The Whalers’ Tour of Oxfordshire: June 28^th -29^th 2008

Between the winding willow
To a city with spires:
It seemed the path of pilgrims
To the home of earth's desires.

- Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

And it was a small band of loyal pilgrims who embarked on the Whalers’ tour of Oxfordshire on 28^th-29^th June. Decimated by a plague of stag-dos, work commitments and general apathy, the core tourists were limited to the occasionally magnificent seven of: Dan, Al, Ed, Pip, Ads, Toby and Si. However, much gratitude should also be owed to Oz, Kamal, Dario, Stu and Nick, who travelled from far and wide to play in one of the Whalers’ two fixtures: Oz and Kamal on Saturday and Dario, Stu and Nick on Sunday.

After the nightmarish Yorkshire flooding fiasco of the previous year, it was hoped that the 2008 tour would benefit from kinder weather, and the Oxfordshire micro-climate did not disappoint, with near-perfect cricketing conditions gracing both days. Owing to the relatively short distances involved, it was decided to drive directly to the first game on Saturday without a prior overnight stop, thus allowing the club’s President the opportunity to celebrate his birthday in London the night before. An overnight stop was then made in Oxford itself, allowing the hardcore seven ample time to sample the cultural, intellectual and KFC-based delights of the nation’s foremost centre of learning, before playing a second fixture on the Sunday and returning to London in time to capture the second half of the Euro 2008 final.

Match 1: Whalers CC v. Ten CC. (Yattendon)

A fine sunny day, an idyllic country backdrop and a ready keg of beer all greeted the Whalers’ first fixture, against the newly-formed Ten CC (disappointingly having changed their names from “The Menacing Badgers”). Ten CC were headed up by none other than Gouldy’s step-brother, and despite the Whalers’ vice-captain’s noted absence on tour, he does deserve much of the credit in organising this fixture.

With none of the tourists ever having actually heard of Yattendon, it was a blessing that the brave 9 who eventually did take the field all managed to find their way to the secluded village ground without difficulty. However, on arrival, it became clear that the rectangular shaped field would provide worryingly short straight boundaries, and thus, the early arrivals decided to get in some practice deliveries in on the outfield. There was not much time to worry about it though, as an 11:30 a.m. start meant that Al barely had time to mitigate his birthday hangover with a foaming latté before the match began.

Yattendon Village

Dan won the toss and elected to bat. With the Whalers’ only fielding 9 players, it was decided that the 2 lowest-scoring batsmen would be allowed to bat again. The Whalers recovered from the early loss of Oz to build a solid platform. Si and Toby formed a good partnership, with the former finding the ropes with relative ease, even off his skull. Going to hook a short-pitched delivery, Si top-edged the ball to the third-man fence via a ricochet off the side of his head. A short delay for some much-needed first-aid however, did not prove to be enough, and he was out caught soon after for a well-made 26. Toby batted well too, hitting the Whalers’ first six of the tour before being adjudged caught at the wicket for 22. And with Pip trapped in front soon after for a single, the Whalers’ position was looking precarious at 75-4. However, Al and Ads steadied the ship. Having looked uncharacteristically scratchy early on, Al soon re-found his fine batting form and was just beginning to hit his straps when he fell LBW for 31. Ads however, batted particularly well, seeing the ball well, and hitting cleanly, and made a fine, well-paced career-best of 34. He received support from Ed (whose 15 included a flat-bat 6 over long-off that resulted in a minor delay while fielders searched for the ball in the long grass of the neighbouring field), and also Kamal, who shared a vital partnership with Dan after Ads was dismissed, and himself made a cavalier Whalers best of 13. Dan struck some sweetly-timed shots, including 2 sixes in his innings, as he fought hard to get his side to a competitive total. After Kamal’s departure in the final over of the innings, Dan was joined by Pip, who as the lowest scorer, got to bat again. He made a single for the second time in the innings, being dismissed off the final ball, attempting a brave but suicidal single to the keeper. Dan finished with a fine 31 not out and the Whalers had made it to a respectable 207-9 off 40 overs, although, with the short boundaries it was hard to tell if this would be competitive or smash-able.

