SACC Captains Report
Another successful season
I am precluded from writing anything about the season before our Awards Dinner, in case I give the game away about who has won what. Suffice it to say that we have had another successful season and have now won 15 of our last 19 matches.
We are intending to increase our fixtures next year as the player base of the club grows and are also hoping to enter the NPower National Village Competition in 2010, for which the final is held at Lords. Okay, so we will probably go out in the first round, but it’s a start. Nets will begin in earnest in March, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Awards Dinner…
The SACC Awards Dinner takes place on Saturday 7th November in the Village Hall. For those attending some wine will be provided, BUT PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN DRINK too. I look forward to seeing you there.
Best wishes to all
Peter Higgins
Chairman
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Cholsey – communication poor
It used to be a real struggle to get a side out for the Steeple Aston CC. This year it has been “relatively painless”, but for the Cholsey game we returned to our worst levels of communication. Luckily I was away so poor Jay bore the brunt of 6 drop outs in the week leading up to the game, but all replaced; then a message on Sunday morning sent via another player saying that “somebody had to spend the day with his girlfriend”; finally a no show, no message. Jay reacted as quickly as he could and we took the field with 10 players. Not surprisingly our batting echoed such desultory communication as we stumbled to 100 all out. Were it not for some gritty batting from Jay Spires (42) and Kevin Osborne (30) it could have been a whole lot worse!
That said the SACC is nothing if not resilient and we produced a fine bowling performance, no doubt encouraged greatly by one of the finest teas of the summer. Many thanks to Caroline McGrath and Caroline Owen-Lloyd for rejuvenating the team with some well-placed scones and quiches. Kevin Osborne opened the bowling and took his first wickets for the club (2-24) and about time too! Jay Spires bowled a tight line to claim 2-10 and Chris Neville (3-12) wrapped up the tail with some very accurate swing bowling. He was ably supported by Daniel Munson who bowled 3 maidens to pile the pressure on the opposition . Cholsey all out for 66 and all the hassle of getting the team together forgotten.
BBC – performance high
We always have hard-fought games against the BBC and this one was no different, save that it was my last as skipper before Jon Scotchbrook takes over next year (hurrah!). Again we were depleted by holidays and took the field without 6 of our regular 1st XI. It was a pleasure however to welcome David Stewart (surely the oldest wicket-keeper in Oxon?) and Jock Shepherd for their SACC debuts. The BBC won the toss, chose to bat and enjoyed a beautiful batting track. Our bowlers toiled hard, but an array of wides (21 in all) kept poor David busy behind the stumps, the BBC finishing on 223-4. David Powles with 1-19 from 8 overs was the pick of the bowlers, ably supported by Alan Brewer and Ryan O’Sullivan, who kept the run rate down and were unlucky not to get a wicket each.
Controversy then in the 35th over with the BBC 205-2, the captain bowling and their opener on 89. He stepped back into his creases and was hit bang in front of the stumps, middle-stump, out. Now I know it is Sunday cricket and LBWs are rare, but this one was so plum you could not see a stump either side of the batsman’s pads. And after all he had had a long bat and shouldn’t someone else be allowed a bat given it’s Sunday cricket? The whole team went up in appeal, but their umpire declined. I confess to being a tad annoyed!! Now I would never question a neutral umpire, but given the umpire was a friend of the batsman, I enquired politely at the end of the over which side of the stumps the ball had gone, to which he replied that “the ball pitched outside off stump” so could not be out. I pointed out as politely as possible that by the rules of cricket pitching outside off stump did not matter; only if it pitches outside leg stump, can there be any doubt. He merely smiled and moved away. However after a fine tea courtesy of Julianne Osborne we took to the field fired up by this injustice. David Powles (59) and Peter Higgins (58) opened the batting in determined style and put on 110 for the first wicket. I managed to hit the aforementioned umpire for 3 fours in one over, which for those who know my Boycottian batting style is almost unheard of! Tom Maxwell (34) and Jay Spires (32) batted beautifully and with 4 overs to go at 196-2 we only needed 28 for a famous win. Sadly both Tom and Jay holed out and it was too much to ask of those who had not batted much this year to score so many runs against such a good bowling attack. However Jock Shepherd would surely have hit that ball for 6 had he not been injured earlier by a ball hitting him full in the sternum. Certainly our worst injury of the summer, though David Stewart’s kneecap was not too far behind! We went down by 9 runs, but it had been a brilliant match, to which the whole team had contributed.
