Oxfordshire vs Herefordshire – NCAA Championship, Western Division 1, Day Two Evening Session

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 2^nd 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.

 

Lacock CC vs Swindon Super Strikers 2 CC – Wiltshire County Cricket League Division 6

June 14, 2025

It was time for the annual visit to watch cricket at Lacock ! On a visit to Lacock around this time last year, these diaries reported on a Lacock match against Chippenham 4^th XI

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/06/lacock-cc-vs-chippenham-4th-xi.html 

On today’s visit to the picturesque National Trust village, the Lacock 1^st XI were at home to Swindon Super Strikers 2^nd XI.

At this level there is a match ball for each innings, with a fielding restriction of a maximum of 5 players outside of the circle. One point is awarded for providing a non-playing umpire or if a side has at least two players with Umpire forum training. Matches are 45 overs, with no draw, just win or lose, and there are a maximum of 9 overs per bowler.

10 points are awarded for a win. 6 batting points are available, one for 100 runs and then every 25 runs up to 225. The side batting second gets an extra bonus point for every wicket still standing if win by more than 4 wickets, up to a maximum of 6 batting bonus points ie for a 10 wicket win.

1 bowling point is awarded for every 2 wickets, with additional bonuses if bowling out the opposition for less than 175 ( 1 point ), 150 ( 2 points ), 125 ( 3points ) & 100 ( 4 points ).

According to the excellent WCCL website, Swindon Super Strikers 2 came into today’s game with three wins, one loss and one no result from their opening five matches to be second in the table. Last season Swindon Super Strikers 2 finished second behind Royal Wootton Bassett 3^rd XI in Division 7 to earn promotion, having won 12 of their 16 games, with two defeats and two no results.

Swindon Super Strikers 2 heavily lost their opening match to old rivals Royal Wootton Bassett 3, but had since recorded comfortable wins over Swindon 4^th XI, Goatacre 3^rd XI and Keevil.

Looking at their scorecards, the Swindon Super Strikers players appeared to be a team of Indian or Asian origin. They appeared to have one standout player. Since 2018, Sujithraj Somarajan had scored over a thousand runs at an average of 55 and with three centuries, and in addition had taken 52 wickets at an average of 13.

In contrast, Lacock had won one and had lost four of their five matches. They started with an 8 run defeat to Bathford, despite 66 from Joe Swain and 4 wickets for opening bowler Alex Gifford. A best forgotten 111 run loss at Nationwide House 2^nd XI followed, then a 27 defeat to Swindon 4^th XI, where Gifford again chipped in with 4 wickets but extras were their highest scorers on 53.

Their first win was registered against Goatacre 3^rd XI, as Martyn Riley’s 5 for 15 guided Lacock to an 88 run victory, but Keevil proved too strong in the most recent fixture, winning by 8 wickets after bowling Lacock out for 107.

Matchday Information

The journey from Swindon is just under 25 miles, and should normally take around 40 minutes

The weather today was cloudy and around 20 degrees at the 13.00 start of play, and showers were forecast for later in the afternoon.

Swindon Super Strikers 2 made four changes from their last match, with Jimmy George, Liben Thomas, Ashiq Haneefa and Arun Nair coming into the side. Lacock made three changes, with Imy Heer, Martyn Riley and Andrew Barnes replacing Sam Coldrick, Alex Gifford and Mark Bowcher.

Swindon Super Strikers 2 Innings

When we arrived, the score was 69 for 4 off 16.5 overs. Lacock’s young opening bowler Tom Swain had dismissed the top four Strikers’ batsman, with Anoop Raj ( 0 ), Abin Vijayan ( 16 ), Nishanth Gopinath ( 9 ) and Sony Eapen ( 9 ) all back in the hutch. At the crease were Jayesh Kumar and Sujithraj Somarajan, with play held up whilst there was a search for the ball after Somarajan had hit left arm spinner Riley out of the ground.

The ball was finally located for play to resume, with Riley bowling a rank long-hop which Somarajan despatched over deep mid-wicket for another maximum. The over ended with Riley having been hit for 3 sixes in the over and the score was now 75 for 4 from 17 overs.

Medium pacer Swain continued to bowl out his 9 overs. Kumar was twice hit on the pad with leg side deliveries but a leg glance produced a boundary, and the final ball of the over was hit to long-on for 4 more. 83 for 4 from 18 overs, and Swain finished with 4 for 37 from his 9 overs.

