First team v Morris Motors (away)

Saturday 7^th May 2005

Team; Baxter, Mead, Smit, Horman, M Taylor, W Cooper, Stanway, Duplesis, Anderson, Hudson, Doulton

• Oxford and Bletchingdon Nondies won the toss and elected to field on a cold day. New signing Mark Stanway opened the bowling however it was a run out in the first over that provided the Blondies with the first wicket of the 2005 season. An excellent spell by Dulesis (19 overs, 4-55) and steady wickets falling throughout the innings restricted the home side to 199 all out in the 48^th over.

• Mark Taylor and Scott Horman opened the Blondies innings and got off to a steady start against the Morris Motors spin bowlers with the old ball. The loss of Taylor brought Aussie Anderson to the wicket for his first league knock and he compiled a quick 30 before a top edged sweep was well caught at backward square leg. The loss of wickets at difficult times left the Blondies in a difficult position, however a 9^th wicket stand of 55 between Stanway and Baxter saw them home without further alarm.
• O+B.N.C.C 30 points

First team v Cropredy (OUP)

Saturday 14^th May 2005

Team; Baxter, Mead, Smit, Horman, Bush, W Cooper, Stanway, Duplesis, Anderson, Scrivener, Mukherjee

• Skipper Baxter won the toss again and this time elected to bat on a typical OUP wicket. Ian Mead started the innings in sparkling form and moved the score along rapidly in the first 15 overs. Again the loss of wickets at critical times, including
• Mead bizarrely stumped for 49 and Horman (36), led to the Blondies posting a disappointing total of 185-9 off their 50 overs. However with confidence in their bowlers high the Blondies went out on the attack. Unfortunately some ill directed short pitched bowling raced Cropredy along to 90 without loss inside the first 12 overs. The introduction of Duplesis into the attack slowed the scoring rate and his dismissal of danger man Zaidi for 0 bouyed the home side. The introduction of
• Baxter into the attack prompted a Cropredy collapse and they were bowled out for 168 in the 40^th over. Baxter and Stanway both finishing with 4 wickets each.
• O+B.N.C.C 30 points

First team v Bicester and North Oxford (away)

Saturday 21^st May 2005

Team; Baxter, Gupta, Smit, Horman, W Cooper, Stanway, Duplesis, Schofield, Scrivener, Hudson, Vinjimoor

• Match Abandoned without a ball being bowled
• O+B.N.C.C 10 points

First team v Kimble (Bletchingdon)

Saturday 28^th May 2005

Team; Baxter, Smit, Horman, W Cooper, Stanway, Duplesis, Schofield, Keen, Hudson, Vinjimoor, Mead

• Acting captain Ian Mead won the toss and bravely elected to field. The new ball pairing of Duplesis and Stanway soon had the Kimble batsmen in trouble and a steady trickle of wickets resulted in Kimble being bowled out for 127. Stanway finished with an excellent 5 wicket haul, his pace being too much for the visiting batsmen.
• In reply the Blondies were soon in trouble at 30-3, however a steady partnership between ‘senior pro’ Mead and 15 year old Will Cooper resulted in a 7 wicket victory for the home team. Mead finishing with 51 not out and Cooper 36 not out.
• O+B.N.C.C 30 points

First team v Leighton Buzzard (away)

Saturday 4^th June 2005

Team; Baxter, Smit, Horman, W Cooper, Stanway, R Brown, Schofield, Gupta, M Baggs, Vinjimoor, Mead

• On a grey and drizzly day Blondies again won the toss and despite the moisture in the air decided to bat on a very patchy track. Horman and Cooper got off to a fine start and batted bravely against some short pitched bowling. At drinks the game was nicely poised at 80-1. The loss of Cooper from the first ball after the drinks break served to prompt Schofield to turn defence into attack as he unleashed a series of powerful drives and pulls. The loss of Mead to a shooter only subjected the Leighton Buzzard attack to more punishment as Smit, Baggs and Gupta took their turn to find (or clear) the ropes. The Blondies finished with a very competitive 219-8 from their 50 overs.
• In reply Leighton Buzzards innings got off to a poor start losing both openers to the spin of Baxter and Vinjimoor. Numbers 3 and 4 rallied for a short time until the introduction of Stanway with the new ball. Wickets fell at regular intervals to leave Leighton Buzzard 133 all out inside 40 overs. Stanway finished with 6-60 and Baxter 3-19 in a comfortable win for the Blondies.
• O+B.N.C.C 30 points

First team v Aylesbury (OUP)

Saturday 11^th June 2005

Team; Baxter, Smit, Horman, W Cooper, Stanway, R Brown, Schofield, Gupta, Duplesis, Vinjimoor, Mead