It was a great way for me to end 3 years of captaincy and I am delighted to pass on the mantle to Jon (captain) and Jay (vice-captain). I shall of course be happy to carry on with the cricketing admin! More about our season and future plans for the club next month.
Awards Dinner…
Please make a note in your diaries to attend the SACC Awards Dinner on Saturday 7th November in the Village Hall. It is open to anyone in the village and is a celebration of the year’s individual achievements as well as of village cricket itself. I look forward to seeing you there.
Best wishes to all
Peter Higgins
Chairman
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CRICKET CLUB AWARDS DINNER
7pm Saturday 7th November
Steeple Aston Village Hall
Tickets £20 each to include 3 course dinner and wine - available from Peter Higgins (347493), Jay Spires (347611) or Jon Scotchbrook (340805)
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Our first 20/20…
As England disappeared without a trace at Headingly, so Steeple Aston CC renewed its fixture with old rivals Middleton Stoney in our first ever 20/20 match. We were fortunate to have a proper 20/20 crowd in the form of Messrs Cleobury, Stewart, Shepherd and Gibbs. The noise levels were such you could almost imagine you were at the Brit Oval! The SACC were clearly spurred on by such support as we produced our finest fielding performance of the summer, with special mentions for Graham Bullen, Ashley Clark, Ryan O’Sullivan and Prash, who swept the boundaries with great determination and Phil Chesser, who was very neat behind the stumps.
Not allowing Middleton Stoney any quick singles gave confidence to the bowlers, all of whom bowled well. Chris Neville was the meanest with 1-12 from his 4 overs; Peter Higgins 1-14 and Greg Renk 1-23 were the other wicket takers, whilst the other 3 wickets to fall were all run outs. MSCC finished on 102-6, a simple enough target you would think. However we were soon 20-3 with 2 batsmen failing to trouble the scorers and were it not for a fine innings by Jon Scotchbrook (51) – his best of the season – we might have struggled. In the end though Kevin Osborn (8*) and Scott Powles (9*) brought us home to win by 4 wickets. I must make mention here of Sam Hatzigeorgiou, our 12th man, who played for Middleton Stoney, and dismissed both Jon and Greg Renk in consecutive balls almost winning the game for the opposition. Luckily his hat-trick ball was despatched for 6 by Kevin!
Great Tew…
Could it be 4 wins out of 4? Owing to forecast bad weather this game was reduced to a 20/20 also. Winning the toss we decided to bat and Dave Powles (21) and Tom Maxwell (15) gave us a solid start. Simon Cleobury, who you will remember scored a century in this fixture last year, stroked a majestic 58 and was able supported by Jay Spires (19). Greg Renk then hit a quickfire 23 not out to set a useful target of 148-5.
This was too much for Great Tew who fell 53 runs short with Tom Maxwell (3-21) and Greg Renk (3-19) the pick of the bowlers. Graham Bullen (1-6), Dave Powles (1-2) and Scott Powles (1-15) all chipped in with 3 wickets as we bowled them out for 95. Having not lost to Tew now since 2005, I shall be insisting they field their full League team next year. Yes winning is good, but we would rather have a close fought loss than an easy victory.
Nets…
With two games left to play we have won 6 and lost 2. I shall report on the Cholsey and BBC matches in October’s issue of SAL, but our success is in no small part due to our new practice net on Robinsons Close. I would just like to make a plea though to those who insist on cycling on it – it is not a cycle track; it does damage the wicket and I am getting a bit fed up with cleaning it. Please could you use the BMX park instead? The net itself will be taken down at the end of September, so do get all your practice in before then. This is of course to protect the net, but also to deny the rabbits “chewing practice”. Why do the moles and rabbits all insist on living under our net?
Awards Dinner…
Please make a note in your diaries to attend the SACC Awards Dinner on Saturday 7th November in the Village Hall. It is open to anyone in the village and is a celebration of the year’s individual achievements as well as of village cricket itself. I look forward to seeing you there.
Best wishes to all
Peter Higgins
Chairman
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CRICKET CLUB AWARDS DINNER
7pm Saturday 7th November
Steeple Aston Village Hall
Tickets £20 each to include 3 course dinner and wine - available from Peter Higgins (347493), Jay Spires (347611) or Jon Scotchbrook (340805)
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Winning June…
It has been a great sporting month: Federer versus Roddick; the British Lions bravely going down 2-1 to South Africa; Monty and James Anderson defying the Australians; the SACC drubbing Sandford St Martin and Barton Abbey. What more could one want? Well maybe Federer versus Murray; 2-1 to the Lions; a win at Lords, which they haven’t done against the Aussies since 1934! However you can always rely on the Steeple Aston Cricket Club when it comes to the “business end” of the summer.
