5 off 26 overs it could have gone either way. But partnerships of 29 with Jonathan and 38 with Chris H by your correspondent got us to 149-6 when Chris controversially decided to declare one over before tea as “the Erratics have seen quite enough of our batting”. My Boycottian approach wasn’t to everyone’s tastes (eg Chris Baker ) but some of us have seen too many Mandarin collapses (see Sunday).

Chris’ team talk as we took to the field was clear “we are going to lose so don’t worry”. Was this a master stroke of reverse-psychology? Well, nearly. The Erratics never got away and kept losing wickets. Credit to Andy who bowled beautifully until asked by the skipper how he was doing it which caused him to move from Dr Jekyll to Mr Heard mode and lose the plot in an agony of self-analysis. Raki was as classy as ever. Watched by his frozen wife he took 2-26 off 11. Sam B took a stunning one handed catch and Harry nearly took the catch of this and many seasons. But while the final score looked close with the Erratics 8 down and in the penultimate over when they passed our total, the truth is Chris Cook seemed to have it all under control from well out. A group of Texan cosy crime fans watching from one corner of the green weren’t obviously impressed. To the pub for beer, barbecue and banter. The Erratics legendary Secretary Annie Chave doling out the fines rightly fined all those Mandarins who had abused the Chairman and Tour Manager for his steady batting. Chris Baker knew what was coming and had crept away early to escape his punishment.

Summer again, this time Singapore style

Sunday bizarrely dawned hot and humid. Luckily we dodged the thunder showers. Indeed Harwell was looking good but the boundaries seemed bigger than ever (a tactical move by the opposition given most of us were over 60 and many were by now nursing injuries?) Skipper Drew playing his first match of the season chose to bat and again we headed inexorably for that mystical number, 149. More looked probable as we hit 134-2 with Tim the star with 50. But the late introduction of their top league bowler, Ettin George, saw a rapid collapse to the inevitable 149 without us using all of our 35 overs.

For much of their reply we kept them in check, even though about half our fielders were down to walking pace at best in the heat with Adam speeding in all directions putting us to shame. Especial mention for the double Eastaway opening attack and another fine spell from JP. After 28 overs Harwell were only on 97 and down to their last recognised batsmen. But if ever a game turned on one moment it was this: Tim to big hitter Ettin a possible/probable/certain bottom edge depending on your viewpoint. Bob celebrated the catch. The umpire was unmoved. The batsman said he’d heard a noise but didn’t know what it was. Ettin then rode his luck and took Harwell to victory. Grudges were not held (apart possibly from by Bob who had to work hard on his diplomatic skills) and we enjoyed beers and awards with the opposition who were clearly pleased to have beaten us for the first time.) The two Mandarin nominations for the coveted Dick of the Day award were Nikhil K for using a bat with a mysterious sharp bottom edge that caused him to stop dead six inches out of the crease and be run out and Drew, who was told by Chris H as he came out to bat, that the bowler was sending down sharp off-cutters and promptly shouldered arms to one just outside of off causing the inevitable to happen.

Anyway thanks to all who played, especially David who got himself injured again playing all three matches. It was also great to see a few of the Oxford area irregulars. Three great fixtures against top opposition in rural Oxfordshire – what’s not to like?

John Hawkins