Another glorious day as the wonderful Oxford Downs CC welcomed the Buccs. With the various attractions going on, including holidays and the Test match, a make shift side lost the toss and took the field. A hostile opening spell from Rob Rydon was well countered by the two opening bats French and Wilson, attacking anything full or short with gusto. This included a lost ball into the new housing estate off a Rydon bouncer.
The introduction of captain Noble slowed both the run rate and ball speed. With three economical wickets before lunch, in tandem with Jones, and subsequently through Hamish Robertson, the rest of the Downs’ innings slowed to a crawl. Nick and Hamish both bowled very well, with some very attacking and inventive fields (I think the skipper wrote this, ed.) to try and move the game along. The long afternoon eventually saw the innings chug to a close with skipper Tom Welch 48 not out and a declaration of 212 for 6.
In an almost identical fashion to last year, the Buccs reply progressed easily to the forties without loss, led by Sujay and Jones on debut. Some hostile bowling was resolutely defended. The introduction of Sandbach, in his eighth decade then proceeded to rip the heart of the Buccs strong batting line up of Hay (overseas from Canberra), the raconteur Harcourt and Noble all succumbing to his gentle swing. Only the excellent intervention of Ollie Robertson and Rob Rydon saw a defeat averted with Rob even unfurling some typical counter attacking strokes to continue his fine form with the bat this year.
Innings of Oxford Downs
J French ct Hay b Jones 52
H Wilson ct Chakravarti b Noble 21
M Hunt ct Harcourt b Noble 1
T Welch not out 48
I Frelie ct Harcourt b Noble 2
W Watts b Jones 23
G Stevens b Robertson 14
W Khan not out 24
Extras 20
Total 212 for 6 dec
Bowling
Rydon 14-0-52-0
B Hay 5-1-15-0
W Noble 9-3-28-3
N Jones 15-2-56-2
H Robertson 14-1-61-1
Innings of Buccaneers
Sujay Chakravarti b Watts 20
N Jones b Watts 22
B Hay b Sandbach 15
O Robertson ct b O Watts 16
J Harcourt st b Sandbach 2
N Robertson b Sandbach 12
A Rydon b W Watts 0
W Noble lbw Sandbach 3
R Rydon not out 26
H Robertson not out 0
Extras 10
Total 126-8
A Khan 6-1-30-1
O Watts 8-0-22-1
W Watts12-4-26-2
G Sandbach 12-2-38-4