May 26, 2025
Surrey ( 123 all out ) beat Oxfordshire ( 112 for 8 ) by 11 runs.
The NCAA Showcase serves as an opportunity for the Minor Counties to have a fixture against a First-Class County. Last season it was used as a preparation for the Counties ahead of their Metro Bank 50 over competition but there appears to be a different emphasis this year. Instead, rather than all the games being played over the same weekend, fixtures are now spread over the year at random dates, with some being T20 fixtures and others being 50 over games.
Last year Oxfordshire played Middlesex at Thame. Middlesex fielded a pretty strong side, with only 2 players who hadn't played in the 1st XI up to that point, and included 7 of the side that Fatbear had seen play against Sussex earlier in the year. In an entertaining afternoon, Middlesex won by 118 runs, but in other games Cheshire beat Derbyshire, Lincolnshire beat Nottinghamshire and Buckinghamshire beat Leicestershire.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/07/oxfordshire-cc-vs-cheshire-cc-att-200.html
This season Oxfordshire had been allocated a game against Surrey, with the game again being played at Thame, on the Bank Holiday Monday at the end of May. Unfortunately, Surrey were also playing a four-day County game against Essex on that day, and three Surrey players had played for England against Zimbabwe, so the Surrey website listed the match as a 2nd XI game. That seemed to be a little insulting, and rather against the whole point of the Showcase games, but would increase the chances of an upset !
Also, unlike last year when there was a healthy number of Middlesex supporters who made the journey to Thame to watch their side, it was unlikely there would be many Surrey members coming to Thame when they could be watching their side at The Oval.
That all said, if Surrey gave a game to their T20 stars who do not play red ball cricket eg Jordan, The Currans, Overton, Topley, Evans and maybe Roy etc they will still have a side worth watching !
Oxfordshire CCC
The 12 man squad name for the game only contained 5 survivors from the team that took to the field last year against Middlesex, namely Luke Hayes, Hayden Roussow, George Tait, Tom Davis and Dylan Driscoll.
Tait, who plays his club cricket for Banbury, scored 53 against Middlesex last year, and South African born Hayden Rossouw, now playing for Aston Rowant, had scored 93 for Oxfordshire in 2021 against a Sussex attack that included Jofra Archer, James Coles and Travis Head.
Aston Rowant also provided two other players, in 19 year-old Hayes and brother of Hayden, Tristan Roussow, whilst Arjun Ramkumar was another representative from Banbury.
There were two notable names in the Oxfordshire squad. Zach Lion-Cachet, who had progressed last season from Oxfordshire to Sussex to becoming a full Dutch international ( 7 ODIs and 4 T20s ) and had scored 78 early this month in an ODI against Scotland. Opening bat Harrison Ward had played 38 T20 matches for Sussex with a strike rate of 143, including 13 games last year, and had been a member of ECB T10 sides that had played in various competitions against European countries.
Of the rest of the squad, Oliver Armstrong plays for Oxford Downs, Tahmid Ahmed plays for Weston-super-Mare, Jacob Townsend plays for Leicestershire club Kibworth, and Davis plays for Warwickshire club Knowle and Dorridge.
On the day of the game, Oxfordshire made one change to their squad, with Rahul Tangirala replacing Harrison Ward. Tangirala had played one match for Sussex 2nd XI in 2023 and plays his club cricket for Sussex club Three Bridges, a side Fatbear had played against in the late 1970s !
Surrey CCC
Surrey have won the last three County Championships, and 22 in total. Last August, Fatbear went to The Oval to watch the first day of Surrey versus Lancashire as Surrey continued their march to the title and Lancashire their slump to relegation.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/08/surrey-vs-lancashire-att-3000-est-2024.html
In 2024 Surrey won their NCAA Showcase game against Cambridgeshire by 15 runs on DLS in a rain affected game and also had a rain affected game against Suffolk in 2023, which was won by 101 runs under DLS.
The Surrey XI for today’s game had only four recognisable names to Fatbear. Captain and left-arm spinner Yousef Majid had played one County Championship game but had been a regular in their List A fixtures last season. 37 year-old opening bat Laurie Walker had played for Sussex and Warwickshire and had scored 6 first-class centuries, but was now a specialist in T20 tournaments and was still playing in Australia’s Big Bash tournament.
