Concorde v Harpsden

Match Report

For the first time we hosted our annual fixture against Harpsden CC , forsaking our traditional pilgrimage into ‘leafy’ south Oxfordshire. It always represents a stern test but any thoughts that our benign strip would blunt the Harpsden attack proved to be wishful thinking. It has been dubbed the ‘Wright family fixture’ with Jerry & Nick pitching their wits against older brother Tony Wright & his son Jonny, but regrettably we were in for another disappointing afternoon.

On winning the toss on a warm sunny afternoon, skipper Jerry Wright asked Harpsden to bat. Our new ball combination of Dave Nash & young Josh Griffiths produced a steady & tidy start without quite making a breakthrough, and the Harpsden openers steadily progressed to 50 & beyond. Changes at both ends saw Jerry & Andy Marshall into the attack and a sudden burst of success saw the score change from 70-0 to 76-3 in the space of four overs with Jerry claiming two ,courtesy of an lbw & smart catch at mid on by Ed Fernandes (in his second game back), and Andy one, clean bowled. At this point the game was in the balance but despite good spells from both bowlers the nos.4 & 5 batsmen built a steady partnership, keeping the scoreboard ticking over with smart singles & good running supplemented with the odd flurry of boundaries. Eventually the stand surpassed 100 until the opening bowlers returned and a late fall of wickets saw the visitors lose 3 wickets for 10 runs with two wickets f
or Josh , and a rare opportunity & even rarer wicket for Mike Prevost. At tea, Harpsden declared on 208- 6 with bowling figs: David Nash 10-0-36-0, Josh Griffiths 11-1-47-2, Jerry 9-0-42-2, Andy Marshall 10-1-35-1, & Mike Prevost 2-0-7-1.

It didn’t seem like an insurmountable target , and Ed Fernandes & Mike Prevost looked quite comfortable for the first few overs. Jerry’s nephew Jonny, who destroyed us on a harder faster pitch in Henley last year, was finding it much harder on our slower track but then Ed nudged a slightly shorter ball straight to short mid off & then Mike played all around a well pitched up ball and we were suddenly 12-2. Our two best batsmen then found themselves together and with their wildly contrasting styles & temperaments, Andy Marshall & Nick Wright began the recovery, Andy nudging & scampering ones & two’s whilst Nick blasted a couple of brutal sixes & a couple of flashing fours, but just when we started to feel more comfortable , Nick was deceived by a floated off spinner and was bowled for 21. Nick Freeman came in at no.5 and scored a brisk & defiant 26 before inexplicably running himself out when Andy hit the ball straight to midwicket and for some reason Nick set off from the non striker’s end! The skipper joined Andy in what was realistically our last offensive pairing but shortly afterwards Andy unexpectedly chipped a catch to mid on to depart for a well made 31 and our hopes went with! Sadly, we then witnessed a good old fashioned Concorde collapse of the tail, with Jonny Wright returning to the attack, sensing blood like a ‘rogue Great White’ and sending back young Josh, Stockers, Mick & Dave for 1,0,1, & 0 in the space of two overs leaving Jerry stranded on 4 n.o. Nigel Wright had injured his knee in the field so couldn’t bat & we finished on a sad 101 all out, to lose by 107 runs!

Harpsden are a very accomplished & well organised team, and the fact is we need more of our best players to be available for us to hold our own in this fixture. Result aside, it was as always a very enjoyable game against a good bunch of lads , and in keeping with tradition after this fixture a few of us decided to put the defeat behind us with a good curry at The Guru with a couple of the ‘oppo’