August 16-18, 2026
The Minor Counties play T20, 50-over and 3-day competitions and over the current three days, Oxfordshire were playing Herefordshire at Thame Town CC.
Fatbear had once tried to watch Oxfordshire play a three-day game against Cheshire in 2024 but it started raining when we turned up so decided to go to the pub instead ! NCAA Showcase games against Middlesex and Surrey had been played at Thame in the past two seasons, and Fatbear was able to see some of these games.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/07/oxfordshire-cc-vs-cheshire-cc-att-200.html
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2025/05/oxfordshire-cc-vs-surrey-cc-att-200-est.html
Oxfordshire had so far played three games in this competition. Last time out they beat Wiltshire by an innings and 114 runs, with captain Maximillian Mannering taking 11 wickets and wicket-keeper Freddie Smith scoring 93.
However, before that they had lost to Devon by 86 runs despite Amogh Karpe making 89 and Hayden Roussow 51, whilst medium pacer Jack Warner took 4 for 36 & 5 for 20.
Oxfordshire had lost their first match by 5 wickets to Berkshire, in which Luke Hayes had made 99 not out, Luke Maslen 95 and Mannering took 2 for 77 & 3 for 44.
Herefordshire had lost both of their two games played to-date, crashing to Devon by 8 wickets despite contributions from Luke Tulacz ( 82 ), Porter ( 81 ), Henry Hardinges ( 65 ) and Rhodes ( 96 ) then to Wiltshire by 233 runs when Cox, Ben Chapman-Lilley and Luke Powell all past 50, and Cornall took 8 wickets in the match.
NCCA regulations require a minimum of eight homegrown players and an aggregate age of no more than 200 years across the eight youngest players. Captain Mannering therefore had to lead a team of youngsters rather than Dad’s Army………..
Oxfordshire were missing left-arm seamer Will Rogers who played in the victory over Wiltshire but has signed a short-term contract with injury hit Derbyshire until the end of the season.
Seamer Oliver Armstrong, all-rounder Sravan Konidena and 15-year-old batsman Evan Cowley, who plays for Thame Town, came into a 12-man squad with Julian Laird unavailable and Hayden Rossouw announced as missing out through injury. However, Roussow recovered to open both the batting and the bowling !
The one name well-known to Fatbear on show was Harrison Ward, who had opened the batting for Sussex in the Vitality Blast this season, scoring 258 runs in 9 innings at an average of 28.66 and a strike-rate of 169. His top score had been 69 against Leicestershire.
Herefordshire welcomed back teenage batsman Henry Hardinges, who made a half-century on debut against Devon and son of former Gloucestershire all-rounder Mark, along with off-spinner Ciaran Baker-Smith, as they searched their first win of their Championship campaign.
108 overs were scheduled to be bowled each day, with play starting at 11am and continuing until 18.45 or until the day’s overs had been bowled.
Unsurprisingly the outfield looked parched but the wicket looked green. Herefordshire won the toss and elected to field. Herefordshire had numbers on the back of their shirts, whilst Oxfordshire didn’t.
Entrance was free and the match was streamed lived on Oxfordshire Cricket’s YouTube Channel. The bar was open and good value !
Day One Summary
Oxfordshire batted as if it was a T20 match, with several batsmen throwing their wickets away with aggressive shots to be all out for 135 in 33 overs just after lunch. Herefordshire had bowled just 30 overs in the two and half hours in first sessions.
Oxfordshire were indebted to a last wicket partnership of 41 in which Oliver Armstrong scored zero in 21 balls, but it enabled Ben Lucking to score 50 not out at number 9. Hayden Roussow made 27 and George Tait 26, whilst James Rudge, who played three times for Sussex 2nd XI in 2022 took 6 for 41 and Roshan Venkataraman 4 for 51 in a three pronged pace attack.
Herefordshire progressed to 87 for 2 off 20 overs at tea, leaving supposedly 53 overs to be bowled in the final session. They finished at 251 for 7 off 67 overs, a lead of 116 runs, when bad light stopped play with 6 overs left to be bowled.
Day Two
Herefordshire were eventually bowled out in the morning session for 306 of 85 overs for a lead of 171. Hardinges made 101 until being bowled by a beauty from off-spinner Mannering and Venkataraman scored 61, and they had put on a partnership of 100. Mannering finished with 4 for 93 off a marathon 35 overs, whilst medium pacer Jack Warner took time off from Dixon of Dock Green to take 3 for 66.
Oxfordshire responded with 71 for 2 off 12 overs at lunch, with both Cowley and Roussow out to loose attacking shots.
After lunch, Oxfordshire continued to attack and the boundaries flowed, but despite losing Luke Maslen for 38 and wicket-keeper Freddie Smith for 27, they were 209 for 4 at tea, with George Tait unbeaten on 75.
Evening Session
Mr and Mrs Fatbear arrived just after Tait had mis-timed a pull off Rudge to be dismissed 79, leaving his side in a precarious position of just 60 runs ahead with 5 wickets remaining. Around 50-60 people were watching, and at one point a maximum of 7 dogs !
A lot depended on Ward and Konidena, who played with a mixture of sensible caution against the good-length balls but despatching with distain anything short, wide or over-pitched, then pushing the singles into the gaps as the field spread. The sound of the shot off the bat of Konidena sounded particularly pleasing.
Herefordshire’s desperation was visible in ever increasing optimistic appeals for leg side catches and LBWs that looked to obviously be too high. Poor Venkataraman was being bowled into the ground but willingly kept charging in, although a few no balls crept in. He would probably sleep well this evening !
Eventually Venkataraman was given a rest and Chapman-Lilley came on to turn his arm over with some off-spin from around the wicket, and it was a bit of surprise when Konidena launch an ugly hack to cow-corner only to be bowled. A delightful innings ended with 60 runs to his name, and Oxfordshire were now on 335 for 6, a lead of 164 and the end of a partnership of 112.
Joe Root look-alike Mannering joined Ward, and apart from one stunning sweep shot was content to give the strike to Ward who was taking an increasing likening to the tiring Herefordshire attack.
With three overs of the day remaining, Ward hit two fours and a single off Rudge to bring up his hundred off 145 balls. Mannering then came back for a sharp second and was judged to have been run-out. It looked mighty close, and after a couple of seconds of disbelief, the captain accepted the decision and jogged off the field having scored 18 runs.
New batsman Lucking and Ward saw out the closing overs, taking Oxfordshire’s score to 400 for 7 off 87 overs, and a lead of 229 runs. Ward was unbeaten on 104, with Lucking still to get off the mark. Venkataraman had 2 for 123 off 25 overs, Rudge had 3 for 58 off 15 overs, whilst Baker-Smith had 0 for 121 from 31 overs.
The game was evenly poised for day three, with Oxfordshire hoping to score a few more runs to give themselves something more to bowl at, whilst Herefordshire would still fancy being able to chase down any target set.
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