Fast medium bowler Matt Dunn was now 32 but after a career in all formats was now seen as a white-ball specialist, whilst wicket-keeper Josh Blake had also played one first-class match plus 20 List A and 2 T20 games for Surrey, scoring a century against Essex.
The Surrey line-up included two England Under 19 players, all-rounder Ralphie Albert and medium pacer Alex French.
Of the other players in the XI, batsman Adam Thomas had played two List A matches and fast-bowler Nathan Barnwell had played one first-class match and 8 List A. Oliver Hunt, Oliver Pascall and Jack Martin had only played for the Surrey 2nd XI.
Matchday Information
After nearly two months with barely any rain, the weather at the 14.00 start time was grey and overcast, and the forecast had the threat of some light rain later in the afternoon. A strong breeze was present, and it felt colder than the 15 degrees temperature.
Entrance was free, Fish and Chips and ice cream vans were in attendance for food, and the clubhouse bar was open.
The match was streamed live on the Oxfordshire Cricket Board website, with a link to their YouTube channel.
A tannoy announcer gave updates at the end of each over and the fall of wickets. He sounded suspiciously like the announcer in a Midsomer Murders episode I’d seen last week when there were murders at a T10 tournament, which was filmed not far away at the Wormsley Cricket Ground in Stokenchurch !
Surrey Innings
I arrived at the ground just in time to see Oxfordshire wicket-keeper Townsend make a diving catch to dismiss Laurie Evans off the bowling of Haydon Roussow after Evans had gone fishing outside his off-stump. Evans was out for 18 with the score 37-2 in the 5th over. With his first ball of his over Roussow had induced a leading edge from Surrey’s opener Josh Blake to give a simple catch to Ahmed. After a flying start, Oxfordshire had pegged back Surrey start with two wickets.
Left-hand bat Oliver Hunt was in at number 4 for Surrey and got off the mark with a dab into the offside as Surrey finished the 5th over at 38 for 2.
Zach Lion-Cachet was brought on to bowl his off-breaks for the 6 over, going around the wicket to Hunt, who got off the mark with an off-drive, which was well stopped by the diving Tait to restrict Hunt to just one run. Three runs came off the over as Surrey moved to 41 for 2 off 6 overs.
Roussow continued and fizzed a quick ball past the outside edge of Hunt through to the wicket-keeper with the batsman beaten all ends up. Hunt managed to dab the second ball of the over into the off-side, and after some hesitancy, the batsmen were able to take a single. Off the final ball of the over, Hunt danced down the wicket and launched a huge six out of the ground over deep mid-wicket into a house on the opposite side of the road for what some people described as the biggest six they had seen at the ground. It ruined an otherwise tidy over from Roussow who was now 2 for 12 off 2 over. The score was now 50 for 2 from 7 overs.
Lion-Cachet continued from the Town end, and a lovely delivery yorked Hunt, who was out bowled for 11 runs off 9 balls, taking the score to 51 for 3 off 7.2 overs.
Ralphie Albert came in at number 5 for Surrey and got off the mark with the second ball faced with a steer behind backward point for two. Four runs came off the over with the score 55 for 3 off 8 overs.
Dylan Driscoll replaced Roussow bowling medium pace from a long run, and Albert nearly played on from his first ball. The second ball nearly offered a return catch. After a couple of singles and a leg-side wide, Albert lofted a clip off his legs straight to deep square leg where Hayes made a decent catch on the run coming in from the boundary. Albert was out for 4 and Surrey were now 58 for 4 from 8.5 overs.
At this point a few drops of light rain started to fall, but fortunately the rain only stayed for a couple of minutes, and there was no risk of play being stopped.
Ollie Pascall was the number 6 for Surrey and steered his first ball towards backward point, but a good piece of fielding prevented any runs.
Lion-Cachet continued and was flighting the ball nicely inviting the drive, and four singles came from his over as the score progressed to 62 for 4 at the half-way mark. Lion-Cachet had figures of 1 for 12 from 3 overs.
