Thursday 1 October 2020

2020 season review: Horspath take plenty of encouragement

WHILE it may have been a season like no other, Horspath can take plenty of encouragement from the way the club emerged from a truncated 2020 campaign.

Play was suspended until July
The ECB announced in March the suspension of recreational cricket due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it wasn't until the government gave the go-ahead in July that play finally got under way. And when cricket did return it was not quite cricket as everyone knew it.

With Covid-19 protocols in place it meant no sweat or saliva being applied to the ball, players taking hygiene breaks every six overs for hand sanitization, told to bring their own tea and spectators instructed not to touch the ball when it crossed the boundary.

With scheduled fixtures having been postponed, the Home Counties Premier League amalgamated Divisions 1 and 2 with localised 40-over pink ball cricket under ECB rules. It proved a hit with players and spectators alike.

A long enough format to allow matches to proceed apace without Twenty20's crash and bash and yet still concise enough to retain the interest without the mid-innings lull associated with 50-over games. For those of a certain age it evoked memories of the John Player League played under the same format in the 1970s and 80s when county grounds were packed out each Sunday with BBC 2 screening a live match every weekend.

With new captain Lloyd Belcher at the helm as his predecessor Will Eason took on the role of director of cricket, Horspath's season started with a low-key seven-wicket home defeat by old rivals Banbury - but of far greater importance was that the club was playing again. After such a wait for action there was a certain irony that the weather should then have its say with game two at Aston Rowant abandoned after 16.3 overs due to rain.

A first win continued to prove elusive as Horspath, with Darryl Brown (59) and Belcher (4-41) to the fore, took Great Brickhill to the last over before going down to a two-wicket defeat. However, the side then embarked on a four-match winning streak.

Tom Coleman and Jimmy Phillips after their
record-breaking double-century stand
Records tumbled as openers Tom Coleman and Jimmy Phillips shared a brilliant double-century stand to set up a resounding 94-run victory at Thame Town. Coleman cracked a superb 109 while Phillips hammered an excellent 91 with the pair putting on 204 - the best for any Horspath wicket in the league. Their terrific partnership also set Horspath on the way to 300-4 - the club's highest Home Counties score. Fast bowler Angus Livingstone (4-61) and seamer Will Eason (3-28) wrapped up the victory.

Horspath then pulled off an incredible two-run win on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method against Chesham in one of the most amazing matches seen at the Recreation Ground in many a year. With brilliant batting, devastating bowling, fantastic fielding and a thrilling fightback it was a game which had everything capped off by an incredible finish (the highlights can be relived below).

Harrison Ward hammered a superb maiden Home Counties century with 121 from 103 balls, while Brown hit a run-a-ball 59 as Horspath posted 235-6. A 50-minute rain break before Horspath's final over saw Chesham presented with a revised DLS target of 234 from 39 overs. That looked a long way off as they were reduced to 21-3 and even at 132-7 it appeared well out of reach.

However, opener Alex Morgan and tailender James Anderson then produced some explosive hitting - so destructive that Horspath suddenly found themselves facing defeat with the visitors needing five to win off the last over. But step forward the hero of the hour - Angus Livingstone. Bowling like the wind, he took three wickets, including Morgan for 91 and Anderson for 51, as Chesham were all out for 231 off the final delivery. Unbelievable!!!


Next up came an emphatic 125-run victory at Slough with Brown (95) and Dwadesh Sehgal (67) sharing a club record third-wicket stand of 163 to set up the victory. Coming together at 1-2, they ensured Horspath posted a challenging 207-7. Slough were then blown away by Livingstone's first five-wicket haul as he took 5-18 after Eason (3-19) made the early inroads with the hosts crashing to 82 all out.

The win put Horspath in the mix for the end-of-season play-offs - with the top four in the 20-team pooled table going on to contest the John Goodman Cup and the next four battling it out for the John Goodman Plate. The side moved up to seventh spot with a nine-run victory over Oxford on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method at Jordan Hill. In a contest reduced to 30 overs, Ward hit an important 39 before 16-year-old off-spinner Alfie Turner continued his emergence in the first team by taking 3-22.

The teenager was among the wickets again with 4-49 in a 69-run home defeat by Oxford Downs in their final league game, but despite the defeat the batting and bowling bonus points gathered ensured Horspath off eighth place and a spot in the Plate. However, that was where the challenge ended with a 40-run defeat at Thame Town in the semi-finals despite a classy 71 from Sehgal.

Harrison Ward raises his
bat after making 121
against Chesham
Ward was the side's top runscorer with 264 at an average of 29.33, while there were also notable contributions from Coleman with 247 at 49.40 and Brown with 227 at 56.75. Livingstone and Eason took 13 wickets apiece with averages of 13.15 and 15.23 respectively. Belcher, with 12 victims at 19.00, and Turner, with 11 at 18.27, were hot on their heels.

