Match Report

The teams arrived to find the sun shining over the pavilion with a jovial mood in the air. Middleton Stoney lost the toss and the Barbarians elected to bat with hopes of a big total in the early evening sun. The new ball was taken by Robin Cummings and Sam Norley, Sam getting a wicket with his very first ball, quickly followed by a second wicket from Robin. However, the early charge by Stoney was ever so slightly halted when first change Harry Beardsley got hit for consecutive boundaries in his first two balls playing for MSCC. Luckily for Middleton, Harry settled down and they had an ace up their sleeve in batters-turned-bowlers Howard Lancaster and Harry Way, who showed how easy that bowling lark is by taking five wickets between them through the middle overs, Howard being the most economical bowler of the innings. This momentum was short lived as Matt Dipple and Jon Springer came on to bowl, going for 32 between them off their two overs each, Matt electing to ditch the normal excellent seam bowling in favour of leg spin. “It’ll be fine skip” he was heard saying as he warmed his fingers up. However, it soon became clear that what constitutes “fine” had been loosely defined, the ball was eventually retrieved from the nearby field and West Oxon Barbarians were able to haul themselves up to a respectable 118 off their 20 overs.

Middleton Stoney started the batting with Harry Way and Harry Beardsley, the latter Harry proving somewhat more aggressive than the former Harry’s previous Sunday opening partner (Tavaré Barton), an excellent 40 run opening stand was ended when Harry B was caught at mid-on after a brisk 23. This brought in a determined looking Jon Springer to the crease who battled his way to 21 having been dropped by the wicket keeper early on, the obligatory Middleton wobble ensued as Jon was out and quickly followed by Ben Breaker. The Barbarians sensed a chance brewing, a calm wise head was required to steady the ship. With the absentee Tavaré Barton nowhere to be seen it was left to Barton version 2.0 to head to the middle.

Harry Way had retired after a solid 32 not out, Howard “Jack Leach” Lancaster joined Elliot Barton, who had uncharacteristically decided not to chip his first ball to the bowler for catching practice and soon started to stroke the ball around nicely, embarrassing collapse averted. The partnership blossomed as Howard enlightened his young partner with the revelation that he could bat for longer if he wasn’t so keen on providing fielders with catching practice. The target was achieved in the 19th over when Elliot stroked the ball over square leg. Howard and Elliot carrying their bats for 7 not out and 31 not out respectively, after which a bemused Elliot was seen on the boundary holding bat and ball and asking passers-by if they fancied a bit of catching practice.

A great game played in the right spirit, followed by bbq and banter. If there is a better way to spend a mid-summer’s evening few have yet to find it.

Elliot Barton