Driscoll’s second over began with a leg-side wide, after which Pascall came down the wicket to drive straight past the bowler for a boundary. Good fielding on the boundary continued to keep Surrey to singles rather than twos but 11 still came from the over as Surrey moved to 73 for 4 from 11 overs.
A mis-field from Tait allowed three runs for Thomas from the first ball of Lion-Cachet’s final over. Pascall was attempting to play reverse sweeps, one of which produced a leg-bye whilst another went through to the wicket-keeper. At the end of the over, Lion-Cachet had finished his four overs with figures of 1 for 16, as the score was now 80 for 4 from 12 overs, with Thomas on 17 and Pascall on 9.
Oxfordshire captain Tait came on to replace Driscoll with his off-spin, bowling around the wicket to Thomas, who drove the first ball for the point boundary for a single. Tait went back over the wicket and saw Pascall club the ball straight to Lion-Cachet at deep mid-wicket. Pascall was out for 9 and Surrey had slumped to 81 for 5 off 12.2 overs.
Captain Majid was in at number 7 and the left-handed bat immediately played a lovely drive but was denied a good stop at extra cover. However, Majid got off the mark next ball with a back-footed push off his legs. Four runs came from the over and it was now 84 for 5 off 13 overs.
Luke Hayes replaced Lion-Cachet with his medium pace and Majid drove the first ball nicely for a single. Thomas then played a steer behind point which was only partially stopped and the batsmen were able to run three. Majid then played a crunching extra cover drive, but good fielding kept it to just a single rather than a boundary. At the end of the over the score had moved to 89 for 5 from 14 overs.
Driscoll returned but a long hop was swiped to the boundary by Thomas, who then milked a two, then a single. Majid was surprised by some extra bounce, but was able to get over the ball with his defensive shot, and was able to run a quick single. It was now 100 for 5 from 15 overs. Thomas had progressed to 31.
Ahmed replaced Hayes, with quite a long run up but with an unusual action, looking a lot like a right-handed version of Paul Adams, and appeared to be bowling leg-breaks and googlies. After a tidy start, Majid surprisingly chipped to long-on where Lion-Cachet took an easy catch. Majid was out for 7 and Surrey were now 102 for 6 from 15.4 overs.
Nathan Barnwell was the new batsman and there was huge appeal for a caught behind after a first ball play and miss, but the umpire was unmoved. Just two runs had been scored from Ahmed’s first over.
Opening bowler Tom Davis returned to bowl his brisk medium pace and a cross batted swipe and good running saw Thomas add two runs to the total. Barnwell got off the mark with a tap from which they were able to run two, but Thomas mistimed a leg-side chip, which went straight to Driscoll at deep square leg. Thomas had to go for the top score of 35 from 33 balls, and Surrey were 108 for 7 from 16.5 overs.
Dunn was the new batsman, and smacked his first ball straight down the ground but good fielding from the bowler restricted the runs to just a single.
Three singles came from the first three balls of Ahmed’s second over, but Barnwell then played all around a straight ball and lost his middle stump. Barnwell was out for 4 and the score was now 112 of 8 from 17.4 overs.
Number 10 Alex French saw out the end of the over with two dot balls. Dunn hit the second ball of the 17 over from Davis to long-off for a single, but the next ball was too quick from French and clipped the top of off-stump. French was out for a duck and Surrey were now 113 for 9 from 18.3 overs.
Number 11 Jack Martin got off the mark by guiding a short ball to short third man for a single after which Dunn powered to long-on for two more. A push off his legs onto pad made the score 117 for 9 from 19 overs.
Dunn showed respectful defence to the first ball from Ahmed but then charged down the wicket and a thin outside edge prevented him from being stumped, and gave Dunn four more runs as the ball sped away to the boundary.
Two more singles were taken but Dunn’s lofted straight drive saw Tait move around the long-off boundary to take a smart catch. Dunn was dismissed for 12, Martin was left 2 not out and Surrey had been dismissed for 123 from 19.5 overs.
Thomas had been the only batsman to amass more than 20 runs for Surrey, making 35, whilst for Oxfordshire, Ahmed had finished with 3 for 11 from 3.5 overs, Roussow had 2 for 12 from two overs and Davis 2 for 35 from 4 overs. Surrey had been restricted to just 6 fours and one six in their innings, and the impressive fielding by the youthful Oxfordshire side had kept a lot of scoring shots to ones rather than twos.