Our matches with Sandford St Martin have often been blighted by some unseemly sledging, an art clearly taught to Tom Maxwell at school! However this year the match was played in the right way with a gag over Tom’s mouth. The SACC batted first and scored 216-6 with Dave Powles hitting a fluent 42 and Tom Maxwell a typically busy “Randellesque” 49. Greg Renk, playing his first game for Steeple Aston, weighed in with a useful 44. A good target, but not unbeatable. However Scott Powles produced what has been variously described as “his best bowling performance ever”, “how on earth could they bat so badly?”, “his bowling is so short, it’s ugly”, “he’s so short and ugly”. Joking aside it was a tour de force of off-spin bowling and Scott ripped the heart out of the Sandford team with 5-23 to give us a 77 run victory.
SACC versus Barton Abbey…
Against Barton Abbey a week later we elected to bat first again and ran up our largest score of the summer 294-7. Dave “Nelson” Powles opened the innings and dismantled the opposition attack with a fine 111. There then followed a mini collapse until Scott Powles (44) and Greg Renk (47*) steadied the middle order with Graham Bullen hitting a quickfire 29 to bring our innings to a close. It was good to see young Rob Hull (8) playing his first match for the village and batting so confidently; one for the future I am sure.
Barton Abbey seemed to be under the illusion that they were playing a five-day test match and did not really ever try to win the match, but ended the day on an obdurate 171-6. Mark Mills was the pick of the bowlers with 3-33, ably supported by Graham Bullen (2-12). It was sad to see Kevin Osborne unable to complete his third over as a pulled hamstring caused him to pull up. We hope he has recovered in time for our first 20/20 match against Middleton Stoney on 23rd July. A big thank you to Sarah and Scott for providing the tea – lots of healthy fresh fruit, though I only saw Big Dave attacking the pork pies as if each was a long hop!
The Chairman on Lions’ Tour…
Of course the team was certainly helped by the fact that I was in South Africa for both matches. Clearly since we won both games, I should go away more often! However we did LOSE a pair of pads, a brand new bat, a set of stumps and failed to record a single ball of the Sanford match in our scorebook, which we also lost! I have recovered nearly everything and have just got off the phone with the Sandford scorer, who is sending us a photocopy. There is a message there somewhere, which I think goes something like “No need to play any more Pete, but keep up the Admin!”
Next fixtures
23rd July Middleton Stoney (20/20) Away
26th July Great Tew Away
2nd August Cholsey Home
9th August BBC Home
Please do come and watch and join us for tea, usually about 4.45pm – some rather good cakes and fruit too.
Best wishes to all
Peter Higgins
Chairman
SACC vs Chairman’s XI….
Finally we played our first match of the season against the Chairman’s XI (it’s usually our fourth) on Sunday 23rd May. A beautiful day, two well-matched sides and for the first time a “real” umpire in the form of our President, Nick Cleobury.
The village, captained by Jon Scotchbrook, won the toss and elected to bat. After last year’s blistering 300 run assault by the SACC, the Chairman’s team (average age 48) was a little nervous, but after 30 minutes of madness had reduced the village to 17-5.
It’s a funny thing sport – how do the same teams manage to get such completely different results in the space of a year? Such unpredictability is of course what makes sport so great, though there is one other reason. I often harp on about a lack of communication in the team, so perhaps the two run-outs that ensued when not a word was spoken did not help matters. Scott Powles too was unlucky to be caught out at the second attempt by a man who has never taken a catch in his life!
Jon Scotchbrook (26) and Mark Brewer (46) then steadied the ship, until Jon danced down the wicket only to be bowled by the same person who had never taken a catch; he had also never bowled anyone either! Mark Mills (50) batted with great control too and nurtured the tail into scoring some valuable runs – Alan Peckham (9) never looked like getting out, until he tried to emulate Kevin Pietersen and Sam Hatzigeorgiou (8) playing his first game for the club hit some fine shots to bring a respectable total of 175 all out.
After a delightful lunch served by Sarah Chesser and Kate Adams (many, many thanks from all of us) the teams returned to the field a little heavier, but in good spirits. Daniel Munson (1-21) opened the bowling with a fine spell and the Chairman’s XI were soon reeling at 40-3 after a fine run out by Jon Scotchbrook, who hit the stumps direct.