After his mauling in the previous over, Riley was replaced by medium pacer Tom Caine and Somarajan showed respect for his first delivery with an exaggerated defensive block. However, normal service soon resumed with a wild swing and a miss, then a mistimed hoick to mid-wicket. The fifth ball saw a thick inside edge for a single, and at the end of the over it was 84 for 4 off 19 overs.

Swain was replaced by captain Sam Thomas bowling off spin from around the wicket, and Somarajan sent his first ball sky high, but with snow on the ball, Thomas dropped the catch off his own bowling, and a single was taken. Kumar looked in difficulty playing the rest of the over, with no further runs being scored. It was now 85 for 4 from 20 overs and one Lacock fielder exclaimed “we are looking like a cricket team now !”

Caine continued with a long hop that Somarajan disdainfully pulled to the long leg boundary. A ball of fuller length led to a play and miss, but the third ball was despatched over long on for another six. Somarajan tried a repeat shot to the next delivery, but this time the sky-high ball was well caught at long on, and Somarajan was out for a rapid 35. It was now 95 for 5 in the 21^st over.

Jimmy George was the new batsman, who slashed his first ball high over cover point for a boundary, but was beaten all end up from the final delivery of the over. 99 for 5 after 22 overs.

Kumar added a streaky single to square leg off Thomas to bring up the 100 for his side, then George hammered a pitched-up ball straight to long on, and with the fielder not having to move, a comfortable catch was taken. George was out for a brief 4 runs and Strikers had slid to 100 for 6 in the 23 over.

A drinks break was taken at the fall of the wicket as dark clouds were approaching overhead.

Caine continued from the pavilion end and had a loud appeal for LBW against Kumar to which the Strikers’ umpire, one of the players, indicated the ball was heading down legside. The next ball was a beamer, which Kumar was able to steer to square leg off his gloves for a single, and a no ball was also given by the square leg umpire

A confident appeal for a catch by the wicket-keeper then followed against new batsman Liben Thomas, as the batsmen played all around a straight delivery. The batsman didn’t walk, and to the astonishment of several of the Lacock fielders, the Strikers’ umpire gave a not out decision. A few choice words were directed towards the umpire, to which the non-playing Lacock umpire had to intervene to calm temperatures. From the boundary it looked very out………..

At this point the rain started to fall, and the players left the field, and the covers were brought on with the score 102 for 6 in the 23^rd over. The scorebook showed Kumar to be 6 not out but as he had hit two boundaries, one of them must have been given to Somarajan, as the total was correct ! Thomas had figures of 1 for 2 off 2 overs.

The rain initially lasted just over 10 minutes, but with the Lacock umpire deciding that they should wait a short while to let the outfield dry out a little, it predictably started raining again !

The delay lasted 30 minutes before play was able to resume, and Liben cut the second ball to the point boundary to get off the mark. At the end of the 23^rd over the score was now 106 for 6.

Thomas continued to apply the pressure from the far end, with just a single coming from the 24^th over of the innings. Caine was also keeping it tight with just one run from his next over, and a big appeal for a catch down the leg-side which was given not out, which looked to be a good decision. It was now 108 for 6 from 25 overs.

Kumar squeezed a single behind point off Thomas for a single but off the final ball of the over Liben was given out LBW by the Lacock umpire. The batsman was very unhappy at the decision, and with Thomas bowling off-spin from around the wicket he might had had case, but it did appear to be ironic given he had earlier benefitted from not being given out caught behind. However, he had to go having made 4 runs. Anyway, the score had progressed to 109 for 7 after 26 overs.

Caine continued his spell and Kumar steered a short ball through extra cover for a single. Two wides followed after which new batsman Ashiq Haneefa took a huge swing and got a thick inside edge to send the ball to the fine leg boundary to get off the mark. Another clubbing shot produced a single to long on, after which an attempted quick single to square leg would have seen Ashiq comfortably run out, but Matt Harding’s shy at the stumps missed the target. Kumar elegantly drove the final ball of the over through extra cover for two more, to make it 11 runs off the over, and the Strikers had progressed to 120 for 7 after 27 overs.

Kumar’s patient approach yielded another single, this time to fine leg, after which Ashiq attempted to send the ball over cow corner, only to get an inside edge. Good fielding inches from the line prevented the boundary, although a couple of Strikers players attempted to convince the umpire it had crossed the line. However, Fatbear was directly in line and can confirm the ball did not cross the boundary, and the umpire was correct in only allowing two runs to be added to the total.

Ashiq took another big heave to the next ball, only to lose his off-stump. He was out for 10 and Strikers had subsided to 123 for 8 from 27.3 overs.

