Marsh Gibbon Cricket Club

“Can someone spare them a flock of sheep?” was the comment as we machete’d our way through the outfield to find the square at Maids Moreton.  This was the In-Betweeners opening game of the Midweek campaign as last week’s game at Brackley had been rained off.

New skipper ‘Tommy Guns” was chomping at the bit and eager to lead his ‘experienced’ team onto the field of play – before the haymaking began. Due to absentees there were only 9 players, but Tommy had drafted in the bowling wheels of yesteryear: Timms Senior and Frederico Leonard (aka ‘Dad’) to add weight to the front row.  With the addition of other notable time-served characters in the shape of Farmer Chambers, The Crab and Chairman Kyle the average age would not have looked out of place for a Crown Green Bowls team!

Was this the first time that MGCC’s Skipper was the youngest player in the team?

Tommy won the toss and elected to mow, sorry – Bat.  So brother Joe took his Dennis and Jules his Hayter, to the middle and began to bale away.  A classy start and a few nice boundaries ended when Joe missed the straight one looking for his 2nd Six.  Luckily the M6 had not been too clogged and our man from Stoke – Sam Richardson arrived in time to replace Joe.  Runs came but with the bounce difficult to assess coming off dandelion, forcing the pace was a challenge.  Sam and Jules fell and Grant swiped and missed.  Skipper pushed a few and a healthy number of leg side wides kept the board ticking.  When Kyle went with 2 balls remaining, the Skipper declared!  (As neither Baz, nor Fred could be ar*ed to put the pads on).  Marsh had set the target of 76 from 12 overs.

Sam steamed in for the opening over with Jimmy from the Blue Pavilion end.  (Yes, Blue.  Unconventional colour for a pavilion, even more so, when you consider it doubles as the sight screen!  The Moreton openers easily kept up with the required rate of less than a run a ball.  Jimmy got the break through when Kyle held on to a catch at midwicket with roly poly finesse.  Entertainment was offered by the Moreton Square Leg umpire who repeatedly gave ‘not out’ to stumping appeals. Which would have been reasonable, if only he had waited for the batsman to get back into his ground first!  Perhaps he couldn’t see over the grass mounds?

Moreton kept up with the rate as Marsh failed to get enough wickets to defend the low total.

Looking ahead to next Monday and home fixture against Gawcott – on a cricket pitch.

 

Heaven had been open for most of the week blessing us with its contents and drizzle was still in the air as the Mighty Gibbon arrived at Jesus College sports ground for the season opener. Division One it may be, but some things never change; Satty was 45 mins late.  The covers remained in place till 2pm and then with some brightening in the sky returning, Skipper Leonard tossed successfully and inserted Oxenford. Despite a sodden outfield play commenced at 2.15 for a reduced 35 over match.

Nothing of great excitement in the opening salvos with Kyle and Mitchell keeping it reasonable but no real penetration and Oxenford steadily accumulated to 49 off 12.  Skipper made the double change bringing on Abbott and Knotty to see if some skiddy darts might alter things.  (50p Shippo: Misrepresentation.)  After a few sighters, both found decent line and length with Jayson bringing a mistimed pull from opener Dean which was gleefully clutched at midwicket by Knott.  The first Division 1 wicket for MGCC.   Followed 3 overs later when the perfect straight ball took top of Off and Abbott had his brace.

76 for 2 off 19 – pretty even.  Then the arrival of Oxenford’s Pamu.  The pinch hitter came off and with some fine timing and strength found the boundary regularly off all that bowled to him.  True, he could have found a fielder with a few mistimed efforts that just dropped short, or just flew over a fielder (50p Shippo: Drop.) but fair play he was aggressive and it worked.  Vadivale and Chambers picked up a wicket each in the last 4 overs and did an important job of only conceding 21 off the last 24 balls to keep Oxenford at 184-4 off their 35.

The fishes and loaves were divided (frugally) at tea and dry socks borrowed (50p Shippo: Inadequate sock wear) before Vice Leonard and Vadivale took guard.  Oxenford, who still have the 2nd Best Left Arm Over in the OCA with Hirtenstein bowled tightly and the boys took 7 overs to get into double figures. Joey started to come to terms with the reliable wicket and a pudding wet outfield and put the hammer down, including a saintly 6 flicked a long way over backward square leg.  Unfortunately Sat was all of a tangle and unable to breakout, or even get out!