Then the Chairman’s secret weapon, a 21-stone former prop forward proceeded to turn the game by sending repeated short-arm jabs to the mid-wicket boundary. However controversy looked, as half way through his innings he seemed to be caught behind. The umpire raised his finger, but when James Munson was asked whether he had caught the ball, he admitted he was “not sure”. Not out then, but more importantly James acted with integrity and after all that is what our cricket is about. Well done, James, and he got his revenge anyway by bowling the Behemouth for 54.
The game stood evenly balanced at 120-5 and with some tight bowling from Scott Powles (1-29) and Chris Neville (0-21), victory looked possible until some less tight bowling from Phil Chesser, 0-23 of 2 overs! The Chairman himself (40 not out) managed the winning runs and all retired first to the White Lion for some restorative liquid after a hot day in the field and then to the Red Lion for supper. Many thanks to Dorothy & Roger and Mel & Sarah for their hospitality.
SACC vs Sibford….
The following week then saw us travel to Sibford, where you will recall we tied last year. They have a ground set in beautiful countryside, but a bit of brute to bat on – they advised us to wear helmets! Sadly our three best batsmen – Scotchbrook, Spires and Maxwell - contrived to get themselves out. Berated by their captain for being so irresponsible, the skipper (31) then did the same! However a fine middle-order stand by Chris Neville (28) and Martin McGrath (21) restored respectability to our total and despite a late order collapse we managed 133.
“Catches win matches”
There are no more sage words in cricket than “Catches win matches” and sad to say some of our better players, who shall remain nameless dropped a few! It all started so well with Jay Spires taking an absolute corker, one-handed falling backwards at extra cover. Tom Maxwell was on sparkling form with the ball and took 2 wickets for 1 run off 8 overs – amazing! Daniel Munson (1-16) bowled well too and with Sibford at 13-3 victory was possible.
Raj, making his debut for the village, and Martin McGrath bowled their spin to great effect, but we dropped their best batsmen 4 times in the next 5 overs! Chris Neville (1-7) then took his first wicket for the club; Ryan O’Sullivan and Sam Hatzigeorgiou bowled with real confidence to give away only 9 runs in 2 overs and with the last two overs to come Sibford were 123-6 – 10 needed with Peter Higgins and Jon Scotchbrook left to bowl.
Three dot balls from the skipper and then a rank long hop dismissed by their top batsmen to bring up his fifty, but NO. What was this? He had drilled it at Daniel Munson, who took the catch at short extra cover. A brilliant catch and a glimmer of hope at 123-7. Next batsman in and at last a decent ball from the skipper – middle stump, 123-8. Hat-trick ball and panic setting in to the Sibford team. The final ball of the over; the ball is in the air and Daniel Munson takes his third catch of the day, a hat–trick, 123-9. 10 needed off the last over….
….3 balls later it was all over, 4, wide, 6…..Poor old Jon. The only consolation is that it was Jon’s son’s teacher who hit the runs, so at least he will get a good end-of-term report. And in the end did it matter? No, it had been fantastic game, played in the right spirit and we will of course win when we play them again later this year!
Next fixtures
28th June Barton Abbey Home 19th July Sibford Home 26th July Great Tew Away 2nd August Cholsey Home
Please do come and watch and join us for tea, usually about 4.45pm – some rather good cakes too!
Best wishes to all
Peter Higgins
Chairman
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Undefeated so far….
This year sees the best-prepared Steeple Aston side ever. We have had four well attended net sessions and, lo and behold, we are undefeated so far this season. Well that is technically speaking, since sadly we have not actually played a game yet! I called Upper Heyford the Wednesday before our first match just to confirm all was well, only to find that the Upper Heyford club had folded. Very sad. I then called Tackley only to find that they too no longer run a team. Of course it was a blisteringly hot day and would have made a perfect start to our season.
Undaunted we faced Cholsey on the second weekend of the season only to be washed out by the incessant rain. It was just bound to rain on the day of the Village Open Gardens wasn’t it? Looking on the bright side however, we have not been beaten; we have had a number of practice sessions; and at least 9 boys (and Chloe of course) have joined those sessions. In addition I have managed to replace the two lost games for later in the season.
We are due to play Freeland (near Witney) on Sunday 7th June at Barton Abbey. Freeland run two league sides and a Sunday team and will make strong opposition. As for Cholsey we are hoping that they will now fill the spot left by Upper Heyford on 12th July.
