Sandford St Martin 29 July 2025

Manager Ben Madden

Match Drawn

SOA 206 for 4 dec (Matt McGrady 78, Sam Hicks 44*)

Sandford St Martin 156 for 9 (Dave Ferris 3 for 22)

South (West?) Oxfordshire Amateurs Draw at Sandford St. Martin

Fittingly, in a fixture that in recent years has been played under blazing sunshine, this year's encounter began under grey skies and steady rain, an ironic twist given the summer long heatwave.

Nonetheless, both SOA's western contingent and SSM arrived enthusiastic to get a game on.

Batting first, SOA got off to a lively start with crowd favourite Frankie Crouch scoring a brisk 36 off 29. The foundations he laid were built upon by Matt McGrady who anchored the innings, finishing with a fine 78 off 68. Closing the innings Hicks and Duckworth would put on 50 runs in just 22 balls allowing SOA to declare on a strong total of 206 – 4 off 30 overs.

In reply, SOA "overseas player" Dave Ferris, having travelled from Cheshire, opened the bowling with Graeme Woodward. Both displayed unerring accuracy with Ferris taking 3-22 off his 7 overs.

SOA would take wickets throughout the innings and despite a bombastic counterattack from North, SOA entered the final over needing 1 wicket to win. However, Sandford's number 10, Hamzah, brimming with confidence, successfully blocked out the over, taking it for 14 runs, seemingly unaware that it was in fact the final over the day. Sandford finished on 156-9 off 33 overs. 2 year losing streak broken but 3 years without a win.

Thanks once again to Sandford St Martin for being excellent hosts and for their efforts in getting the game on despite the wet conditions.