Home
The Constitution
History
Fixtures
AGMs/EGMs
Averages
Records
Features
Picture Gallery   Links

2008 - RBCC v Rest of the World

Oxford: New tricks from old dogs

With bowlers dropping like flies in the runup to the tour, the first surprise was that we crossed the white line on the well-appointed Trinity College ground with not just XI but XII players, most of them  able to move about under their own steam, for the second instalment in what could become a long-running series against Armadillo.  Attempting to marshal the threadbare resources of the team was captain Matt, last season's knee problems apparently banished by the surgeon's knife. BAL was also present and looking fit, getting his cameo in early this year.  Aside from BAL, the bowling attack consisted of this correspondent plus a selection of all-rounders longer on enthusiasm than actual experience.

Like all the best skippers, Matt won the toss with insouciance and sent in Jon and Lloyd to take first use of a patchy-looking wicket.

Batting was always a struggle on a slow surface with worryingly inconsistent bounce. The early going was made by Lloyd, who was fourth out for 35 out of 48, before Matt's 25* and a sizeable contribution from Mr X.Tras led us to the dizzy heights of 117/10.

This didn't look remotely like enough runs, but there was enough movement through the air and especially off the wicket to give the bowlers some heart, if only we had any bowlers.  After my first (tidyish) over came the first rabbit from Matt's hat, as Peter took the ball for the second.  Fortunately this was the Ripon-model Biggs on display, ambling in to deliver six balls of quicker-than-you'd-think precision.  A flurry of wickets in the third over had Armadillo reeling at 3-2, which developed into a mini-crisis at 37-4 as Peter chipped in with two well-merited wickets.  Things got no easier for the batsmen when BAL took over, knocking over three more in 10 overs of slower slower balls, faster slower balls, and the occasional quick one, and in the process getting to the 250-wicket mark.  Dave took over from me and bowled well with little luck, and at 70-6 we were in with an unexpected chance of glory. Sadly some hard hitting from the middle order took Armadillo to the brink of victory before we got another success, and they crept over the line with four wickets standing.

Nonetheless, the Collective was in good spirits as we made the short journey back to the Victoria Arms, with everyone contributing to a very good match, and keeping the result in doubt right to the death.

Saturday night was much as you'd expect.  Witney - still there.  Hotel - pleasant, superb showers, satisfactory breakfast, spectacularly undrinkable beer.  Aziz - good as ever, and possibly better.  Pub - friendly and markedly lacking urgency about closing time.

Sunday's match against Marsh Gibbon also held a surprise or three, the first one being that it happened at all.  On the Tuesday evening before the tour, torrential rain had reduced the ground to a duckpond (the photo here was taken by the Marsh Gibbon captain, Paul West), and the prospects of play were remote enough for a Plan B to be devised (return to Trinity College at crippling expense).  However, a few dry days worked wonders, and the match started on time under a blazing sun on a straw-coloured wicket which, while always slow, played pretty well all day.

The second surprise was that the bowling attack was even thinner than the previous day, BAL having departed to be replaced by Steve.  With JA leaving early to catch a plane back to Edinburgh, we took the field as the traditional XI on this occasion with one specialist bowler (er, me) and a conundrum for captain Hewlett to address.  The new old firm of Kennedy & Biggs again took the new ball, with Matt and Steve himself as change bowlers.  Everyone stepped up to the mark as Marsh Gibbon scored steadily but never got out of hand, while we chipped away the wickets. 

Next up was the same Muir/Redfern combination as on Saturday.  This time Mike's hovering-in-the-air stuff defied most attempts to put it away, while Dave found many lengths, but never the one he wanted, forcing Steve to look around the field for reinforcements.

And who should his eye alight upon, lurking inconspicuously down at fine leg, but the shapely form of the Silver Fox himself.  "No, no and thrice no" said Giles, "I retired from bowling years ago after events too terrible to speak of".  "Come on" replied Steve, "you can't do worse than some of this dross".  "You've got me there" responded the S.  Fox, pulling off his cap and flexing his fingers.  The final surprise of the day was that after a couple of looseners to get his bowling arm moving, Giles reeled off a neat six-over spell which happened to include his 238th wicket for the Collective, as Marsh Gibbon closed on 183/6.