The early start allowed for a substantial lunch break and the Whalers soon found that the extra time between innings would be much needed as Ten CC unveiled an almost regal array of food, including possibly the finest ham most had ever sampled. Although beer was also on offer, the Whalers seemed a bit more tentative than their hosts and perhaps should have reconsidered this choice, given the flying start the Ten CC top order got off to. This was not helped by some abnormally wayward bowling from Dan, who seemed to be doing his best to ensure extras kept pace with the Ten CC batsmen. Despite Kamal dismissing Murtagh fairly early, Lawson and De Vere were scoring at 8-an-over, and the first change pair of Ed and Pip fared little better. An unseemly slaughter seemed on the cards as De Vere calmly tapped the Whalers attack to the fence. At the half-way stage, the Whalers were staring down the barrel, with Ten CC having astonishingly reached 160-1. Then, suddenly, Whalers broke the partnership. On 48, Lawson drove Ads to short mid-wicket where Pip held on at the second attempt. He was soon followed by the Number 4, Chris, who provided Si with his first Whalers wicket by swinging him to the safe grasp of Oz at deep-mid wicket.

However, the dangerous De Vere was still at the crease. He smacked Ads for consecutive straight sixes, but when he tried a third time, he could only pick out Ed at long-off, who despite his bandaged fingers, held on to a fine catch. With the opposition captain gone for 87, the Whalers were just about in with a sniff, but at 30 to win and six wickets in hand, the odds were still heavily stacked in Ten CC’s favour. However, a combination of panic and carelessness from Ten CC and renewed vigour and belief from the Whalers redressed the balance. A superb direct hit from Ed resulted in the run out of Wagoner; the briefly-threatening Arnold was tempted out of his ground by Al’s flight and Toby completed the stumping, while a bizarre mix-up in calling saw Watson run out for 4 by a tidy combination of fielding from Si and Al. Yet, despite this apparent mini-implosion, Ten CC had scraped ever closer to their target of 208, and by the time Si (who had already bowled tidily) began his fifth over (still only the 26^th of the innings), the home side were only a dozen-or-so short of victory, with 3 wickets in hand. One final effort was required if the Whalers were to deny Ten CC the victory that had looked so comfortably theirs.

Si bowled straight and brought the batsmen onto the front foot. Appleby tried to break the shackles and finish the game quickly by driving uppishly in the direction of mid-on. The ball looked to be clearing the in-field, but Pip managed to take the catch above his head. Moments later, number 10 Iliffe attempted the same shot to another deadly accurate delivery from Si, and gifted Pip his third catch of the innings. Ten CC looked panicky and The Whalers rampant, but was it all too late? Another tight, but wicketless over from Ed at the other end meant that by the start of the 28^th over, Ten CC needed only 3 runs for victory and the Whalers, one wicket. The tension was palpable: from a position of utter demoralisation when De Vere and Lawson were thundering the ball to all parts, the Whalers had taken the match to the brink and now it was anyone’s. Si ran in for his sixth over: his first ball was straight and the number 11 Tayton defended. The second ball was slightly shorter-pitched, and Tayton went back to pull the ball through mid-wicket and win the game.....except the ball was not short enough. He missed. The ball clipped the tops of off and middle stump and sent Si and the rest of the Whalers into wild celebrations. The Whalers had won by 2 runs.

In the immediate aftermath of this pulsating match, it was impossible to tell which side was more surprised about the turn of events. From a game that was truly dead and buried after 20 overs of the Ten CC innings, the game had come alive and produced a famous victory. Despite the initial onslaught, The Whalers held their catches, were sharp in the field and bowled wonderfully well (Si especially) at the death.

