2010 Season Review

The coalition's cuts which are currently being implemented throughout Oxfordshire were widely anticipated by the SOA committee in 2010: the Club has been taking the pruning knife to the fixture list in what might prove to be only the first round of downsizing. The rather bleak background, which tells some of the story, can be seen in the results for 2010:

Won 9. Lost 19. Drawn 7. Tied 1. Rained off 3. Cancelled 10.

            There were several reasons for this unwanted record of cancellations. Several were the weekday sides of major county clubs which can raise four or more sides on a Saturday, but not one on any other day; SOA players largely share the feeling, and it is hard to raise a side for these fixtures, which have now disappeared from the fixture list for 2011. One cause of SOA cancelling fixtures has been the problems with match managers - on occasion, match managers behaving badly. Most players are aware of the difficulties of raising a side; it is a recurrent topic of conversation among SOA players, with many anecdotes and bad-luck stories recounted. Perhaps, as a result of this, some players decline their invitation to manage a match. Others understandably tire of being let down and finding themselves short at the last minute. Fortuitously, the shrinking of the fixture list has removed this problem for the moment. More worrying is the fact that some our own managers have failed to raise their sides, in a couple of cases very negligently indeed; one has not revealed whether his match was ever played - we had to find out from the opposition.

            Turning from the matches not played to the 2010 season, thirty-one were played, and several of them were cracking games of cricket, exciting to the last ball. You have only to read the account of the tied match against St Edward's School to wish that you had been there. There was a similarly nail-biting finish at Middleton Stoney. We had two significant new fixtures, both from out of county:  the Hampshire Wayfarers and the Buxton Strugglers from Derbyshire: both produced very enjoyable games. Both of these proved to be 'our sort of team' - strong, but not too strong, and sharing our tradition that the game is by no means over when stumps are drawn. The Wayfarers fixture was played at Challow and Childrey, a new ground for the Club, and a wonderful location (at least, in sunny July). The 'county' games, by contrast, are becoming, year on year, too demanding for us; SOA cannot raise sides to compete regularly with clubs that seem able to put out eleven young players of minor county standard. We came a creditable second in a few of these games, but did not win any.

            In a season of ups and downs and constant monitoring of fixtures, the one unchanging presence was our President, Den Harvey. He was there at most matches, often as a player, and always as a supporter before, during and after the game. It was entirely because of his indefatigable work that we were able to raise sides for all the games on tour. He put his heart (now fully functioning again) into the Presidency. Den handed over the jacket to his successor, Richard Giles, at the Annual Dinner, held at the Oxford Centre in North Oxford. After the successful 'question and answer' dinner in 2009, we had Den with the wandering mike, taking us through the season and round about the tables. The guest speaker was Andrew Wingfield Digby. No SOA member has dismissed so many 1st class batsmen; possibly no SOA bowler has ever dismissed any (Simon Dickens? Hugo Thurston? any other claimants?) (Ed - there is strong evidence  an SOA Committee member dismissed a Sri Lankan with ODI and Test Match experience half a dozen years at Evesham !)  In an otherwise entertaining speech he told the sad tale of the Dorset Rangers, a 'county' club that has played its last game and folded.

            President Harvey's reign has set in motion some of the changes which we are going to need for the Club's next stage of evolution. Still, it seems, we have not evolved to the extent of attracting playing members to the dinner. Only about a quarter of the match managers were present, and rather less than half the committee. It would certainly have been a problem to raise a tolerable cricket side from those present. The dinner has been another example of evolution; our website reads -

‘The annual dinner was originally instituted as a means of entertaining representatives of opposing clubs, and has grown to be an occasion when all members can meet together, and when the present playing generation may meet older members of the club.’

It seems as if it may need to evolve further!

            Since the virtual disappearance of college cricket from the fixture list, the Club has continued with it fixtures against schools. It is unfortunate that all but one of these are against fee-paying schools, but that is merely reflects the place which cricket holds in state schools. In these games, especially, SOA players are ambassadors for the game; in particular we keep alive the tradition of real, declaration cricket - or, more probably, introduce the boys and even the masters, to this now unfamiliar form of the game.

            The fixtures under review do not exclude the August fixtures in Devon. Every year it seems to be more difficult to persuade members to take the trip west; it is literally true that it is easier to get good active SOA players to go to South Africa or Australia than to Devon. The 2010 tour, like that of 2009, put an intolerable strain on the President, making the Presidency a chore and an endurance test, whereas it ought to be a mark of respect for a member who has given notable service to the Club. The tour certainly has a sense of history about it; some of the fixtures date back even to the pre-war period; SOA is known as an old warrior. The headquarters for the first week (the Globe at Topsham) is as fabled with recent tourists as the Black Horse in Exeter was to earlier generations. Chulmleigh on the Sunday, with the faded poster advertising the Flannel Dance after the SOA match in 1947 - these and a dozen other features make the tour an 360°experience. Then there is the cricket, of course: not to have played at Sidmouth or Instow, overlooking the sea on the south and north coasts respectively, is to have missed unique cricketing experiences; these are clubs a hundred or more years older than SOA. If you have never toured, you have only scratched the surface of cricket.

25 Years Ago (From the 1986 Report. President J.R Hartley, Esq.)

By most objective standards 1986 was in almost every area a year to forget. Within the playing memory of most performers there has hardly been a season when so many games were either prevented, curtailed, or made simply unpleasant by the weather. Of the 49 games on the card 7 were not started because of rain, and a further 8 were abandoned.

The death of Leslie Collins [father of Paul] at the age of eighty has deprived the Club of one its most loyal supporters and best-loved members.

LIFE BEGINS AT FIFTY! The formation of an Oxfordshire Over 50s team has given fresh heart to several SOA players. Andrew Hichens bowled more in 1986 than for some 25 years. This is a class of cricket particularly suited to SOA, who have on occasion been hard-pressed to raise an Under-50s side. We shall watch with interest the progress of these striplings in 1987.

SOA v Old Bloxhamists (Manager Eric Hayes). With fifteen runs needed John Edwards had to emerge to save the game. Undaunted by a close ring of fielders he immediately struck a four, but then was narrowly run out taking a 2nd ; four possible balls remained.

SOA sides usually reflect the variety of clubs that they come from, with their different sweaters and caps. Colin Bedford has been an assiduous promoter of SOA kit, and with the introduction of the new SOA cap has found a best-seller. In many games the majority of the players have been distinguished by this elegant piece of modern headgear.

 'The President Reflects' and 'The President Projects'

This year appear in the Annual Newsletter. The new president, Richard Giles, has already been active in SOA matters. He is well-placed to do so, since he knows the Club from the inside, having been Secretary of the Club, and currently an executive Member of the Cherwell League committee.

 Obituary

Len Hemmings, who has died aged 92, played many games against the SOA at Witney Mills as captain against Pat Florey's side. Len was a superb all-rounder, with a wonderful record for Oxfordshire - over 1000 runs, with a top score of 102*. He was a high quality off-spin bowler with 158 wickets at an average of 14.20. His best figures were 7-31; he took five wickets in an innings 13 times, and then in a match three times. He also represented the Minor Counties XI. He was a tough opponent on the field, but a great encourager of young players, and was very popular with his SOA opponents.

                                                                                                Richard Pineo