After a tea notable for both quantity and quality (the strawberry jam & cream scones a personal highlight) we made a very decent start in pursuit of 184 to win, with Matt and Jon compiling 69 runs for the first wicket (and reaching 4000 and 2000 runs for RedBat along the way).  Phil pushed the scoring along with 20, but nobody else was able to get themselves in as Marsh Gibbon brought on some quicker bowling to make sure we remained well behind the rate, and we were all out  52 runs short from the final ball of the 40 overs.

By a strange coincidence, Mike was bowled on the last ball of the final over on both days; spooky.  Further Groundhog Day weirdness from Saturday's game.  Our score of 117/10 was exactly the same as last year's match, and on both occasions Lloyd batted at 2 and scored 35.

So two hot sunny days full of good cricket, and we were invited to repeat both fixtures next year, some top food, no shortage of good beer, and Dave even managed to arrange for the Red Arrows to overfly the ground on Sunday.  A hard act for Hewlettshire to follow in July, though we can be confident of a good Collective performance in adjudicating the Best Cricket Tea in St Albans Competition.

Hertfordshire

Happy Birthday Steve.  A good deal of indulgence of the expected kinds, cricket entirely of an unofficial nature, and the St Albans Cricket Tea competition turned up after we'd gone back onto the field for the second innings, so was largely judged by a well-fed Phil Jones staggering under the weight of five trays of assorted sandwiches.

Bretagne - it's all here in black and white

Despite the worst fears of the pessimists who had even scoffed at the prospect of an Isle-of-Wight tour, a recognisable RedBat contingent managed to get themselves across the channel to Brittany and back again largely unscathed.  The somewhat restricted playing squad contributed to us coming second in each match, but our overseas debut was a success in all the important respects.

Some smart work from Phil had three fixtures lined up months in advance, along with a wide selection of accommodation at the Domaine des Ormes, which proved to be a very acceptable base for a holiday, as well as the nerve-centre of Brittany cricket.

The Collective had little time to acclimatise to the unfamiliar surroundings and the ready availability of excellent calvados in the Piano Bar before taking the trip to Sérent for the opening fixture against CC de l'Oust.  Assiduously following the directions, almost all of the team managed to arrive at the rather functional-looking local football ground which was the venue for the game.  A patch of grass in the centre circle had been lightly mown and/or rolled to provide a pitch, running disconcertingly diagonal to the touchlines.  The boundaries were naturally on the short side, and the locals proved to know exactly how to take advantage despite the almost ankle-length grass on the outfield.

Opening the bowling for RedBat were the father/son combination of Keith and George, who were both economical on the tricky surface.  With the ball bouncing awkwardly from the luxuriantly grassed wicket, skipper Steve quickly turned to PoC, who gave the batsmen some testing moments even at half pace and removed both openers cheaply.  Danny replaced Keith and exploited the green conditions like the experienced campaigner he is to run through the middle order without mercy.  Unfortunately for us, the number 3, Powell, was hanging in as the wickets fell.  Playing and missing often he always seemed to be giving the bowlers a chance; however, when he did make contact, which was more than often enough, the ball tended to fly through the air to the boundary, bypassing the long grass.  75* out of a total of 128-5 tells its own story, and gave the Collective's batsman a tough target to aim at.

Jon (39) and Phil (21) looked the most likely match winners; unfortunately both struggled to keep up the run rate, with good shots along the ground yielding singles at best.  Nobody else reached double figures as we were stifled by a group of bowlers and fielders who knew exactly how to play on their own turf, and the innings was finally becalmed at 92-7 from the 35 overs.  A 36 run defeat didn't spoil a good day though, and it was pleasing to see a revival of the tradition of presenting the oppo with a tour t-shirt in an elaborate post-match exchange of compliments and goodies.

The innings was interrupted briefly by an eruption of Youth Crime which even the Daily Mail can't blame on Gordon Brown, when a small contingent of the local hoodies decided to make off with an unattended  case of beer.  Sadly for them the perpetrators were spotted in the act, and were immediately pursued by a posse of enraged cricketers wielding stumps and bats.  Wisely they decided to dump the lager and leg it before the angry mob caught up with them.

After a day's break to explore the delights of France the chance arrived to take on Les Ormes CC themselves, with the XIII-a-side format allowing plenty of opportunities for a nice sit-down for those who didn't fancy fielding.  The home side again batted first, but in very different conditions to the Sérent football pitch.  The modest but elegant Château looked out across a perfectly manicured oval outfield at the centre of which lay a well looked-after artificial strip.  Despite the usual plastic wicket/plastic cricket misgivings this was far removed from the Tufnell Park nightmare of indelible memory, giving consistent bounce but also taking some spin.

