“Gary and His Three Ducks”
Match: 25
/ 645
Won by 6 wkts
|
Team |
Total |
|
Isis CC |
162 - 6 |
|
A. Darley 2 - 27 |
|
|
|
|
|
FFTMCC |
164 - 4 |
|
J. Pearson 50, L. Ainsworth 44 |
|
|
Matches against our
neighbours at Queens College now remarkably date back over a quarter of a
century before Y2K and the global computer crash. Whilst Isis can boast a
winning record at home, likewise The MAD can boast a similar one at their
adjoining home of Brasenose. The games have always been a focal point of a
season, keenly contested, chirpy and with a fair amount of pride at stake.
After all, who wants to lose to ‘that rabble’ next door and have your already
shaky reputation trodden further into the turf?
Here we find Isis celebrating Andy managing to
align the stumps for the match. This rivalry has even
extended past the close season in recent times, and out onto the fairways,
where these two very differing outfits swap bats for golf clubs, twat balls
into hedgerows and lakes, and generally make disparaging comments about their
opponents. So, perhaps this Sunday gone was an outlier, result
notwithstanding, it was a contest where less emphasis was placed on the
result and a great deal more focus applied to the enjoyment of the match
itself? Or was that just me...? With the Atacama Desert
seeing more rainfall that Oxfordshire in recent weeks, Mr Stephenson’s Isis
had little hesitation on batting first on an extremely arid and dusty square.
This they did without any undue alarms as Bowles (47) and O. Walter (69)
posted a ton-plus partnership for the first wicket, with the assured and
technically correct Ollie shifting through the gears as the overs dribbled
by.
The match is a pure adrenalin rush for Mr
Cartwright (horizontal). It was as late as the
24th over of the innings that the first wicket fell, late arrival and
non-opening bowler A. Darley (2-27) doing for Mr Walter with one that did something,
but nobody is quite sure what (including the bowler). Thereon, the Isis innings
stumbled and never regained any real momentum in closing out on 162-6. A couple of special
mentions must now be made; and the first is to acknowledge the sportsmanship
of the home team in promoting the younger, less-able batters up the order. It
would have been too easy for Rich (Stephenson) himself to head out to the
crease and whack some crap about (as he has/does on a regular basis) or
indeed promote other senior more capable players up the order instead. So, a
doff of the cap for that one. The second mention is for the unsung guy
minding the timber. Mr Hotson did a sterling effort in tidying up the shite
down leg, copping one to the mask and simply going about his business with that
understated modesty we take for granted (MOTM indeed).
Ainsworth looking in great form with the bat
until he wasn’t. The tea interval was the
usual unhurried, dreamy affair with Kayleigh once again the tea lady with the
mostest and loveliest. We are grateful, we truly are. Hopefully the sands of
the Covid BYO teas have almost run dry, though some clubs for whatever reason
seem to persist (do they not remember what traditional English cricket is
supposed to be???) In reply, Williams
cracked a few boundaries to underline how very easy it was to bat. He then
shocked everyone, including himself by somehow missing a straight one. But
that was about it, Isis toiled away for the remainder of the afternoon as
Pearson swatted his traditional Queens 50, Ainsworth was fluent but
disappointed to make just 44, and Turner helped himself to 35 with his drives
and flicks like he does on days like this. Symons (4-0-14-1) was perhaps the
pick of the home team bowling on a pitch that offered very very little.
Simons barrelling into Pearson from the Brasenose
end. In the end, Howarth (17*)
and Shorten stroked and clubbed the winning runs and the game was over. The afternoon winds had
now given way to a glorious sunshine as players from both teams dragged
plastic chairs into the outfield, sat in a wonky circle, chewed beers and
cider and went into details about how great we all are. We’re not, we’re far fucking
from it, and in fact we’re all sliding further north with age (apart from
them there kids we mentioned earlier). Bones now ache where bones didn’t
before, everything is slower and shittier, with dying brains struggling to
control our bodies and reflexes as we do the most stupid of things. But we’ve
got to persevere, haven’t we? Else partners, family and those bloody children
will eat up your time and the days will be gone. We look forward in
earnest to the next encounter against our old foes in a few weeks’ time.