Result:

Whalers 207-9 (40 overs): Ads 34, Dan 31*, Al 31, Si 26

Ten CC 205 All Out (27.2 overs): De Vere 87, Lawson 48, Si 4-21, Ads 2-39

MOM: Si (26 runs and 4-21 bowling at the death)

Champagne Moment: Si’s final ball to win the match by 2 runs

Muppet: Pip (for his suicidal run out, getting dismissed for 1 twice in the innings)

After the celebrations had died down and a quiet pub-garden drink had been shared with the opposition, the hardcore seven staying overnight made the swift drive up to Oxford to get refreshed at the hotel and prepare for a night of frivolity on the town. The Victoria House Hotel was perfectly located in the centre of town, within spitting distance of various bars, not too many of which looked that appealing however.

Nonetheless, drinking time was clearly at a premium and thus the Whalers over-ruled their captain’s objections to a fast-food supper and headed round the corner to KFC to line the stomach with chicken, chips and grease. From there, the brave seven began imbibing at what was once one of Pip’s school sixth-form drinking haunts, but which had sadly changed so much during the intervening 8 years, that it was barely recognisable to its former patron – decor, name and most sadly, quality of clientele had all declined, so it was a proverbial quick single there before heading down to a pub by the river, where a heavy and ruthless game of “21s” rapidly advanced the levels of intoxication all round. After several rounds and a myriad of drinking punishments, the seven Whalers pushed on, with mixed results. Denied entry to the suave bars of the castle, the merry team wound their way back to the centre of town to a more local drinking establishment just before closing time, where, under Ads’s encouragement, “strawpedos” were....well...less “drunk” than “inhaled”. By then, it was clearly time to take things to the next level and bust some grooves, so the band of pilgrims strode confidently a few yards down the high street, down the magic alley that conceals “The Purple Turtle” night club. However, clearly those confident strides must have appeared more menacing than was thought, as the bouncer turned the Whalers away with a claim that it was a student night every night there, of course failing to spot that term had already ended at the university. One can only hope he continued to have a very quiet night.

Undeterred, the seven Whalers opted instead for Po Na Na, about 100 yards round the corner from the hotel. The place did seem a little dead inside, but after a brief debate as to whether or not to risk venturing elsewhere, the team decided to stick where they were and get stuck into some intriguingly coloured and flavoured shots, although whether or not Al actually knew what the ingredients were when he bought them, is a matter for debate. I am reliably informed that the rest of the evening went well, with more drinking and dancing fun. Unfortunately, the day’s events and Al’s shots were all a bit much for your author here, who, having realised he’d drunk enough, disappeared back to the hotel. Unfortunately, he had been banking on a 24-hour reception service to let him in, and without the room-key (safely lodged with the more sober Si, back in Po Na Na), resorted to passing out in the doorway of the hotel and, when another guest let him in, did so again, outside his room (again, due to being unable to get in).

The Sunday morning found sore heads all round – the sign of many a good night. And although these were tempered somewhat by the hotel delivering breakfast to the room, an 11am check-out time did not allow the Whalers much recovery time. To make matters worse, the hotel needed their car-parking spaces back, so there was not even an opportunity to leisurely enjoy Oxford’s daytime delights: the only thing to do, was to leave town. With the match against Cropredy not staring until 2pm, there was still some time to kill, and so Tour Manager Pip pulled one out of the bag by suggesting a mass descent on his Mum’s house, in the neighbouring village to Cropredy. Playing the doting but beleaguered son, he convinced his Mum in one short phone call that her leisurely Sunday morning would be far better spent providing a full catering service to seven hungry, hung-over cricketers. And she did not disappoint. The convoy headed north up the M40 to Mollington and was greeted with comfy sofas, tea and a huge fry-up. After half an hour’s relaxation in the garden, it was time to head over to the Cropredy ground – complete with its own lottery-funded club house and its own gated, white picket fence to greet the incoming batsmen.

