2013 Season Review

PRESIDENTAL REFLECTIONS

Occasionally my cricketing friends (and some non-friends!) have been known to express the view that I am a lucky cricketer. Without hesitation I take that as a compliment; there cannot be a more enjoyable way, when all other means have failed, than to triumph with a slice of luck! The SOA Season 2013 was probably the ultimate proof of my good fortune; what glorious weather we enjoyed; the best for 25 years (sandwiched between the extended damp summer of 2012 and the epic floods of this winter).

As a consequence of the fair weather the SOA played more games than we have recently been accustomed; 46 in 2013 compared to 26 the previous season. And what success we enjoyed;  Cokethorpe and Abingdon Schools, St Edwards and Stowe “old boy’s”, Bledlow, Abingdon and Marlow Park clubs, Hampshire Hogs, Australian tourists Melbourne XXIX Club to name a few. By the end of the 1st week of tour we were giddy with success after also sending Tiverton, Axminster, Sidmouth and Devon Dumplings packing! In addition 20/20 evening matches have been a recent innovation for the club and we were undefeated in that format in 2013.

Our club is in very rude health thanks to the excellent work of our Officers; we have a fixture list unsurpassed in Oxfordshire (and wider) cricket circles, financially we have no debts, we are confident that we will cover our expenses (just!), we enjoy a regular 10 day tour to Devon and we have a growing membership with a falling average playing age (thanks to our new President).

My aim for 2013 was for the club to punch heavier on the pitch. Not literally I should add, but I felt that despite everything we excel at there were occasions when as a player I wanted our opponents to be faced with a slightly tougher challenge. I am pleased to report the good weather galvanised us and many younger players contributed notable winning performances, released from the confines of week to week league cricket. I offer my congratulations to these players and everyone who is at an early stage of their SOA experience. Warning – the SOA brand is contagious – be prepared to play more games, enjoy them and contribute towards the continued success of the SOA perhaps as a Match Manager. The Club’s older members want to see the club continue to evolve and succeed and have leading players from The Cherwell League playing and enjoying SOA cricket. Us “old lags” will always be happy to take the remaining playing places and enjoy a few beers and stories post-match. We are not an elite club; rather we are a club for players who want to enjoy their cricket and the company that brings above all else.

It was an unexpected honour (albeit a very enjoyable one) to be your President. I took over from Mike Knox and now pass the baton to Andrew Smith – both fine ambassadors for cricket and The SOA. I have already noted the platform our club enjoys as a result of the achievements of current and past Officers – with care these can be maintained and grown. The real challenge is to continue to field sporting, competitive and balanced teams for every SOA match and it is this context that I conclude by recognising the tremendous contribution made by SOA Match Managers.  These are the members that make the crucial difference and maintain SOA traditions. We enjoyed such a successful season on and off the pitch in 2013 due to the tireless hard work put in by these cricketers on behalf of the club. I trust all members appreciate their contribution and ask that you do everything you can to support our match managers whether it is volunteering to play or in offers to assist on the day.

Thankyou to all who helped me during 2013 – this was a special season for me as I trust it will be for all future Presidents.

STEVE WILSON (SOA PRESIDENT 2013) 

SEASON 2013

It is as well that the account of the 2013 season does not have to be audited, because, for several reasons, the figures may not add up. The fixture card and the score book do not tally at every point, sometimes for the good reason that a rained-off match has been rearranged. If, however, a match is not recorded in the book, it may be because it was rained off or called off for some other reason; on the other hand, it may have been played, but the scribe has received neither score sheet nor report. A further complication is introduced by the insidious advance of 'overs' cricket, which (if not made clear in the score book) can make what was on the day considered a limited-overs defeat appear as a draw. Although SOA does not countenance 'overs' cricket, managers are sometimes put in a position where they cannot decently oppose the wishes of a host club. In the book T20 matches have usually been self-evident, and the win/lose formula has been noted and respected.

