Written by Tom Guntrip – AVCC U13
Abingdon Vale County Champions!
(…well… sort of)
On a very hot day of difficult conditions, one team stood out in a great day of great cricket… well two… but the other doesn’t count. Abingdon Vale were always positive, always fighting, even when things felt hopeless, they kept their heads up and soldiered through.
In the first match against Thame, with two Gazebos up for spectators and our watching player, we lost the toss and were put into bat. Tom “Yoda” Harris and Dan Torrance walked out to bat, knowing that 90 was a good total.
The first 8 overs ticked along nicely, Yoda having a quick start and then easing up, as we got to 32 off 8 overs. Then, very shortly, Dan Torrance was unluckily run out from a fluky direct hit for 10. Adam Scholey, the team’s chatty wickie, then came in.
With the previous game against Oxford B, Adam proved that he could bat at 3, in a surprise move up the order, getting 24n.o. and helping the 10 wicket victory. Today should be no different.
Back against Thame, Adam continued to play well, notching up 20 by around 15 overs. Yoda had retired after hitting a four to get 33, another fantastic innings, bringing his average in the last 4-5 games to around 115. Another great innings. James Pierce went in as a pinch hitter, after his slogging expertise proved useful many a time. However, a great delivery and a heave straight down the ground got him bowled first ball.
Matt Butcher went in, not at his usual two, and almost immediately played a cracking square cut that practically took off Point’s hand, scorching to the boundary. Adam then hit one high after trying to smack it through the off, and the bowler took a good catch. In comes the skipper, Jason.
Jason played well, playing great shots that sadly only picked him up a couple of singles. Off the last ball, he got caught, going for a big one.
AVCC: 93-4.
Thomas Harris – 33 – retired
Dan Torrance – 10 - run out
Adam Scholey – 20 - Caught and Bowled
James Pierce – 0 - Bowled – Golden Duck
Matt Butcher – 8 - Not out
Jason Cardy – 2 - Caught
So after a quick talk by Stuart, the coach, the team went out to field. To begin with, the opener of the bowling, Yoda (again!) bowled a great line, keeping it tight. By the end of 3 overs, him and Harry Wilkinson, our other opener, had kept it tight to around 9-10. Then H. came on for his 2nd over. Midway through, he bowled a beauty. Leg stump disappeared, and the breakthrough came. Next ball, a mate of many players, Legs, supposedly their best batter, showing off in nets earlier, took his guard. H. ran in. Then, the stumps were flying again! A Golden Duck! Sadly, no hat-trick for H. but it was still great bowling. After their first spells of 3 overs each had been bowled, Thame were on about 20-2.
On came Tom Gardner, one of our several mystery men. His slow left armers, no spin, just slanting it, went a bit awry early on, but he recovered well, forcing an edge to point. Sadly, Yoda dropped it. Then on came the skipper, Jason “Jase/J” Cardy. He bowled very good as well, taking a fantastic wicket maiden in his spell. Tom also took a wicket, with the same batter playing the same shot as before, but this time, Yoda held on well. After 3 overs each, Tom “Gunny/Gunner” Guntrip, our 2nd mystery man, came on. His first over went well, going for only two. Then on came another mystery man. Dan Torrance, our regular quick spinner. His strange action confused the batters, getting a wicket and going for not much. Then Gunner came on again, but a left-hand/right-hand combo disrupted his rhythm, and he went for 12. Dan than fared little better, his juicy leg side bowling going for 10. Replacing Tom at his end was Luke Casey, a regular big hitting lower order feature. He bowled well to start, but then went for 2 fours by fine leg, our fine leg being short and a bit off the ball. He went for 9. Then came on J. again. He bowled another good over, keeping it tight when we needed it. By then, they needed about 20 off the last 3. They then needed 16 off the last 2 overs, with Yoda coming on and bowling great. A skied shot was unluckily dropped by Gunny at short cover, diving backwards with his weaker left hand. However, he made up for it with some sharp fielding after it, the over going for only about 4.
H. bowled the last over, and it went well, until a four put us on the back foot again. Suddenly, a four was needed off the last ball. Everyone went on the boundary. They then flicked it to Gunny at Mid wicket, where he fielded comfortably and threw it in, the batters runnnig regardless in case of a bad catch by the keeper. That was not the case, and Vale won by one run! A great performance.