Match 2: Whalers CC v Cropredy CC (Cropredy)

The seven hung-over Whalers were soon reduced to six, as Toby had to depart for Manchester before the game began. However, they were joined by the slightly less hung-over Dario, Nick and Stu, who had made the trip up to Cropredy that morning.

Canal at Cropredy

When Dan won the toss and elected to bat, it was these three he turned to to open the innings, in the hope that the other Whalers would benefit from the extra recovery time. However, things did not begin well when Nick flailed his first ball straight to cover-point. The trudge back to the White-picket fence must have seemed almost as long as the drive up to Cropredy. Stu joined Dario at the crease though and the two got the Whalers back on track with a good mix of attacking and defensive batting. They took the score past 50, before Stu, who had thus far looked in fine touch, was caught off Glazier for 21. This soon became a double-blow for the Whalers, as it became clear that Dario was in quite some pain. A recurring back injury began to restrict his movements and running. He batted on gamely with new batsman Al, but by the time drinks came at 81-2, Dario could simply not go on, and was forced to retire hurt for a gritty, battling 29. This brought Pip to the crease, with a point to prove after the Yattendon run-out debacle. He and Al batted sensibly with few alarms, and were able to take the score on to 127, with both becoming more and more fluent with time at the crease, having initially looked somewhat out-of-sorts: something which could quite easily be put down to the after-effects of “21s”, strawpedos and the Po Na Na mystery shots from the previous night. Unfortunately, on 28, Al’s defences were beaten by a decent ball from Cherry and had his stumps pegged back.

Si, the hero of Yattendon, joined Pip and a Whalers recovery was briefly threatened, as the pair put on 20 in 3 overs. A tight over from the young Buick however, predictably yielded another wicket as Pip, trying to force the pace, mis-timed a drive and was comfortably caught by Glazier at mid-on for 22. Unfortunately, this heralded the start of a clatter of wickets for the Whalers as the superior mental and physical agility of our opponents began to take its toll. Si and Ed were both clean bowled by Cherry in successive balls and suddenly the Whalers had collapsed from the manageable position of 147-3 to 147-6 in the space of 2 overs. Ads followed soon after for 5, to give Luke Cherry his fourth wicket, and it seemed as though the Whalers’ innings would peter out miserably, but just when all seemed lost, a final flurry gave the Whalers a glimmer of hope.

As had happened in Yattendon, the 2 lowest-scoring batsmen were allowed to bat again. This time, with both Nick and Ed both having suffered the ignominy of golden ducks, it was decided that the more rested of the 2 (both in terms of time spent in the hutch since being dismissed AND time since last alcoholic beverage) should return to the crease first. Thus, on the fall of Ad’s wicket, Nick joined captain Dan in order to salvage some Whalers pride. And salvage they did: some astute batting and some full swings of the bat yielded a bout of boundaries and singles, and although the final total of 196-7 was a little below par, this partnership did much to get the Whalers to a level of respectability. Dan, continuing a fine personal return to batting form, finished unbeaten on 18, with a rejuvenated Nick also unbeaten on 17. It was Mr Extras though, which topped the batting card for the Whalers, with a remarkable 47!

Cropredy CC sports field (before the white picket fence was added!)

Another hearty tea was laid on for the Whalers in the Cropredy pavilion, and as the team reflected on what had been a tough session of cricket in North Oxfordshire, they realised they would have to bowl like demons and field like tigers to win – never easy on the Sunday of a tour, particular with a depleted team suffering several hangovers and one badly-injured back.