Oxfordshire Innings
Light drizzled started to fall during the interval, but thankfully had ceased by the teams came out for the second innings.
Captain Majid opened the bowling for Surrey with his left-arm orthodox spin, and Tangirala and Lion-Cachet were watchful, taking just two singles from the first over.
Dunn opened at the other end with his medium pace and a half-track loosener was despatched by Lion-Cachet to the cover boundary. The next ball was steered for two behind point, but Dunn responded with a fine delivery inducing a play and miss outside off-stump. The fifth ball of the over was squeezed to point and the batsmen took a quick single, although Tangirala might have been in trouble had the throw been a direct hit. Tangirala played and missed at the final delivery of the other so the score was 9 for 0 off 2 overs.
Majid took himself off after just one over, and French took over, bowling fast medium. Lion-Cachet played too soon with an attempted pull shot, but then drove uppishly through the covers between two motionless fielders for a boundary, to gasps from most of the Surrey side. An elegant steer to third man yielded two more for the Dutch International, and when French pitched up, Lion-Cachet drove extravagantly over extra cover for a one bounce boundary. However, Zion-Cachet had some luck when an attempted hook shot sailed high into the air but neither the bowler or the wicket-keeper could make the ground to make the catch. Ten had come from the over, and Oxfordshire had progressed to 19 for 0 from 3 overs.
Tangirala charged down the wicket to Dunn but missed with his ugly swipe and the ball went through to the wicket-keeper. The next-ball found the inside edge and narrowly missed the leg stump and Tangirala was called through for a quick single, but again had the throw at the bowlers’ end been a direct hit it would have been close.
Lion-Cachet again mis-timed an attempted pull to a short delivery, but then played a delightful late cut to send the ball flying to the third man boundary. The score had moved to 25 for 0 after 4 overs with Lion-Cachet having scored 23 of them.
Surrey made another bowling change, as Barnwell replaced French, charging in from a long distance with a bustling run. His second delivery found some bounce, clipped the gloves of Lion-Cachet, and Blake took a routine catch. Lion-Cachet had scored 23 runs from 19 balls and Oxfordshire were now 25 for 1 off 4.2 overs.
Left-hander Hayden Roussow was in at number three, and his first ball saw an unconvincing shot to a short ball go high into the leg side, but fortunately for Roussow, into a gap to get off the mark. After a wide, Tangirala played tip and run, but another missed throw from the Surrey fielders saw the Tangirala add another single to his total. The next ball from Barnwell kept low and went under Roussow’s attempted prod but missed the off-stump, and Blake failed to gather cleanly. At the end of the over it was 28 for 1 from 5 overs.
French was brought back at the other end, and struck Tangirala on the gloves, leading to another quick single being scampered. Roussow’s back-foot pull resulted in a leg-bye, then Tangirala’s attempted hook shot sailed over Dunn at short fine leg and bounced away for Tangirala’s first boundary. At the final ball of the over, Tangirala strangely ran across his stumps to play an extravagant pull to the leg side, but the ball flew over the top of the stumps to the wicket-keeper. It was now 35 for 1 from 6 overs.
Barnwell continued and Roussow produced a lovely cover drive but good fielding on the boundary restricted it two just two runs. Singles were flowing until Rossouw hooked fine for six. After a delay whilst there was a search for the ball in the bushes, with Barnwell still testing the middle of the wicket, Rossouw ended the over with another shot behind square but only for a single. Oxfordshire had progressed to 47 for 1 after 7 overs.
With a squadron of Red Kites now circulating in the sky above the ground, Ralphie Albert was brought on to bowl some left-arm spin. The batsmen were content to milk singles, and 6 runs came from the over, taking the score to 53 for 1 from 8 overs.
Martin replaced Barnwell and with no-one saving one on the leg-side, 7 more runs were safely added to the total and at 60 for 1 after 9 overs, Oxfordshire appeared to be cruising.
Albert’s second over was much more testing, with Roussow only able to push just one run, Oxfordshire were now 61 for 1 off 10 overs, with the par score being 59.