Yoda – 4-0-12-0
Harry Wilkinson – 4-0-12-3
Tom Gardener – 3-1-8-1
Jason – 4-1-10-1 (Bowled a wicket maiden)
Gunner – 2-0-15-0
Dan Torrance – 2-0-13-1
Luke Casey – 1-0-9-0
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Written by Stuart Cardy – AVCC U13 Manager
On a very hot day, AVCC U13’s arrived at Bicester & North Oxford CC to find they had been drawn against Thame in the semi final of the Ron Maudsley Trophy. Thame started favourites having already beaten Vale in a league match earlier in the season.
Vale lost the toss and were put in to bat; Thomas Harris and Dan Torrance went into the game in a rich view of form. The bowling was very good from Thame with there openers bowling a good line and length. Progress was steady for Vale, Harris scoring well, with 11 coming off of the 5th over. Vale had reached 38 when they lost their first wicket, Torrance being harshly adjudged to have failed to make the 22yards in time. The 2nd wicket fell in the 18th over just a few balls after Harris had retired on 33. A great innings showing more skill and maturity as the season progresses. The score on 80 for 2 was a little short of where Vale would have liked to have been, so tried to push on to 100. James Peirce out for a duck followed by Adam Scholey. Scholey though had managed to plunder 20 valuable runs for the cause. Jason Cardy was out caught off the last ball for 2 with Matt Butcher finishing on 8 not out. Vale finished with 93 for 4 off the 20 overs. Many believed this was around 20 short of the required score needed for victory.
Thame were confident before and now had a real belief that this was a very achievable target. A smart start with 13 off the first 3 overs. Harry Wilkinson conceded 5 off the first 4 balls of the 4th over then took his 1st wicket, bowling out Alexander. This was followed next ball, bowling out his mate from rugby, for a golden duck! Vale on top, 18-2 off 4.
Thame then took their time trying to rebuild their innings. Tom Gardner was the first change bowler; he bowled a maiden with his 1st over then took the wicket of opener Adams for 18 in his 2nd over. After 15 overs Thame had progressed to 65-3. So 29 needed off 5 overs. Torrance was given a 2nd over and conceded 6 and took the valuable wicket of Patey for 21 (another good player dismissed). Cardy as Captain had some tough decisions to make. He bought on Luke Casey, he had 4 good deliveries then 2 balls, leg side were both dispatched for 4. 80 – 4 from 17 overs……..14 from 3 overs required. Cardy then bought himself on and bowled a wicket maiden, big cheers from the Vale supporters. Harris came on to bowl over 19, a skied shot from Thame batsman Parker was sensationally dropped by Tom Guntrip. Good plan though as Parker had now reached 30 and had to retire.
New batsman and added pressure, final over Wilkinson returns, 9 required. 5 off the 1st 4 balls left Thame only needing 4 for victory. Wilkinson then takes his 3rd wicket with a clean bowled. Vale then only conceded 2 off the final ball with all fielders on the boundary. Huge cheers all round and great relief as Vale win by 1 run and progressed to the final to face North Cotswolds.
North Cotswolds are a district side from East Gloucestershire and are full of excellent players; they had earlier defeated Aston Rowant by 10 wickets in the Semi Final. Tough times ahead for the Vale.
Some lunch taken and some wise words and clichés from coaches Stu and Chris. It was time to face the challenge. Another toss lost and Vale batting first again, this time it was a lot harder to score as the bowling was quicker and straighter. Vale lost wickets quickly and found themselves 33-6 from 9 overs. It was now the target to try and bat out the 20 overs. Tom Guntrip and Tom Gardner put on the 9 in the next 4 as Vale limped towards the finish. Garnder top scored with 14 including a six (overthrows). Vale ended their innings 1 ball short of 20 overs all out for 63.
This total was never going to be enough, and so it proved. North Cotswolds raced to victory scoring 64 for 2 from only 6.4 overs. Some success though for Harris and Cardy as they took a wicket each. North Cotswolds proved they are the best in the competition but Vale showed how far they have come this season and deserve all the credit they have been given. Losing the final did not take away the great achievement this was.
