Holton & Wheatley vs
Oxford County Council
Sunday 11 July 2010
Original short Report by Hugh Kitchin
Holton undone by 13 Runs
A balmy, sunny afternoon at Brookes Fields, an oppo new to the fixture list with only nine available players (plus two of ours borrowed), the best home wicket we’ve had this season – what possibly could go wrong?
Well skip lost the toss for a start. And then, after John Kelly had shifted their (well, actually our) opener for a duck, in came W Mehmood at number 3 sporting a stance like a left-handed Inzamam-ul-Haq and batting rather like him too. Eight fours and two sixes (and one drop) later John Simpson finally induced a mistake, but then number four Parish took over the attack and runs flowed freely across the parched outfield. It seemed we would chase well over 200. But redemption was at hand. John S, Binoy and Guy swept away the last five wickets for four runs! Our target was a manageable 181. Honourable mentions go to John S, 4/38 and John K for a very tidy 2/17 in the full 8 overs.
Sadly the baguettes and apple pie laid on for tea must have been too tempting. We were never up with the rate. Simon Switala starred with 53, Peter Cowdrey chipped in with 24 and Simon Littlewood did his best to move things along. But by the time our frustrated big hitters got to the crease, the game was up. A quick-fire 23 not out from Guy Burford was too late and we ended up 14 short.
But let’s not forget, we can claim much of the credit. Three of the oppo (including the impressive number 3 bat) were the offspring of former Holton player Tariq Mehmood, who admired the scene from an umpire’s berth. The champagne moment had to be John S’s tumbling slip catch. And of course two Holton members could toast victory on the OCC side. I wasn’t going to mention that neither scored a run, nor took a wicket, but oh well, I just have.