2022

The finale to the season dawned. The last weekend of freshly cut grass tingling the nostrils; the compulsory rubbing of balls on thigh; the OCD tapping of bat on village green to smooth out a slight imperfection; and the inevitability of Summs once again losing the toss. I’m sure it is appropriate to point out at this stage that he has only won 2 tosses all season, so we’ve very much gotten used to being sent out to field; indeed faith was so high in his ability to call a 50/50 correctly that…continue reading →

I drove for the first time this season to an away game on my lonesome, without the wise stalwart Tweeky giving me my motivational pre game mental preparation. (me trying to find out the secret hand shake for the masons).  Gatorade and cardboard flavoured "fresh" chicken pasta stowed away safely on the passenger seat was no substitute for the club legend.I turned off the main road into the cricket ground  full of hope that today might be the day we could pull off our first away win of the season, my thoughts were abruptly put…continue reading →

I am afraid you have me again… but I know why! You all want to know about the Tea situation..So without further ado…  What would the MMM (Mabbs Mega Manwich) contain? Well, I upgraded this week by walking to Waitrose! The 1% pay rise this year was clearly helping as I bought lashings of French Butter, Torchons of Ham, Port Salut, Comté, Saucisson, Moutarde, Mayonnaise all enclosed inside a French Rustic Loaf. Things were going to be good.   As before, scoop out some of the bread to allow the ingredients to sit comfortably…continue reading →

The weekend was fast approaching… Cricket was on the horizon, and one keen bean in particular was looking forward to the first outing back on a Saturday since his honeymoon, and very much looking forward to being with ‘The Boys’! (I will await the divorce papers once she has read this!)… Let me set the scene. Friday afternoon. In Sainsburys. What do I want for tea tomorrow? I know, I will make the famous Mabbs Manwich! Ingredients: German Smoked Ham German Sausage (Bratwurst or Frankfurter… either are acceptable) German Salami / Garlic Sausage…continue reading →

30/7/22 Overcast,  humid conditions met the teams as high flying local rivals Challow & Childrey 2s arrived for the penultimate win-lose-draw format fixture of the season.  With reduced bowling options but a surprisingly green surface , there was much discussion on what to do at the toss – it may be not of have been a bad one to lose. Skip won it and put Challow in.   A new opening bowling partnership of Will H and Chief offered the Challow openers very little in the early overs , and when some width was…continue reading →

2nd July 2022 (delayed post) Seven days before this fixture, the weather forecast was poor. A few days out, it looked like no cricket would be possible. However, on the morning of the game, the sun was spotted and it was not raining. Different meteorological services continued to give a range of prognoses: it would rain from one until eight, it would rain intermittently from 1:30 and then begin to clear by four, Noah had placed a large order of timber. Despite the moist conditions, we started on time. Steventon’s skip, Chapman (formerly…continue reading →

18th June 2022 (delayed post) Looking to put last week’s loss behind us, week 7 of the league saw Wantage and Grove play host to Clifton Hampden. Arriving at a rather damp ground with damper weather forecast for later that afternoon it was clear that this was a day to bowl first. Skip, however, had a different plan and continued his form at the toss – now having lost seven from seven. A fortunate break in the spitting rain at 1pm allowed for the new and untested opening partnership of Colin and Wilbury…continue reading →

A glorious summer day dawned – the precursor to a heatwave amid talk of worldwide climate disaster but more locally, talk of an even more unprecedented event: skipper winning the toss. Buoyed by a winning performance by the England Rugby Union team against Australia (watched by the team before the match began), the ranks were pleased to be batting first on a day where temperatures seemed likely to hover around the 28 degree mark. So to business, as Colin and Robbo set about the needs of opening our innings. Wolvercote had a couple…continue reading →

With last week’s attempts to change our sequence of win at home, lose away, by only getting a winning draw, it was time to see if we could do any better than losing away… So off we plodded to the always wet Wootton and Boars Hill. Would it be dry this time? Would it heck, with reports of heavy rain on the A34 on the way over there spreading quickly. Luckily, just after the rain subsided the grounds team turned up and put the covers on. When they were taken off again however,…continue reading →

Bouyed by a win against the league leaders last week, we arrived at Chalgrove in a confident mood. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze; it was a day for thinking outside the box, creative shot play and resourceful fielding. Skip was already thinking outside the box or rather the carpark as he preferred to leave his car in a local allotment amongst the cabbages. Skip lost the all-important win - draw - loss toss and we were asked to bat first. Probably not what Skip would have chosen but on…continue reading →