The unaudited figures are as follows:

Played 55 Won 17 Drawn 17 Lost 12 Not played due to weather 6 Not played Other 3

It was certainly an excellent season for the Club. For the first time in years, it seems, the weather was on the side of cricket, and there were a number of close finishes and hard-fought contests. The fine weather and hard pitches made it a batsman's summer.

No SOA player reaped the summer's harvest more amply than Russell Hayes; his two centuries, against Cokethorpe School and Marlow Park were only the best of many high scores throughout the season. Newcomer Steve Green also posted two centuries, both on tour, where Ian Caunce cracked another at Instow. In the final tour match against the Somerset Stragglers, Frankie Crouch and guest Liam Lewis each retired after reaching three figures and posting 224 for the first wicket. Back in the county Ryan Gordon made 131 against the other Stragglers, those of Asia, Adam Price made a hundred against Witney Mills, and Joe Todd against Little Marlow.

Batsmen's meat is, of course, often bowlers' poison, and so it was in 2013, with many trundlers taking 'none for plenty'. President Wilson took several wickets almost every time he bowled, but it was only Steve Kelly with 5-36 against Lord Willliam's School, and guest South African Bradley Bopp with a devastating 5-17 against the Hampshire Hogs who got the coveted 'Michelle'. (For explanation of this term refer to the Fixture Secretary.)

Not only the results, but the number of new and relatively new names in the score- book confirm the good health of the Club. A new generation of match managers are drawing in new members who are enjoying, sometimes for the first time, the pleasures of declaration cricket. Although we do not have any octogenarians playing SOA cricket at the moment (wait a few yours, though), we have enough from the previous decade to make a SOA Over 70s side seem a possibility. The inclusiveness of SOA cricket takes many forms, (women have taken the field against us, but not, I think, for us); this was seen at its best in the game against the Australian Touring Side, Canterbury when Andrew Moss, on his seventieth birthday, opened the batting and put on 76 for the first wicket with a boy of thirteen.

Match managers have submitted a fuller quota of match reports than for many years, perhaps ever. 100% is now looking not impossible. It is not only the number of the reports that is remarkable, but the bubbling enthusiasm which many of them display. They mark something more significant than is revealed by a simple tabulation of results: the fact that many members and guests are really enjoying playing SOA cricket.

 As if this were not enough to be grateful for, the book has been much more reliable than usual, with many matches recorded ball by ball. Sue Hayes, whose colour-coded scoring often lightened the scribe's task back in the 1980s, has been much in evidence, as has Sue Moss. We have again been lucky with umpires, with Dave Binningsley and the President-elect both standing regularly. If managers would record the names of umpires and scorers, their great contribution to the Club could be properly acknowledged.

ANNUAL DINNER

Before the war the dinner was held at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford (black tie; menu in French; half a dozen toasts and speeches). It has since the late fifties moved to the Eastgate Hotel, St Anne's College, North Oxford Golf Club, hospitable local clubs, and that place in Banbury Road. Last year President Wilson summonsed us to The Guildhall, Abingdon, our grandest location since Eynsham Hall (Golden Jubilee). He promised 'a table banquet with high quality, memorable and tasty food around a Mediterranean theme'. It was indeed a change from roast beef and Deep Apple Pie.

After Jeremy Coney last year, it seemed unlikely that we could strike lucky so soon again, but not so! Peter Baxter, who during the summer, in conjunction with Henry Blofeld, had been filling theatres and entertaining thousands across the country with his recollections of sharing the Test Match Special commentary box for thirty-four years with legendary figures of cricket broadcasting, entertained a smaller number in Abingdon. For the first time in some years there were nearly enough playing members present to make up a side – admittedly not a very youthful one. This is another sign of the re-energised state of the club.

At the conclusion of the dinner President Wilson handed over the ceremonial blazer to the new President, 'A.J.' Smith, who received the honour with modesty and enthusiasm. The President-in-Waiting was nominated: Philip Manger. There was some speculation as to whether in a year's time the Blazer would have been let out, or Phil would have adopted an unlikely fitness regime.