Far too often we beat most of the opposition, only to be undone because there's one good player we can't get out.  Well now there were two of them earning the grudging respect of the Collective with rapid 50s full of proper shots carefully placed between, and sometimes over, the fielders.  Once they had retired we worked through the later batsmen steadily.  Wickets fell to the Youth Policy (George and Arthur, both bowling well) and to the Returning Old Lag Policy (PoC) before the innings closed at 243-7.

Faced with this target we needed a strong start.  Steve, sent in first by skipper Jon to give the ball some hammer, fell without scoring, bringing in Phil to join the other surprise opener, Dave.  These two then batted beautifully as the score mounted to, and beyond, the 100 mark before Dave departed for a fine 41 out of 104.  Jon carried on the good work, and when Phil was out at 130-3 we had a solid platform for the chase.  Unfortunately with the big guns already back in the hutch (if you don't mind the mixed metaphor) we had to settle for a respectable second best, finally fetching up at 188-7 from the 40 overs. 

Brittany's cricket clubs are rather widely scattered, so the Collective was able to enjoy a l-o-n-g drive through the countryside to the final match of the tour against Gourin CC.  Following the oppo's careful directions to the letter, the team arrived only slightly late at the picturesque cricket field in the grounds of the impressive Château Montjoly.  With the early departure of several players in the direction of various ferry ports, we were now back to a  pedant-pleasing XI on this occasion.

Yet again we  bowled first, and there was a good deal of chin-stroking over the condition of the wicket.  When Danny's first ball rolled along the ground to hit the base of the leg stump it looked as though the game might be all over before tea.  However, nobody managed to find that spot again and while the occasional ball lifted a little the pitch proved quite playable.

Lee Snelling, who we had first met in Sérent, certainly had no trouble with it, battering his way to 104 before retiring.  With the boundaries being rather short the runs were made largely in 6s despite the line of four deep mid-wickets comprising a sort of cow-corner based Carmody field, leading Gourin to 212-5 in their 35 overs.

RedBat's reply was again based around Jon, Dave and Phil who all made good runs, though never quite at the required rate.  Beyond these three the batting rather tailed off, and we finished on 147-4 - not at all bad in itself, but not good enough on the day.

As before, presents were exchanged over a beer after the match.  Unfortunately the t-shirts had run out by now, so Gourin had to make do with just a tour CD, but they were pleased enough with the victory to invite us back again next time we're in the vicinity.  By unanimous vote the Beard Memorial Trophy was handed over to the Muir family for Arthur's fine bowling and Dave's heavyweight run-scoring, though Jon and Phil's remarkable consistency with the bat made them strong runners-up.

Oh my Hornby and my Statto long ago

This season has offered plenty of statistical delight for those who delight in plenty of statistics (that'll be me and Phil sorted then).

• Matt has achieved the remarkable milestone of 4000 runs for RedBat, and with his refurbished knee the 5000 could yet be within his grasp.
• The increasingly svelte Jon Harry has trundled past 2000 runs and doesn't look like stopping anytime soon.
• The rejuvenated BAL has finally taken his 250th wicket.

Further numerical thrills to look out for in 2009:

• PoC still needs 15 wickets for the big 400, and looks well able to get them despite the back-knack.
• Giles now only needs 12 wickets for the 250, and seems to have a new lease of bowling life.
• Stuart needs just 4 runs for the 200.
• Bruce is 11 wickets away from the 200, and with fit bowlers at a premium there might be enough overs to get near it.

• Phil Solomon is still 8 short of 1000 runs, so it could happen if a match can be arranged in his back garden.

The season by numbers

• P 5, W 0, D 0, L 5

• Highest total: 188-7 (RBCC v Les Ormes)

• Most runs: P Jones, 151

• Highest innings: P Jones, 63 (RBCC v Les Ormes)

• Most wickets: D Whitelock, 5

• Best bowling: D Whitelock, 3-14 (RBCC v CC de l'Oust))

• Best partnership: D Muir & P Jones, 104, 2nd wicket (RBCC v Les Ormes)

• 2008 averages

• Cumulative career averages

2008 Fixture List