Batsmen come up short against Radley

On the warmest day of the year (until the next day) we entertained Radley on Jubilee. It was an absolutely crucial toss for Eds to lose as Radley elected to bat and we knew four hours in the heat would test all levels of endurance. Huggy Harrison, our new fixture secretary, lost his coin toss and Dan Chitty got to bowl down the hill. Radley got off to a flying start as both Chitty and Harrison were punished for some wayward deliveries. Jay Harman was introduced early and his first ball in 10 months was a filthy full toss that was smashed straight at Sam Langmead to break the opening partnership.

Despite Andrew Goudie and Harman bowling some good lines, Radley continued to make us toil and reached 140 for 1 with half an hour to go till lunch. The enthusiasm was admirable though and some smart glove work from from Kent, a very sharp leg side stumping, gave us another breakthrough. This turned the game and we suddenly had Radley 180 for 6 at lunch as Kingsnorth took a sharp catch in the gully off Will Langmead's offspin. We struck again after lunch and with Dan Chitty cleaning up the tail, we bowled Radley out for 230. This was about 100 short of what were expecting at 140 for 1, so a great effort as Harman and Goudie both picked up wickets.

It was clear just needed to keep wickets in hand and bat the overs. Gates went third ball, but Kent and Preece consolidated against some accurate Radley new ball bowling. Chris Preece began to open up with some glorious drives and Kent found form as we reached a respectable 70 for 1 at tea. Unfortunately Callum Kent, Langmead and Kingsnorth fell quickly after the interval and at 85 for 4 Preece and Copleston had to rebuild. When Eds was caught off an almost head high full toss, Langmead and Preece took us to 130 for 5. A hundred off the last 20, so game on. Langmead played an entertaining and almost chanceless innings before he was caught at short fine leg, Harrison was inexplicably run out and Preece then holed out to leave us in serious trouble. The tail barely wagged and we were bowled out 50 short. An entertaining game in the sun where we failed to chase an achievable total. Thank you to the supporters again, a large crowd enjoyed magnificent food put on by the school and we move on to two tough games against Welchy's best at the school in a fortnight. After that the focus turns to cricket week, beginning 7th July. It is probably worth a few of us having a net before then! Eds

An early Cricketer Cup exit

Oundle Rovers 191 beat OCCC 177 by 14 runs

After a gentle two-and-a-half hour journey up to Oundle the OCCC were faced with a very dry pitch (no grass in sight) and Greg Smith drafted in to open the batting for Oundle. The toss was quite a critical one as with the sun and wind beating down on the wicket it was only going to get dryer and harder as day went on. The OCCC lost the toss and fielded.

Will Rollings struggled with consistency early on but bowled the ball of the game to dismiss Smith with late swing removing his off stump. It was not too long until the OCCC spinners came into the game and while the odd ball misbehaved, generally the wicket held together and Oundle got to a competitive total of 191.

The Oundle openers bowled very straight and made it tough work for Waters and Scriven B, with the ball keeping low it was a patience game. Once Foster the Oundle opener starting bowling off cutters the wicket seemed to respond with balls popping over batsman shoulders or rolling along the floor. Credit to the Oundle bowlers for bowling full and straight and making the most of the 'facilitates'. OC's were unable to build any partnerships and lost wickets consistently with the Oundle spinners turning the ball sideways and with 4 LBWs on a wicket turning....enough said of the umpiring. A late partnership between Howard and Suresh gave the OCCC innings some credibility but we were well beaten.

Best of luck to Oundle in the next round.

Season starts with a win at Headley

OCCC 200 for 5 (Brown 69*, Merry 49, Kennedy 33, Tunnell 3-43))  beat Headley 174 (Barton 51, Henderson 3-30, Thomas 3-43) by 26 runs

On a sun drenched day at Headley, Eds Copleston lost the toss and we were inserted for this 35 over game.

Phil Roper, a player who showed much promise in Malta, opened up with veteran Graeme Brown. Roper was bowled with the first ball faced by the OCCC this summer - a very special achievement. A hungover Rob Merry was called into action before his coffee had cooled down. Brown and Merry took a while to acclimatise and made hard work of the Headley attack early on. The usual run rate on this ground is definitely above the 70 for 1 we saw off the first 20 overs. Merry began to open up and as Brown started to time some drives we increased momentum. Merry fell LBW for an entertaining 49 but Brown anchored the innings as Rory Kennedy(who claimed to have glandular fever or "something similar like hayfever") made a breezy 33 and George Thomas smashed some maximums late on to take us to 200 for 5 off 35.

This felt a little below par as Henderson and Chetwode took some time to find their line and length. It was worth the wait though as both struck to remove the Headley openers and at 30 for 2 we were on top. The Headley middle order motored on as we struggled to defend the small boundaries, 100 for 4 off 20. Game on. Dan Chitty then came on to demonstrate line and length and proved effective - with all off side fielders on the fence. Roper made amends for his batting display with a fabulous low catch and when Thomas removed the dangerous Headley left hander, assisted by some smooth glove work from Merry, we were back on top. Sam Langmead came on and proved expensive before changing ends and bustling in to remove the lower middle order and end the game as Headley fell 26 short. Upon reflection Man of the Match Graeme Brown's innings was a perfectly paced 69 off 120 balls on a "tricky wicket!"

An enjoyable game of cricket and it was excellent to see so many "Golden Oldies" turn out. We look forward to seeing you on Jubilee this summer and there will always be beer in the fridge to thank you for your support. Eds