Overs 14 and 15 swung the pendulum to Oxenford as Joe got a leggy LBW (41), followed immediately to the pavilion by  Satty (5) and Shippo (50p : Duck).  50 for 3 off 16, leaving 134 required off 19 overs – more than a run a ball.

Despite Skipper and Knotty being new to the crease they immediately took to the task and kept up with the rate with a 17 run plundering over from Skipper suggesting this game was still in the balance. Thus his demise an over later was pivotal.  Knott was joined at the Alter by The Abbott and Marsh prayers went with them.  It seemed as though Jesus was siding with the home team for a period as he inflicted a drought (of runs) on the Gibbon batters.  With 10 overs remaining 84 runs were still required.  A waterlogged outfield and soft ball meant poor value from good shots.  Clearly time to go aerial!

Jayson and his disciple Gus swung hard and scampered back and forth trying to keep up with the rate.  Sadly, it was slipping and despite 3 lusty sixes from Abbott the light was fading on victory and in the sky. Knotty was bowled for a reputable 36 and Chambers quickly followed seeking a miracle 2nd run.  Debutant Herriott, (Prodigal son welcomed back from the wilderness) wasted nothing and kept turning the strike to Jayson, who sought Divine Intervention from above – well he kept prodding the heavens with the ball at least. An Abbott 17 run last over with another heaving 6 and couple of fours could have won many games but on this occasion Marsh were still 11 runs from the Promised Land.

Five points and most importantly, a game under our belts when most teams could only grumble cricketless.  Some real positives in attitude and fighting never say die spirit.  Two good performances form Oxenford’s Pamu and Hirtenstein matched by MGCC’s Abbott,  Leonard and Knott.

Skipper baptised Abbott with the match ball for his inaugural wickets in Division One and an unbeaten 51 off 42 balls.

If this performance at Jesus College is testament to what’s to come then we can look forward to many a ‘Holy Watering’ of a Saturday evening!

May you go in peace.

Prophet Kyle.

Congratulations to Rupert scoring and performing for Wales Hockey at the Commonwealth Games and almost embarrassing the England lot!

But returning to the proper sport, could this weekend be the turn of the younger brother to perform with the straight willow in the opening game of the Cricket Season?

The Mighty Gibbon begin the 2018 campaign at Jesus College, where we shall be entertained by Oxenford CC.  It’s a little while since we last played, 2011 in fact when Oxenford gained promotion to Division One. A tight affair at Jesus College was influenced by the same damp we are suffering from now with a delayed start.  Oxenford scored 181-7 with a certain G. Cross taking 4 wickets.  In reply, Marsh first struggled to 30-4 before Vadivale and Mead responded and with victory in sight 3 headless run outs left MGCC just 12 runs short.  If the result had been the other way around then Marsh would have been promoted!

The final touches were applied at the last Net Session on Thursday evening where even Skipper got the gloves going and Satty held some catches.  Let’s hope the weather improves and it warms up a bit, or Vice might be forced to take a 2nd mortgage out to get extra  jumpers, personalised of course, from Eddie.

This year we shall endeavour to put up a Match Report each week to entertain the Gibboners unable to attend the game, in far flung places of the World, like Twyford and Edgcott.    Standby.

Chairman Kyle.

The Commonwealth Games are underway and one of our own batty batters hit the first boundary for Wales(!?) against East Oxford.  Er, hold on a minute, there’s no Cricket in the Commonwealth Games is there?  And isn’t Marsh Gibbon in England?

Correct on both counts,  but Rupert Shipperley is decent with a hooked stick as well as a straight bit of willow.  And he bought ‘Lainey some daffodils on Mother’s Day and he bought a one day pass for Caernarvon Castle which gets you in all year and so he’s as Welsh as a new born lamb….

Anyway, the last time he batted for the Gibbon he got 50 against Watlington so looks like he carried the form down south with him (5 years on!)

Well done Stannah and we are all behind you.  Crack a few more to the fence in the next games!!