But what of the title to
this particular ramble, what is that? Huh? Well… erm, please see details for The
MAD Moment at the footer, obvs. ’Windy Miller’
|
*
Statto Scorecards
|
Far From the MCC versus Isis CC Played at Queens College, 25 May 2025 Isis won the toss and elected to bat Far From the MCC won by 6 wkts Far from the MCC debuts: n/a |
25 / 645 35 over match |
|
Team |
Isis CC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
L.
Bowles |
b Ainsworth |
47 |
|
2 |
- |
1-117 |
|
2 |
O. Walter |
b Darley |
69 |
|
9 |
- |
2-127 |
|
3 |
B.
Tanikella |
c Hotson b Darley |
9 |
|
- |
- |
3-132 |
|
4 |
J.
Asplet |
run out (Ainsworth/Darley) |
0 |
|
- |
- |
4-153 |
|
5 |
W. Wyatt |
run out (Ainsworth/Williams) |
3 |
|
- |
- |
5-153 |
|
6 |
P.
Jacobs † |
not out |
5 |
|
1 |
- |
6-162 |
|
7 |
J.
Walter |
run out (Ainsworth/Hotson) |
2 |
|
- |
- |
|
|
8 |
P.
Wiblin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
A.
Symons |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
N. H. R.
Wyatt |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
R.
Stephenson * |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
NB2, W16, LB4, B5 |
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 6 wickets, 35 overs) |
162 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Howarth |
5 |
2 |
21 |
0 |
4.20 |
|
|
2 |
Shorten |
7 |
0 |
24 |
0 |
3.43 |
|
|
3 |
Timms |
6 |
0 |
26 |
0 |
4.33 |
|
|
4 |
Darley |
7 |
1 |
27 |
2 |
3.86 |
|
|
5 |
Roberts |
5 |
0 |
35 |
0 |
7.00 |
|
|
6 |
Ainsworth |
3 |
0 |
10 |
1 |
3.33 |
|
|
7 |
Pearson |
2 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
4.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team |
Far From the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
C. T. J.
Williams |
b Tanikella |
8 |
(6) |
2 |
- |
1-8 |
|
2 |
J. W.
Pearson |
c O. Walter b J. Walter |
50 |
(55) |
7 |
- |
2-71 |
|
3 |
L. G.
Ainsworth |
c & b Symons |
44 |
(34) |
7 |
1 |
3-127 |
|
4 |
R. P.
Turner * |
st Jacobs b N. Wyatt |
35 |
(53) |
3 |
- |
4-160 |
|
5 |
I.
Howarth |
not out |
17 |
(17) |
3 |
- |
|
|
6 |
D.
Shorten |
not out |
4 |
(1) |
1 |
- |
|
|
7 |
J. A.
Cartwright |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
A. J.
Darley |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
C. D.
Roberts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
G. J.
Timms |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
J. C. W.
Hotson † |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
NB1, W4, LB1 |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 4 wickets, 27.3 overs) |
164 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Tanikella |
3 |
0 |
20 |
1 |
6.67 |
|
|
2 |
Asplet |
2 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
5.00 |
|
|
3 |
N. Wyatt |
5.1 |
0 |
49 |
1 |
9.48 |
|
|
4 |
Symons |
4 |
0 |
14 |
1 |
3.50 |
|
|
5 |
Stephenson |
2 |
0 |
19 |
0 |
9.50 |
|
|
6 |
J.
Walter |
5 |
0 |
18 |
1 |
3.60 |
|
|
7 |
W. Wyatt |
4 |
0 |
25 |
0 |
6.25 |
|
|
8 |
Wiblin |
2 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
4.00 |
|
|
MOTM: J. Hotson Champagne Moment: A. Darley castling O.
Walter with a ball that nobody understood Buffet Award: C. D. Roberts’ BBQ extravaganza with cheap B&M’s condiments and a smorgasbord of half-price salad (Clubcard points) MAD
Moment: G. J. Timms being followed by
3 ducks in the outfield (his previous scores being 0, 0 and erm… 0). We
exclude the 0 not out, obvs |
Opposition:
V009 / 045 Ground: G008 / 028 Captain: C024 / 104 Match No: 35 / 245 |