Number 10 Manoj Raju clubbed his first ball straight down the ground for a boundary. However, Thomas extracted a bit of bounce from the wicket next ball, which may have taken the outside edge, and wicket-keeper James Harding took a smack in the face. It would be very harsh to call it a chance, if it was one ! At the end of the over the score was now 127 for 8 off 28 overs.

Kumar decided to up the tempo, and slogged Caine to cow, but the wet outfield kept the runs down to two. The next ball saw Kumar go fishing, and keeper Harding took a smart catch in front of first slip. According to the scorebook Kumar was out for 16 and the score was 127 for 9 from 28.2 overs.

Arun Nair was the last man, and rather than letting a ball go for a wide outside off stump, he attempted to slap the ball, and a mis-field by the point fielder allowed a single. Manoj then took a single from a leg glance to end the over at 129 for 9.

Manoj then smacked the first ball from Thomas’ next over cow for six, and the fourth ball of the over was steered behind point for two more. However, a quicker ball from Thomas beat the attempted defensive prod, and struck the off-stump. Manoj was out for 13 and Arun was left stranded on 5 not out.

Thomas finished with figures of 6-0-19-4, Caine had 6-1-34-2, and the other bowling figures were Harding 6-1-19-0, Riley, 3-0-25-0 and Swain 9-0-37-4

Swindon Super Strikers were all out for 137 from 30 overs.

Lacock Innings

The tea interval game the opportunity to wander over to the Lacock Manor Tea-Shop where a large Café Latte cost £4. Most of the Strikers fielders were engaged in fielding drills prior to the start of the Lacock innings, and there were now blue skies overhead, although it was windy.

Richard Ingram, not the former Private Eye editor, and Jonathan Helps were the opening batsman for Lacock, whilst Manoj Raju was the opening bowler for the Strikers.

Manoj ambled in from a reasonably short run but had a strong body action, and bowled decidedly quicker than expected. His fifth ball was an attempted yorker which Ingram dug-out, but unfortunately for the Lacock batsman, the ball rolled onto the stumped and dislodged a bail. It was 0-1 after 0.5 overs.

Joe Swain was the new batsman and was beaten for pace from his first delivery, and the ball went through to the wicket-keeper.

Liben opened from the other end and began with a beamer. Helps, wearing just a cap rather than a helmet, helped the ball to fine leg for a single, and a no-ball was also signalled. Swain then produced a classy pick-up of his legs, for a one bounce boundary. Liben responded by beating the bat with the fourth legitimate ball of the over, and then induced an uppish drive from Swain that bounced just in-front of the point fielder. It was 6 for 1 off 2 overs.

Manoj continued with an impeccable line, with Helps digging out another yorker, and then playing and missing in another maiden over.

Liben induced Swain to go fishing, but was unable to keep up the required line and length, bowling two wides, before a lovely straight drive added four more to the total. The over ended with a steer for two backward of square to bring the total to 14 for 1 off 4 overs.

Manoj continued to keep the pressure on the Lacock batsmen with another maiden, and had a strangled appeal for LBW as Helps looked to play off his legs.

Swain drove Liben slightly uppishly for a single through the covers, but the bowler was successful when Helps played back to a ball that he probably should have played forward too. The ball may have kept a little low, but it beat the attempted defensive prod and crashed into the stumps. Lacock were now 15 for 2 in the 6^th over.

Left-hander De Heer was in at number four for Lacock, and played and missed at his second ball. At the end of the 6^th over the score was still 15 for 2.

Swain was now facing Manoj and a good piece of fielder by the gully fielder prevented a run. Manoj then sprayed the ball down the leg-side and was perhaps was lucky that four byes were signalled rather than wides. Manoj’s line improved and hit Swain on the pad. The huge appeal was declined by the umpire, indicting it was missing leg stump, but it was the Strikers’ turn to be unhappy at a decision.

At the end of the over Manoj had his fourth consecutive maiden and Lacock were 19 for 2 from 7 overs.

As spots of rain started to fall, Liben continued and Heer squeezed a single of his legs to get off the mar The next ball going wide down the leg side and hit Swain’s pad, leading to an enthusiastic LBW appeal from the bowler, which was quite laughable. Liben then bowled a wide, after which Swain clipped a full-toss off his legs for four more. At the end of the 8^th over Lacock had moved to 26 for 2.

The rain then became significantly heavier, forcing the players to leave the field and the covers being brought on. With the game evenly poised, but with no short term prospect of play continuing, Fatbear decided it was time to go to the pub !