The Team:
Jason Cardy – Captain
Harry Wilkinson – Vice Captain
Adam Scholey – Wicket Keeper
Thomas Harris
Matthew Butcher
Dan Torrance
Tom Guntrip
Tom Gardner
Andrew Stoney
James Peirce
Luke Casey
Toby Mazonowicz – 12th Man
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Selection as follows for the Weekend of the 13th/14th June 2009 :
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Selection this week as follows (click the following link to view) Read the rest of this entry »
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Note to anyone getting the nets out or putting them away at the club:
You *must* keep some tension on the cable when pulling the cable out or winding it away! Do NOT let the cable run loose when winding it up, and do not let the winch run free when pulling it out – you need to pull the cable down the length of the pitch as you slowly control the speed of the winch as you let the cable out.
If you do not keep tension in the cable, you run a strong risk of jamming the cable in the winch (by it looping off the reel in some fashion) – trying to subsequently force the winch/cable will make an even bigger mess! It’ll also result in a long, greasy process of trying to fix it, which I will personally supervise if anyone stuffs it up by not following the instructions!
If anyone has questions, please ask someone who knows what to do before using it!
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Selection for the upcoming weekend’s fixtures is detailed below. Note 4th XI players, all to help with ground preparation & clean up after the match. All, should unavoidable circumstances prevent you from playing, please contact your Captain at the earliest opportunity.
NB: We have been lucky enough to be selected to host an Oxfordshire Women’s fixture this Sunday, the 24th of May. We need some volunteers to help with the groundwork that we need to provide, in order for the fixture to take place. Paul White will be managing the Oxfordshire Ladies Team, and will therefore be present during the day. He will be representing the OCB and therefore won’t have time to carry out this work, but he will be there to answer any questions etc. if you are not sure on anything.
Ideally it would be best to have a representative there for the whole day, but we understand that this is less than likely during a bank holiday weekend. But if you feel you can offer any assistance before, during or at the end of the match please let Tom Allen know ASAP.
Click to see selection details: Read the rest of this entry »
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The committee are concerned that a number of senior players have not yet paid subscriptions. Subscription rates for the year are:
- Senior – £80
- Over 18 in full time education – £40
- Under 18 – £35
Please note that anyone who has not paid subscriptions by 1 June will not be considered for selection after that date. Subscriptions will also rise to £100 after 1 June.
If you have not already paid, please arrange for payment to be sent to Garry Cook ASAP. Alternatively, give your payment to any of the captains who will pass the payment on.
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Selection for this weekend’s matches is as follows (click the following link to expand the post!): Read the rest of this entry »
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These are the teams selected for the games w/c 2009-05-02
1st XI: CL Senior Cup Rd 2: Banbury II (Away)
Scorer: TBA – we are still short of a scorer, if you are prepared to do it, please contact either Michael Cook or Paul White
2ndXI: CL Junior Cup Rd. 2:Great & Little Tew II
Joffy Cummings (Capt.)
Chris Butcher
Joe Butcher
Phil Evans
Jordan Ford
Bob Finch
Alec Inns
Richard Morgan
Andrew Munday
Mukesh Shori
Harisha Sreekantaiah
Start: 13:15
Meet AVCC: 12:00 – there will be some ground work required
Umpire Chris Blaber
Scorer: TBA
Teas Graham Jackman
1st XI: ECB National Club Championship Rd 1: Banbury (Home)
Michael Cook (Capt.)
Tom Allen
Will Baker
James Boon
Graeme Coates
James Cook
Dan Hartley
Altamash Pervez
Nick Rivett
Ed Tilley
David Ward
Umpire: PANEL
Scorer: Gordon Rhodes
Teas: Graham Jackman
Meet AVCC: 11:00 – there will be some ground work required
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Morning All
Please see the teams for the weekend below. We had a few available and only 2 games this week, so thanks for your availability. Ground is being done by everyone.
A couple of other things:
We are still in need of a volunteer to do a tea on Saturday
We have a tea person (Jacko) for the rest of the season, so help this weekend would be much appreciated.
Don’t forget it is the start of season party on Saturday night, so pack your dancing shoes as well as your cricket kit.
Any problems, let one of the Match Managers know.
Cheers and see you Saturday. (Click the link to see the full selection details) Read the rest of this entry »
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