Martin beat Roussow outside off-stump before a long-hop was despatched to the leg side for a one bounce boundary. Another stylish shot through the covered brought another single for Roussow, and following another single to Tangirala, Roussow pulled another long hop for two. Oxfordshire were now 69 for 1 from 11 overs, with Roussow on 25 and Tangirala on 16.
Albert was still keeping in tight at the other end though, conceding just two singles and Albert now had figures of 0 for 9 from 3 overs.
Majid brought himself back into the attack and was greeted by a splendid cover drive from Roussow for one more, and Tangirala tapped another quick single. After being beaten outside his off-stump, Roussow inexplicably stepped outside his off stump looking to slog to the leg side, only to miss and be bowled leg stump. A fine innings had ended with a poor shot, and Roussow had to walk back to the pavilion having scored 27 runs from 31 balls. Oxfordshire were now 73 for 2 from 12.4 overs.
Dylan Driscoll was in a number 4 and played out two dot balls to finish the over. Oxfordshire needed 51 runs from 7 overs with 8 wickets standing, which normally would be a routine win.
Driscoll’s fine glance broke the shackles with another boundary, and 7 came from the over, and the score moved to 80 for 2 after 14 overs. Albert’s tidy spell finished with 0 for 16 from his 4 overs.
44 were now needed from 6 overs. The pressure must have got to Tangirala, who stepped away to the leg side but missed with his swipe to off, and was bowled by Majid. He was out for 20 runs from 30 balls and it was 80 for 3 from 14.1 overs.
Arjun Ramkumar was in at number 5 and only one run was added from Majid’s over. Oxfordshire’s target had become 43 runs from 5 overs.
Dunn was back to bowl the 16 over and Ramkumar pulled a short ball to the leg side boundary, but a combination of good fielding and slack running resulted in only a single. A controlled edge from Driscoll sent the ball speeding over the third man boundary but he followed this with a meek chip to extra cover to be dismissed for 9, Thomas taking the catch. The score was now 86 for 4 from 15.3 overs.
Captain George Tait was the number 6 and two singles from the rest of the over took Oxfordshire to 88 for 4, and 36 were needed from 4 overs.
Majid continued, and after Ramkumar took a single, Tait chipped a return caught and bowled to be dismissed for 1. It was now 89 for 5
Luke Hayes was the number 7 but another soft dismissal followed, lamely playing the ball into his pad, and keeper Blake made ground to make the diving catch to dismiss Hayes for a two-ball duck. Oxfordshire had now subsided to 89 for 6 and Majid had taken 4 for 6 !
Jacob Townsend was in at number 8, and two singles finished the over. Majid finished with the sensational figures of 4 for 8 from his 4 overs, and Oxfordshire were 91 for 6, now needing 33 runs from 3 overs.
Dunn was spraying the ball around, with a leg side ball clipped by Ramkumar for two, a short ball was clubbed over mid-on for two, then another short ball was bashed over long-on for four. However, Ramkumar smacked a rank long-hop wide outside off stump only to see the ball fly straight to Pascall who took a regulation catch on the cover boundary. Ramkumar had to go after scoring 13 in 12 balls and the score was now 99 for 7 after 17.4 overs.
Tristan Roussow was the new batsmen, and two singles from the final two balls took Oxfordshire to 101 for 7 with two overs remaining, and 23 needed to win.
Barnwell returned and two pacy short balls were pushed for singles. Five more runs were added until Townsend attempted a big swing and missed and was bowled for 4. The score was now 108 for 8 and 17 runs were needed from the last over.
Tom Davis was the new batsmen and French was to bowl the final over. Neither batsman looked likely to score match-winning boundaries, and only four singles came from the last over, leaving Oxfordshire 11 runs short at 112 for 8.
After looking like being able to produce an upset victory, it was ultimately a tame finish in Thame as the Oxfordshire batsmen were unable to push on for victory against some tight bowling, especially from Majid and Albert, and some very good fielding. Indeed, in all the overs Fatbear watched, not a single catch was dropped by either side, and on a large outfield there were very few twos taken.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable three hours spent watching some entertaining cricket.
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