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Off the pace in Oxford. 100th win still awaited.The 2006 visit to Oxford and environs didn't exactly produce a festival of calypso cricket from the Collective, with a rather under-practiced and depleted lineup being on the wrong end of the result on both days. The Beckley match was pretty much a rerun of last year's effort, except that we scored enough runs to win the match, and then displayed a marked inability to finish off a Beckley side who tried nearly as hard as we did to throw the game away. If you're desperate for highlights, the tail wagged with enough bloody-minded vigour to drag us from the depths of 65-6 to 141 all out, and there were debuts for Arthur Muir and Joe Biggs, both of whom fielded impressively, while Arthur also smacked a quick 18 runs and bowled a few overs of slow left-arm, so if he can benefit from Dave's coaching for a few years the future looks good. In addition, the scorebook for this game blew away all previous records for incoherence. I am henceforth a strong supporter of JA and his dazzling array of technicoloured pens, even though the sins on this occasion were committed by the oppo. By a remarkable coincidence, we now have a half-A4-page executive summary of the rudiments of scoring to memorise. Saturday night in Woodstock was a bit less psychedelic than you might imagine, though the Indian was very good, and made up somewhat for the very lacklustre pub scene. Accommodation was comfortable but surly: low points were the lack of a late bar and a dispiriting breakfast, high point the industrial-strength showers. Isis put out a very similar team to the side we beat last year, in a comprehensively successful bid for revenge. Isis seem to bring out the Tavaré in Matt, and just like last time our innings was built around a long and watchful knock from him; sadly, some very straight bowling left us at least 50 short of an adequate score on a decent batting track and a pair of good batsmen knocked off the runs without any trouble, giving both the regulars and the occasional bowlers plenty of stick in the process. Arthur and Joe improved their fielding from impressive to brilliant, and consequently cast the rest of us in a very unflattering light. Maybe a small gesture in the direction of physical fitness might be in order before Worcester. Winless in Worcester.Following a stuttering start to the season in Oxford, the nation's most prestigious cricket collective put in two much improved performances in and around Worcester, but cunningly saved the 100th victory for a later date when it can be celebrated with suitable abandon. The meeting with the Fossils at Spetchley Park bore a marked similarity to our previous encounter on that ground. The pitch was just as slow as before, and Fossils nurdled their way to 131 all out despite a lot of decent bowling and a devastating spell of 4-14 from Keith, and some energetic fielding from Arthur Harry, substituting for anyone who felt in need of a lie down. In reply Matt and Peter proceeded comfortably to 38 before being parted, Dave came in to increase the scoring rate with a fine innings of 33 off only 36 balls, and at 106-4 we were reaching for the metaphorical corkscrew to open the even more metaphorical bubbly. Even when Dave departed at 116-5 there was barely a cloud on the Collective's horizon. At this point squeamish readers should look away to avoid the gory reality of 124 all out as the ball and the stumps came into collision with a thoroughly unwonted regularity. A pint of badly-kept Banks's at one of Worcester's nastiest pubs was little consolation, which perhaps explains the prolonged team bonding session in The Cricketers, the hotel bar and (for some) the disco which occupied a fair amount of the post-game and pre-breakfast period. Sunday offered a quick lunch in another thoroughly indifferent pub followed by the chance to confront the military-industrial complex in the shape of the Royal Signals Research Establishment at the very pleasant ground of Rushwick CC. On first inspection the pitch looked like a minefield, and was prone to generate clouds of dust in the gusty wind which whipped across the ground throughout the match. It proved however to be a good cricket wicket. The occasional ball lifted a little, but batsmen on both sides seemed to enjoy themselves at the expense of the bowletariat. For us, Jon, Peter, Matt and Giles all made good runs in pleasingly characteristic styles to reach a solid-looking 168-3 from 35 overs. The RSRE reply got off to a flying start, and despite a good recovery from PoC, who worked up enough pace to leave behind a few bruised ribs, they were never behind the asking rate, finally getting home with three wickets down and three overs to spare. Again, the star fielder was Arthur Harry, who managed to run about while the rest of the team was reduced to hobbling arthritically after the ball. By all accounts RSRE's batting was none too deep, so another two or three wickets might have made all the difference. Having finished the match in good time for the World Cup final, there was just time for a pint in the worst pub of the weekend (all keg beer, lovely 1965-vintage Formica, no redeeming feature comes to mind) before turning to thoughts of Clunton and Clunbury, Clungunford and Clun (the quietest places under the sun, apparently). Hundred Up (polite applause)Yes, the Collective has finally made it through the nervous nineties to bring up the glorious three figures. Here's the full inside story of the hundredth victory from our man on the Champs Elysées with the copy of Le Monde and the half-eaten pain au chocolat, and an alternative view from a noted left-handed Yorkshireman. The rest of the tour was perhaps less glorious on the field, but there were more than enough compensations elsewhere to leave everyone happy at the end of the season. The season by numbers
Not Statto's Bit:Here are some unofficial statistical highlights of the year. There weren't many this year - in fact, this is a list of things which might happen in 2007. Why not cut it out and keep it in the pocket of your anorak.
2006 Fixture List
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