OBITUARY: RAY HAWES

In The First Fifty Years of the SOA David Money, describing the growth of the Club, wrote that in the 1970s 'a noisy enclave has appeared in mid-Bucks. Ray Hawes is undoubtedly responsible for this trend, and in providing players and making last-minute dramatic appearances in the changing room is fast becoming a mini-Nunn. Apart from his all-round performances, he has helped maintain the SOA tradition of total involvement from 'Play' to 'Time please'.' Ray died in America, where he had lived for more than 20 years, in Nov 2013, aged 75. Richard Pineo has provided the following notice.

Ray was an extremely popular member of the SOA from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, when he moved to America. He was match manager for several important matches including Amersham, Bledlow and Notts Amateurs, always playing the game in the right spirit and ensuring matches were enjoyed on and off the field. Ray was a prolific run scorer for Lord Williams School at Thame and later for Thame CC, Aylesbury and the SOA, and he also represented Bucks and Devon over 50s. He became SOA President in 1990. Ray had a reputation for arriving late at matches, but always contributed with many runs and useful wickets with his off-spin.

I have many happy memories of playing with Ray over the years, respecting his great ability and enjoying his friendship for over 40 years. Many SOA members will have their own special memories of one of the great SOA cricketers and characters.

Russell Hayes recalls :

I remember Ray as being one of the most charismatic men I have ever met. He was responsible for me taking up wicket-keeping, and going on the Ox-Bucks tour. He also taught me that the only thing to do when getting a dubious decision was to walk off smiling - anything else was counter-productive. His captaincy was an art-form and it was awe inspiring watching him spar with Dick Pineo and Phil Garner. I do recall that shortly after North Oxford won the national club championship, champagne was served at the drinks break the next time North played at Aylesbury - a gesture typical of Ray. I think it apt that the last time I saw him was with Dave Oakley in the Elephant at Bloxham after an OBs game. He handed over match management of that fixture to my dad, who subsequently passed it on to me. I can almost still hear him saying “OK boy, what are you having?”

Brian Bowden recalls a match against Amersham where he had been batting for an hour or more with his usual restraint when Ray joined him: 'We really need some runs on the board, Bowd.'; 'It's not easy out here, Hawsy.'

Ray then hit his first two balls into a field of barley. 'Looks all right to me, Bowd' he called.

Ray was President of the Club in 1990, and after his President's Match at St John's College provided fish and chips for all, instituting a tradition that has continued. 

A memorial game for Ray will be played on Sunday 29 June at Thame.

ARCHIVE CORNER

SEASON 1989. President Andrew Hichens, Esq.

If the presidency of the SOA has ever been considered as a sinecure, a harmless eventide post for those for whom mid-off and no. 11 have finally proved too arduous, then 1989 was the year in which the job-description was rewritten. Andrew Hichens saw to it personally that all the fixtures were honoured. No matter what the problem, he would be there himself, and would produce players (sometimes son Nick, redirected from other duties or relaxations), umpire, scorer, or transport... At the party at Standlake, after the SOA game in the Downs Cricket Week, a professional pianist, Mrs. President with her guitar, and the President in full voice provided a memorable musical evening.

Friday July 21 v Horspath Manager P. J Collins

Match Tied

SOA 202 (Tim Hancock 63, Collins 31, Burgess 26, Pineo 22, Taylor 18)

Horspath 202 (Hancock 11-4-31-6)

Burgess and Pineo had 47 for the first wicket, and the score further accelerated with the arrival of Hancock [who later played many seasons for Gloucestershire], who deposited one ball contemptuously into a rubbish skip at square leg, and of Collins, who soon found the range of the middle of an adjacent field. Hancock's opening spell was sharp, and he had the first four for nineteen, returning to remove the tail after the SOA trundlers had had their routine airing. There was some speculation as to whether Bartlett would have matched this all-round performance by his stand-in. The final over was dramatic, with Max Eason run out going for the winning run.