Heatwave Heroics: Wolvercote I (H) – Cherwell Div 5C WLD

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 →

Wootton and Boars Hill (A) – Cherwell League Div 5c (WLD)

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 →

Radley (A) – Cherwell League Div 5c

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 →

East Oxford (H) – Cherwell League Div 5c

Our final win/lose game of this part of the season was against league leaders, East Oxford, and following a fairly dismal performance the previous week against Challow a much improved effort was needed by Wantage. Matters started poorly as skip continued his form as a dreadful tosser (5 tosses, 5 losses) and East Oxford unsurprisingly chose to bat, so we took to the field with the regular guns of Mabbett and Harvey looking to get us under-way with an excellent start. And what a start it was! Following a tight maiden to open…continue reading →

Challow (A) – Cherwell League Div 5c

With a glorious breakfast of cinnamon rolls and a steaming coffee, the day promised to be a good one, as the first leg of the local grudge match had arrived. The sun was shining, with patches of moody looking clouds charging across the sky with a slight breeze and the views looking as beautiful as ever from the top of Challow hill. We set about warming up with Skip running us through our paces…after what felt like an hour of sprints up and down, 800 lunges on each leg, sidesteps to London and…continue reading →

Dorchester (H) – Cherwell League Div 5c

21st May 2022 The home of (Wantage) cricket welcomed Dorchester for the third league game of the year, a team we’ve played frequently and with varying levels of success. Wantage showed their keen-ness with some pre-game fielding warm ups only slightly delayed by Spenny losing his keys, having a mild panic, and then finding them in his bag earning a pig’s nomination very early in the day. As usual when we do fielding warm-ups, skip lost the toss and Dorch (perhaps with their 36 all out from the end of year still fresh…continue reading →

Wolvercote 1s (A) – Cherwell League Div 5c

A second successive sunny Saturday saw stand-in skipper successfully shout the spinning silver (sublime use of alliteration there!) WGCC to bat first. With confidence brewing and displaying casual fluidity, Mercer stroked the ball to the boundary 4 times in the first over, rather setting high the expectations of the awaiting batters for a high team score. Rob found it tougher going, and despite showing moments of quality, was bowled in the 11th over. Cue the internal debate he had with himself for the next 30 overs about whether to order that deliveroo or…continue reading →

Horspath 4s (H) – Cherwell League Div 5c

A glorious Saturday saw a strong start to the season with WGCC running out convincing winners against Horspath 4s by 7 wickets. Losing the toss, and with many of the opposition players still arriving, Wantage were sent out into the heat to field. Will H and Mabbs were given the new ball and built pressure with the latter picking up the first wicket of the season, LBW, in the 4th over making it 6-1. The first change brought Fulton and Willbury (Willbo Baggins) into the attack. Some tight bowling restricted the opposition, however…continue reading →

2021 Annual General Meeting

The Wantage and Grove Cricket Club 2021 AGM will be held on Friday 26 November at the Clubhouse, Charlton Village Road starting at 1930. We look forward to welcoming all to talk about what the club has achieved this year and the ambitious plans for 2022. Our Committee will be there to answer any questions you may have about coaching or membership.continue reading →

Awards evening 2021

A successful 2021 season was at an end with both teams playing competitive cricket achieving promotion - Saturday team second in Cherwell Division 6C and the Wednesday team first in Downs Division 4. Many thanks to everyone who attended our Awards evening on the 25th September. A good night was had by all, making the most of the seasons fines pot with a free bar that surprisingly didn't run out until 9pm. A big thanks to Ian from Boxes Oxford Ltd (Chequers at Charney Bassett) for the top catering, and all from a…continue reading →