The success of the 40-over format gives the game's administrators plenty to think about. Should the format be retained at least for part of the season? Is it time to call time on the timed game? Should all matches be 50 overs? If the ECB's module for 50-over cricket is followed should a white ball be used with black sightscreens? Have lunches - with all the cost - passed their their sell by date? Food for thought indeed . . .

Away from the league, Horspath broke new ground in the Cricketer Village Cup when they were placed in the Berkshire group with the Oxfordshire section oversubscribed. However, it proved a brief adventure with a six-wicket defeat at Cookham Dean in the first round.

Horspath were more successful in the Bernard Tollett Oxfordshire Cup with wins over Thame Town, MP Sports Academy and a walkover against Tiddington seeing the club top their group to earn a place in the semi-finals. However, they then went down by seven wickets away to Banbury, despite an impressive spell from 15-year-old seamer Charlie Turner, who took 2-20.

Horspath's sides in the Cherwell League also enjoyed a successful season. With the pandemic wiping out half of the campaign, the league operated on a six-tier basis with each of the top five tiers split into two divisions of eight. Each team played seven 40-over games followed by play-off matches against the side finishing in the same spot in the other division of their tier.

Horspath 2nd finished runners-up in Tier 2B under captain Robbie Eason before winning their play-off game at Minster Lovell. Dominic O'Connor was second in the batting averages with 203 runs in just three innings at an average of 67.67, while there was a solid all-round effort from Asad Rafiq with 220 runs at an average of 44.00 and 12 wickets at 13.67. Youngsters Charlie Turner, with 11 wickets at 18.27, and Josh Richardson, with eight victims at 16.50, showed plenty of promise for the future.

Asad Rafiq contributed runs and wickets for
the 2nd XI. Picture: www.sportsshots.org.uk
Horspath 3rd, led by Andy Cummings, were the club's leading lights in the Cherwell. They topped Tier 3A before claiming a remarkable six-run victory at home to Aston Rowant 3rd in their play-off decider. Defending 155-7, Horspath looked to be heading for defeat as Rowant coasted to 103-1, but then Ryan Hicks (4-24) and Joe Gibbs (3-24) sparked an incredible collapse which saw the visitors lose their last nine wickets for 46 runs - and the last five for just ten.

Young batsman Chris Batten had an excellent season to top the averages with 253 runs at an average of 63.25, while Adrian Manger picked up 12 wickets at an average of 7.58. Sam Payce, with eight wickets at 11.00, and Gibbs, ten victims at 11.20, also make good contributions. Cummings as well as leading the side to the title had the proud moment of opening the bowling with son Josh, who chipped in with six wickets.

Horspath 4th had an exciting campaign to finish top of Tier 5A before going down by three wickets away to Thame Town in their play-off decider.

Captain Jamie Stead achieved the rare feat of not being out all season while rattling up 383 runs in five innings. Without an average he was placed at the bottom of the list! His tally made him the league's leading 3rd/4th/5th XI runscorer, with Batten in second spot. Stead also came fifth in the list for all batsmen, and he topped the standings for fifties with five, including a top score of 98 not out. Ed Oakley led the way in the bowling department with 10 wickets at an average of 11.00, while Stead chipped in with nine at 13.33 and Christopher Hofen picked up 10 at 18.80.

The side set a club record highest score in the Cherwell League with a massive 346-5 in a 268-run win at Shipton-under-Wychwood 3rd. Stead (77no), Tejas Anand (68), Paul Hicks (53), Jonty Hedges (50) and Rayaan Dogar (47) peppered some short boundaries to post the awesome total.

The club also recorded two full houses in the space of three weekends - with the first occasion all four sides won bridging a gap of four years since the last clean sweep.


Horspath Under 15s with the Oxfordshire League Cup
Horspath, captained by Josh Richardson, added to their fine record in youth cricket by being crowned Oxfordshire Under 15 League champions with a 33-run victory in the final over hosts Great & Little Tew. Charlie Turner was the man of the match, hitting an unbeaten 52 and taking 1-12.

The under 19s also made it through to the semi-finals, which were held over until next season. Further evidence of Horspath's flourishing youth system came in Sunday friendlies with Christopher Hofen and Rayaan Dogar hitting maiden centuries.

Sadly, the traditional end-of-season Feast match between Horspath and the President's XI was cancelled after the government introduced new restrictions relating to social gatherings. So, it may well have been a season far removed from that which was anticipated, but the club have plenty to look forward to when cricket hopefully returns to the Rec in its more usual guise next year.

Posted by: Russ