• On the warmest day of the season so far the home side elected to bat on a dry OUP wicket. Defensive field settings and tight bowling from the visiting Aylesbury team made run scoring difficult in the opening overs. Horman and Cooper struggled to 20 without loss before both losing their wickets in the need to increase the run rate. A brief partnership between Schofield and Mead saw some acceleration to the run rate before a partnership between Smit and Schofield of 64 for the fourth wicket pushed the Blondies up past the hundred mark. The solid platform was not however built upon and the regular loss of wickets meant that the Blondies only managed 177-9 from their 50 overs. The difficulty of the wicket being reflected in the fact that Schofield (32) was the only player to pass 30 for the homeside.
• Again opening with the old ball Baxter and Vinjimoor accounted for both Aylesbury openers within the first 10 overs. A burst with the new ball from Stanway brought 2 more wickets, however Aylesbury rallied and approached the 100 mark with increasing ease. The introduction of Ross Brown (JB junior) into the attack swung the game back the home sides way as he troubled all the Aylesbury batsmen and picked up 3-14 in 6 brisk overs. Another fine fielding performance from the Blondies who held some crucial catches, including the veteran Meady taking a blinder at slip. 

• O+B.N.C.C 30 points

First team v Hanborough (away)

Saturday 18 June 2005

Team; Baxter, Gupta, Smit, Horman, Vinjimoor, W Cooper, Stanway, Duplesis, Schofield, Baggs, Brown

·        Having lost the toss, the Blondies found themselves bowling first on a slow low pitch, with concerns that the surface may not hold together for the whole match. As anticipated, none of the quicker bowlers found the pitch to their liking. With both Hanborough openers making solid starts it was only with the introduction of Sanjay Vinjimoor’s guile that the run rate was arrested and wickets began to tumble. Baxter and Stanway both held good catches as the Blondies looked to have held the home team to a gettable total of 177.

• After tea, the fears of the pitch were realised as it got slower and lower. This coupled with Hanborough opting to take the old ball resulted in the early order batters getting bogged down. Under pressure to accelerate the scoring both openers (Horman and Cooper) fell to soft dismissal that set the tone for many of the other batsmen. Only Aviral Gupta showed any skill in adapting to the conditions with some clean hitting on his way to an undefeated 43. The side experienced defeat for the first time this season.

• O+B.N.C.C 14 pts

First team v Henley (OUP)

Saturday 25 June 2005

Team; Baxter, Gupta, Smit, Rayden, Mead, W Cooper, Stanway, Duplesis, Schofield, Baggs, Brown

• With skipper Baxter proving he’s not the tosser that those in the side thought he was, O+BNCC found themselves inserted by Henley on a previously used OUP track. With Horman given a run in the two’s the talented Tim Rayden made his seasonal debut for the 1^st XI. Once again the Blondies batters found getting the ball away difficult especially when Henley brought on their change bowlers who took the pace off the ball. With wickets tumbling at regular intervals Steve Schofield struggle to find a partner to help him take the initiative. When Stevo holed out to deep mid-wicket for 38 the side’s chances of posting a respectable total disappeared.

• Defending the modest total of 117 meant that the bowlers needed to get amongst the Henley batters quickly. A sharp run out by Jonty Baxter followed by an easy caught and bowled for Gupta gave the boys the ideal start with Henley two down and only a handful of runs of the board. However the bowlers only enjoyed one more success as the visitor’s batsmen took control to ease to victory by 7 wickets.

O+B.N.C.C 9 pts

First team v Dinton (away)

Saturday 2nd July 2005

Team; Baxter, Gupta, Smit, Horman, Vinjimoor, W Cooper, Stanway, Mead, Schofield, Baggs, Scrivener

• Dinton is one of the grounds that make playing away enjoyable. This coupled by the fact that Charlie B redeemed himself as a tosser, meant that the boys had first use of a flat Dinton track. Openers Mead and the returning Horman made a steady, if unspectacular start. The run out of Horman saw the arrival of Schofield but only a modest quickening of the scoring rate with the Blondies interestingly placed at drinks with 68 on the board. A second run out, this time Stevo, brought the clean hitting Gupta to the crease just as the momentum was beginning to swing the visitors way. Having spent twenty five overs looking inept, the veteran Mead then managed to find his timing (and the gaps). The fall of the senior pro for 93 brought Smit to the crease who continued with some lusty blows as O+BNCC finished with a score of 204-6, which given the track and fast outfield was considered to be around 40 runs light of par.

• Tea saw the performance of the season as Smit proved that ex-Rugby players burn substantially more calories than normal people. Finding the plates a little small, François overcame this minor difficulty by positioning himself next to the tea table. Once the side had managed to pry themselves away from the tea, the Dinton innings started like many before this season with wickets falling regularly, but runs following with bewildering ease. The pace of Stanway clearly unsettled a number of the Dinton batters but they always seemed to be in the box seat while opener King was at the crease. He finally fell, for 88, to a catch behind off Vinjimoor and possibly for the first time in the game the lads began to sense possible victory. And so it was with only 3 runs required Dintons 11^th batsman P E Ludlow succumbed to the guile of Sanjay as the (home) umpire adjudged him leg before! After two consecutive defeats the Blondies celebrated victory as the last Dinton batter gave his considered opinion of the umpire’s ultimate decision.

O+B.N.C.C 30 pts