Match Report

A tale of two good starts.

MSCC are sponsored by Nolan Gas and Nolan Oils.

Over the past few seasons Oxford University Hospitals CC  have shown remarkable consistency in team selection. All bar one of today’s visitors were familiar faces, one so familiar that he went to school and cub scouts with Seril, who also played against him for Gravediggers CC.  Nick Halfhead, OUH captain had examined the past dozen or so outcomes of this fixture and decided that batting first was the way to win. He duly won the toss and batted first.

MSCC were delighted to have the young limbs of Ben Merritt opening the bowling in the company of Anirudh Sharma, filling in for the delayed Hamidullah and Ahmad. OUH were delighted to see the ball race to the boundary as the pitch seemed conducive to batting and the outfield running fast.  Both openers played attractive shots with 30 runs added in the first six overs. Seril posted to the square third man boundary was kept busy, a good job he was in the shade of the oak.

Now restored to a full compliment it was Ben’s worst delivery, a wide full toss, that gave Middleton a first wicket. The ball was clubbed to extra cover where Hamidullah held on with two hands. Hamidullah replaced Anirudh but runs continued to flow. Ben struck a second time, Tim R behind the stumps holding on to a simple chance, the opener out for a very good 24 and dismissed at a vital juncture.  After 7 energetic overs Ben was grateful for a rest.  Chowdhry at no 4 has been a game changer for OUH, a powerful striker he drives very well, and played one impressively from Ollie Ross’s medium pace. 

Hamidullah found the ball needed to dismiss Chowdhry, a wide long hop that he managed to feather to the keeper.  72 for three did not reflect the quality of the batting that had gone, Middleton were relieved to be back in the game. Tight bowling from Olly saw 2 further wickets fall, one bowled and one LBW. The LBW so plumb that the batsman was walking toward the pavilion before the second syllable of “howzat” was begun. 

The S men, Seril Shah and Shaan Singh had the chance to bowl in tandem.  Mark Ford Langstaff was not impressed as each seemed to find deliveries that required him to make long runs from slip or to flap hopelessly as the ball was chipped just out of his reach. Each picked up a wicket to leave OUH in desperate trouble at 97 –  8. Seril took a further wicket thanks to an LBW decision from the visiting umpire.  A period of sensible risk free batting allowed for a recovery by the eighth and ninth wicket partnership. As each over passed confidence grew, boundaries were scored and the total passed 150.  The quicker bowlers returned, allowing Ben to mop up the innings and to give Tim his fourth catch of the innings.

Tea was taken ahead of time. Tea was made and served by the Ross family, tea duly overran as everyone tucked into to the spread, rumours of prawn sandwiches left in the sun proved to be a red herring. Thanks Rosses your tea was a Joy.

OUH had a shortage of pace bowlers, the opening attack not of the type that sends the lower order scurrying for helmets and thigh pads. The players who needed protective gear were the fielders as Ahmad and Anirudh raced away trading boundaries. Ahmad survived a caught and bowled chance that usually would have been taken and prepared to make the fielding team pay.

One fiercely struck blow was on track to decapitate Chowdhry as it reared up from a metre in front of him, fortunately his reactions were sharp, many others would have been less lucky.  If the two openers had stayed together the game might have been over before the dishes were dry.  Ahmad had a brain freeze, played back to a length ball and departed LBW for 17.

Anirudh carried on, another powerful shot hitting one of the parked cars, the toughened glass only just strong enough to stay intact. Stevyn J was at 3, keen on joining in the fun. His best shot was a straight drive, odds on a boundary until a fabulous diving stop intercepted the ball. Frustrated Stevyn played a poor shot to a wide ball giving an easy catch to cover. 

Anriudh should have been stumped, the keeper more intent on appealing for a catch than taking off the bails. He was joined by Mark F-L who played a dead bat to most deliveries, other than the pair he despatched into the undergrowth for what Hamidullah, who was umpire, described as not just 6, but “big 6”.  The bowlers took the pace from slow to dead slow. Anirudh fell into the trap, bowled for 33 trying to hit another boundary. Olly Ross looked untroubled, despatching opposition skipper Nick Halfhead for three boundaries  in the same over. A change of bowling caught him in two minds, first ball from Michel Baumgart and he was charging down the strip to meet the ball on the full. Half way there he hesitated, stood transfixed and heard the gentle falling of the bails as the ball cosied up to the stumps and gave them a quiet kiss.

It was Father’s day. Old Father Ross could not believe his luck and was choosing choice words of wisdom to give his son. Resigned and downhearted Olly remarked that the Joy had been sucked out of his day. “Not all the Joy, Daddy” reminded his daughter sat next to him.  Having seen Anirudh and Olly depart to the gentlest of bowling Mark decided that he should join them in gifting his wicket. Middleton were in danger of making a pigs ear of the chase. 40 more to get and five wickets in hand, the task should be straight forward, but OUH sensed an opportunity.

The sixth wicket pair of Ben and Tim  picked off the bad balls and cruised home with 15 overs to spare, the highlight a caressed cover drive by Ben. All too late OUH found a seamer to bowl and saw that there was enough in the pitch for him to bowl balls that rose and left the set batters. The sun continued to shine as the players left the field, Paul Wordsworth was nursing a sore hamstring and had kindly volunteered to umpire. He nearly managed a full set of umpiring signals, missing out only on being able to give someone out or signal a free hit. Chris kept score, you could tell it was a warm day as he was not wearing his scarf. Once again Rona, Andrew and Seril kept everyone refreshed and fed, many thanks to you all.