With such afflictions, the Whalers could ill afford to allow the opposition to get off to as much of a flyer as they had allowed Ten CC to the previous day. In the event, the Whalers were denied an all-important early break-through by a highly controversial umpiring decision. Having sent down a tight first couple of overs, Si delivered a low full toss to Arthurson, which the batsman attempted to straight drive past the bowler. However, the ball thudded in to the toe end of the bat and looped straight back to the bowler. The Whalers celebrated what seemed a clear wicket, but the batsman’s claims that this had been a bump ball were upheld by the umpires after some consultation and suddenly, the Whalers were back to square one. Unfortunately, this setback seemed to take the wind out of the sails a little, and the bowlers’ radar strayed, enabling Arthurson and the 16-year old Glazier to continue to score comfortably without ever looking in too much trouble. Indeed, the gulf between the two sides seemed only to widen: Ed was hit for 3 consecutive boundaries in an over twice; Ads sent down 5 wides in his only over; Pip went for seven-an-over; Al sent down a comic half (probably closer to quarter) – tracker that barely reached the batsman and some of the Whalers’ fielding spoke of a tired and depleted team: something which only highlighted the agility and athleticism of young Glazier in particular. The 16-year old Cropredy opener combined youthful self-confidence with a maturity normally only seen in more experienced batsmen. He eased past 50 himself, and with support from Arthurson, took the score on to 90-0 after 15 overs.

Nevertheless, with the remarkable finale at Yattendon still fresh in the mind, the Whalers refused to panic, in the hope that another Lazarus moment would emerge once again. They did belatedly manage to snaffle the wicket of Arthurson when he swung Pip to cow corner, where Si (who had continued to fling himself athletically around the boundary all afternoon) took a fine steepling catch on the ropes, just in front of the canal. This brought a vast sigh of relief from the Whalers: it was just deserts for Si who had been denied Arthurson’s wicket earlier, but also for the team as a whole.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the Whalers. Glazier made his maiden hundred for Cropredy to the delight of the rest of the team and the dozen or so Cropredy fans on the boundary. And although Dan rotated his depleted bowling attack in the hope of causing a late collapse, this time there was to be no remarkable Whalers comeback. The experienced Orchard helped guide Glazier to within one hit of the finish line. Unfortunately, either fatigue or over-confidence got the better of the youngster just at his moment of glory, and he drove Si straight to Ed’s safe hands at mid-off with just 4 needed for victory. He had nevertheless made a magnificent 116 and strode off to the applause of both sides. Sabin came in and duly hit the winning boundary to complete an overwhelming defeat for the Whalers - by 8 wickets and with nearly 10 overs to spare - at the hands of a markedly superior side on the day. Special mention should go to Dario, who bravely did his best in the field in spite of severe back pain.

Despite the one small moment of controversy, the match was played in a great spirit and both sides were able to share a quiet beer together afterwards before the Whalers made their way back down the M40 to be home in time to see Spain clinch the final of Euro 2008 against Germany.

Result:

Whalers: 196-7 (40 overs), Extras 47, Dario 29, Al 28, Pip 22, Stu 21

Cropredy CC: 197-2 (30.3 overs), Glazier 116, Arthurson 35, Si 1-29, Pip 1-29.

MOM: Dario (29 gritty runs and a valiant presence in the field despite persistent back trouble)

Champagne Moment: Little to shout about except Si’s fine, watchful catch on the boundary.

Muppet Moment: Al’s quarter-tracker.

All in all, the Oxfordshire tour was a great success. The weather was fine on both days, enabling two full games of cricket to be completed, which was a considerable relief. On the field, the performances were mixed, with one remarkable, nail-biting victory and one resounding defeat, which, considering the depleted numbers that we had on tour, was a reasonably decent return. Off the field, the traditional Whalers spirit ensured that much fun was had in the pubs, bars and clubs of Oxford and that the team returned with plenty of stories to tell.

Many thanks to all the Whalers who made the effort to come on the tour, especially those who travelled especially long distances to come for just one of the two games. Thanks to Gouldy for helping to organise the game against Ten CC; thanks to both Ten CC and Cropredy CC for hosting us so well; and lastly, thanks to my Mum for giving up her Sunday morning to cater for a hungry cricket team!

Pip English