Look out for dad Pete in the crowd, he’s the one dazzling the opposition keeper with the sunlight reflecting off his head…

 

 

The snow has melted and Spring is here!  Well, March 21st is officially the first day of Spring and then the clocks spring forward an hour…and then NETS start…and before you know it the season has started!

2018 will be an historic year as MGCC has been promoted to play in Division ONE for the first time in the Clubs 30 years in the OCA.  We deserve the place though we were assisted by a winter recount!  We equalled our highest ever league position last year finishing 4th (for the 5th time!) and just missed out on promotion as the top 3 were moved up.  However, over the winter Horwood pulled out to join an MK league (nice place to play cricket?) and we were promoted to replace them.

Your new Originals Skipper and Captain of Vice have been busy recruiting over the break and we welcome a few fresh faces and experienced campaigners into the fold.  But with our usual Exam & Uni deserters we still need everyone to be available as often as possible from the start.  It will be tougher in the Top Flight as we visit some very respectable grounds, but we aren’t facing anyone we don’t know and can’t beat!

Check out the WhatsApp Group for up to the minute messages from Skip and make sure you get your availability to him. (Also some stellar jokes from yours truly!).  Those that follow the new-fangled Twitter thing need to follow us too!

Guns Leonard will be taking charge Midweek and plenty of opportunity to play in the fast and frantic format (unless batting with Joe).

Every Sunday morning at 11am we will have outside NETS on the artificial down the ground.  This gives you 4 weeks before the first game to get loose, unwind that rocket arm, make the catch and find some timing with the bat!  Depending on the weather we may also get practice on grass too.

The Club needs financing too.  Mikey has dropped a line requesting entries for the Bonus Ball which starts March 31st.  Just £20 for 20 weeks and if your number comes in that’s £30 in the beer kitty for you.  All players should look to sell 3 numbers at least.  They make a great Easter present and much healthier than chocolate!

Annual Subscriptions and Match Fees remained unaltered at the AGM and be ready to pay that by June – perhaps with your Bonus Ball winnings!

Your Chairman will have even less tolerance for any KIT transgressions in Division One.  You know what you face if you turn up with any other Club branding!  And there is no reason to with a great array of well priced kit from Eddie at Trysports. We now even have training Gilets! (Sat – you are definitely not a ‘Medium!’)

Get online and order, or nip in to Bicester and have a word with David, but get there early before the rest of Oxford starts wanting embroidery doing….Get your Club Number ready for the start.

Check out the OCA website for all the fixtures ahead and note we have a home Sunday League game too: The Back-to-Back local derby Weekender!   First at Westcott on the Saturday and then we host them at The Recreation Ground the next day!

Match reports will be appearing here throughout the season as well as OCA reports, so put in those performances to get in the headlines!

We requested a couple of free Saturdays in May, for Daley’s Stag (5th) and Club Day (19th). The fixtures have fallen with us playing at home across June and July every week (bar one) and this also gives us the chance for some height of Summer post match socials (in the bar!)

Sunday 1st April – 11am at the ground for the first Net Session and time to blow away those cobwebs!

Almost there!!!

The Sun is out and the pitch is green, flat and striped.  The Artificial is ready and the portable net repaired for the year ahead, including new wheels – so it IS portable!  Just in time for the first Sunday Net Session on 2nd April.  We will have nets every Sunday morning from now until the start of the season. Starting at 11am, for as long as we want (can stand, or pub opens!)

Have you got your kit out the loft to find the mice have eaten your trouser crotch again Granty?  If so, you need to get your order in for more kit at Trysports.  They carry all our club stock with instructions on where to put the logo and Player number.

Midweek League meeting has taken place and there will be 9 or 10 teams this year, depending on Great Horwood who don’t think they can reliably get a team out.  Two new teams:  Buckingham Town Academy (which will be 15 to 19 year olds and no first teamers! ), playing mostly at the Town ground and some at Winslow. Plus, Evenley CC, who will play at Aynho.

We drew Fringford at home in the Advertiser Cup on 3rd week in May.   The League fixtures are still waiting on Gt. Horwood’s decision.

The format will be 12 x 8 ball overs for all matches and anything down the Legside will be called Wide.