On a sad note
Richie Edmonds who has played for the village for more years than anyone can remember, has retired “semi-permanently”. Sadly Richie has got a problem with his eyes. He did explain it to me in great detail, but unfortunately it was just a bit too complicated for me. In short his eyesight is not good enough to allow him to bat or bowl safely, so he has to wait for an operation at some point in the next couple of years. We wish him well and hope to tease out of retirement after the operation.
Next fixtures
7th June Freeland Home
21st June Sandford Away
28th June Barton Abbey Home
We hope to see many of you at our home games. Come on the summer – at the time of writing (17th May), it’s just started raining again!!
Best wishes to all
Peter Higgins
Chairman
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Forget the Ashes…
Some of you may think that 2009 will be about the Ashes Test Series, but we in Steeple Aston know that it is all about beating Great Tew for the fourth time in a row. Okay, I am not saying we are the Manchester United of the village cricket world in North Oxfordshire, but we did have an 89% win rate last year. The only problem is – how do we maintain that record?
Well the first answer is simple – don’t believe your own PR! As I am sure Sir Alex would agree, you only get to the top and stay there through teamwork and communication, with a little bit of humility thrown in. However the most important factor, arguably, is PRACTICE. “How you train is how you play” is a maxim I had drilled in to me when playing at Wasps back in 1987. That seems like an age ago now (it was!), but when you are getting rucked to bits on a Wednesday night in the pouring rain by your “mates”, you realise that they take their practice pretty seriously. So I am delighted to say that the Steeple Aston Cricket Club now has its own practice facility at Robinsons Close and we will be practicing seriously for the new season.
New practice net
We have been able to build an all-weather cricket pitch at the top end of Robinsons Close, having raised the money ourselves in a number of ways: a grant from the National Lottery; a bequest from someone who wanted cricket to be played in the village; and a raffle held at the Annual Awards Dinner. The practice net has seen much use already with a number of impromptu training sessions with the youngsters in the village on Saturday afternoons. However the first club session will take place on Thursday 23rd April at 6.30pm and subsequent Thursdays thereafter. Please email me or call to let me know if you will be attending, as it may be necessary to stagger times depending on demand. I would like to thank Ryan O’Sullivan for rigorously testing all parts of the net, since it was completed in February. I think the only days Ryan has missed have been those with 6 inches of snow. If anyone ever wants a net, just call Ryan. He will be there.
Annual General Meeting
We held the AGM on Friday 6th March in the Sports & Recreation Centre. A copy of the full minutes can be found on the website, but the highlights are:
- Roderick Nicholson has retired as President of the Club and we are very grateful to him for his help and support over the years. The new President is Nicholas Cleobury, who is a mad keen cricket fan. Nick is also a member of the Lords Taverners, so we are hoping one day to arrange a match with them.
- Scott Powles is our new First Aider, a hotly contested post, with Scotty gaining just enough votes to secure the post ahead of his opponent Scott Powles.
- All other posts remain the same for this season, but I have decided to do only one more year as captain and will be passing the mantle on to Jon Scotchbrook for 2010. He will do a much better job!
- The accounts were signed off and it was pleasing to note that we have more money in the club than ever before.
- Given the improved finances of the club, we are looking at having a team strip. The club will buy the shirts and then sell them to playing members at a discount.
- All the fixtures have now been arranged by Jay Spires with hopefully one more to come against Middleton Stony. Again these will appear on the website and in next month’s issue of SAL
- Teas – as ever I am desperate. If anyone can help, please call or email me
And finally COMMUNICATION…..read this or you may miss playing!
We are now fortunate to have more players than at any time in the last few years. It is imperative therefore that everyone who wants to play fills in the availability form that I have distributed. In the past it has been very much a question of me (or previous captains) calling you, desperate for a team. This (hopefully) will not happen any more, so please please fill in your form and email it back to me or give it to me at the first practice session. If I do not know you are available, you will not play. Sorry to sound so draconian, but the onus is now on you, the players, to contribute to the success of the club by being proactive in your communication.
As ever we look forward to seeing many of you over the summer up at Barton Abbey or at the cricket nets. Anyone can join in.
Best wishes to all
Peter Higgins
Chairman
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SACC PRACTICE NET
Robinsons Close Cricket Net
Thursday 23rd April 6.30pm
Please email (peter.higgins@ctshirts.co.uk) or call me (01869 347493) to confirm your availability