Oxford Downs - 16th June 2002

A convincing win was the result in the inaugural fixture against the Oxford Downs side at their ground in Oxfordshire.  Fortunately we had a dry day to play and a pitch that was dry, firm and conducive to scoring - remarkable after so many weeks of consistent rain, and a testament to the effort ODCC put into their facilities.  It was a pity to see their pavilion had been burned down a couple of weeks before in an arson attack, but we are very grateful for the hospitality extended in these circumstances.

We won the toss and elected to bat our 45 overs first.  Early batting was a bit of a struggle under some tight bowling and we lost 3 wickets cheaply, Andy Swann elevated into an old familiar opening position got to 17 before Don Hudson called him through for a second and Andy was some way short of his ground as the bails were removed.  Then Matt Fanning and Don started to up the run rate with a mixture of deft hands and shots that looked as if the hay was ready to come in.  Don was out for 26 and a brief appearance by Andy Barkle then saw Shaun Perkinson join Matt.  Runs now fair rattled on to the board.  Shaun hit the ball with extreme power to all points of the ground and when Matt was out for 53 and Shaun eventually bowled for 57 the foundation was set to defend.  Although the batting does not end at number 7 in Kiwi sides, and Vance played well for 27 not out and Steve Lester rattled up 21, before the innings was finished by Sam Martin (cruelly batting 11) with 2 sumptuous cover drives.  LNZCC had reached 259/9 in 45 overs.

The ODCC batting looked strong at the top, but Sam Martin bowled an opening spell of 6 overs removing the 2 most dangerous opponents very cheaply.  Both Sam (2 for 31 off 8 overs) and Steve Lester (wicketless for 26 off 9 overs) got prodigious movement in the air and ODCC found scoring difficult.  And then the strike-meisters Vance and Nick Dobson (who last played for the club in the early 1990s) were brought in and started to take wickets. 

With ODCC behind the run rate LNZCC's depth of bowling was able to be revealed with no less than 3 more "off-spinners" being discovered - Swann, Barkle and Hudson who with flight and guile kept wickets falling.  In fact if it wasn't for some abysmal catching from Steve Lester (2 sitters) and Andy Barkle (a skier to long-on that took several minutes to get to him, only for him to need a comedy dive at the last minute to miss the ball completely) this spin attack would have been even more successful.  Nick Dobson finished with 3 for 20 off 7 overs, Hudson 1 for 16 off 5, Barkle 1 for 19 off 4 and Swann went for 11 off 3.

It was Vance Thompson , who, brought back in his last spell, polished the opposition off taking 3 for 10 off 8 overs with some fine left arm swing bowling.  Vance even extended himself to his long run up, but after half an over decided that was far too much like hard work.  Never-the-less Vance's final in-swinging full toss claimed the oppo's last man to dismiss them for 142.

As ODCC get their pavilion rebuilt I think LNZCC will look forward to joining them again in the Oxfordshire countryside.

Scoreboard    LNZCC 259-9              Oxford Downs 142 All Out

Batting

                      Runs    Catches

Andy Swann             17
Don Hudson             26
Matt Fanning           53
Andy Barkle             9
Shaun Perkinson        57
Vance Thompson         27*
Stephen Lester         21
Will Wright             7
Dave Fanning           10
Nick Dobson            16

Sam Martin              8*

Bowling

Sam Martin        8 - 2 - 31 - 2

Steve Lester      9 - 2 - 26 - 0

Vance Thompson    8 - 3 - 10 - 3

Nick Dobson       7 - 1 - 20 - 3

Andy Swann        3 - 0 - 11 - 0

Andy Barkle       4 - 0 - 19 - 1

Don Hudson        5 - 0 - 16 - 1