Keep tabs on our Facebook Page and the WhatsApp group for more breaking news from MGCC as the season approaches…..!

Kyle

6 games in and the Fantasy league is taking shape.

The only Asian in the village is not only the top wicket taker in Division 2 but is storming the fantasy league with a mammoth 1545. Frankie’s solid start to the season as opener coupled with a few run outs sees him occupy second place with 765.

Granty “ill play when I want” Cross takes the final position on the podium with 645 thanks to his 4 wickets and a couple of cameo innings. The chasing pack all follow closely behind. Last years winner Big Dave having been severely handicapped sits on 582 with Carl “I can’t fix it this year” Needham just behind on 568.

JC after his batting master class yesterday is in 6th place with 464 and Cubby sits in 7th with 429. Opener pair Crouch and Stevie have 409 and 367 respectively and the skipper sits on 215.

Spud avoids the bottom 3 with 207, Tommy 115, Lukey 100 and Charlie “I’m available all summer” Shipperley 48 take up the remaining places.

Plenty of time for this all to change and with 2 fixtures next weekend plenty of points to play for.

So another working week of sunny dry weather concluded by precipitation at the weekend – Flaming June indeed!

The Originals travelled to table-topping Witney in good spirits after a couple of wins against Faringdon and Chipping Norton and the withdrawal of Garsington had moved Marsh to within 11 points of top spot.

Garsington’s exit has now reduced the league to only 8 teams and that automatically puts extra pressure on each game.  It is a shame that historic clubs like Garsington lose their identity as a village side as they seek honours through imported players who have no affinity to the club, and as soon as it gets tough (or they lose interest) the imports seek the next (daft) outfit that will be stupid enough to accept them.  I hope Garsington can keep going in Division 5 with local players who care for their club……any way back to The Mighty Gibbon, who fielded 8 players who were born in Marsh or live there (and the others are long served members too!)  No imports here, well, except for our UKIP candidate of course!

Arriving at Witney it was obvious that the weather was much better than at Marsh and play would be able to start to schedule with the venerable Lord Treweeke standing in judgement.  On his return to the team skipper TimDog had an important task – to win the toss : Fail!   So we were inserted on a dampish track with uncertain weather ahead.

Now, bear in mind that the last visit to Witney had started badly – in fact, the worst ever, when we were one run for four wickets!  A good start was important for moral and out strode Josephine and Satty.  Witney opened with the redoubtable Godwin who proceeded to bamboozle Joe with leg side sh1t. With poise and grace he kicked one away for a single and kept the bowling (Error).  On came Saunders for the 2nd over and off came Joe – Triggered by Treweeke.  Not quite the solid start we were looking for.

Farmer tried to exert some authority over Godwin and an unfortunate top edged sweep found the fielder – Marsh 10 for 2.  (Better than last time!)  A resurgence followed as Satty – all effort and Big Dave – watchful, dug in and moved the score along at 3 an over with Stu scoring the Originals’ first half century of the season eventually going for 58 made of concentration and restraint and Satty battling hard to 34.

Anthea and Crouch connected with a few scoring 19 and 12 respectively, and The Crab with memoirs of last year (when he and Tom got us to respectability) contributed 10 at the death, supported by the charging cavalier Honour.

Marsh closed on 156-9 from 45 overs with the rain starting in the last over…..

The innings had been delayed when Dave crashed an extra cover drive at head height straight through the hands of Godwin into his forehead.  Enough to fell any normal mortal, but after a short respite he was back, Bandaged and Butcher-esque!

The rain pee-sisted and pee-sisted throughout tea.  Treweeke paced and paroused searching for an opportunity to return to the field.  Covers were lifted and peered under as both sides were keen to reconvene as the game was evenly poised.  Thankfully the Witney scorer has the Duckworth Lewis system tattooed to his chest and was able to work out the revised rate to several decimal places!   Highly qualified though he was, the computations were not required as the weather won the day.  No more play was possible and the game was abandoned – to the Snooker Club where England’s unlikely victory over the Kiwis was washed down with lager, hot dogs and chips. (Whilst Godwin bled on!)

Next, The Originals entertain East & West Hendred at The Rec.  Stay Tuned!