The victorious Ambush that faced Uffington CC
Back (l-r) Stew Moss, Baz Floyd, Tim Lowe, Mark Westaby, Zubair Olympia
Fron (l-r) Cam Newton-Grain, Huw Neyroud, Steve Dobson, James Grist-Perkins, Hassan Olympia, Pete Bartlett
A murky but warm night at West Witney CC and the youngest
ever Ambush found themselves hunting Uffington’s white horses on home soil for
their penultimate midweek league fixture of the 2013 season.
Old Tiger, Baz Floyd, still standing in as skipper for the
holidaying Chris Grain won the toss and told his young Ambush to limber up
their bowling arms as he sent Uffington into bat.
Always keen, the Tigers’ young guns accepted their skipper’s
challenge and immediately formed a tight cordon as Newton-Grain and debutant
Zubair Olympia were offered first shots at Uffy’s openers Jones and Godfrey.
But the powerful batting duo weren’t about to let the young
upstarts have it all their own way and immediately set about breaking Floyd’s
aggressive fielding cordon, smashing boundary after boundary. And, as a
battered Newton-Grain and Zubair Olympia finished their opening spell without
drawing blood, it looked as though Uffington might repeat the home victory of
three weeks earlier.
A change of
pace brought no immediate change of fortunes for the Ambush as Jones and
Godfrey continued to maul James Grist-Perkins and Hass Olympia. But it was Hass
who drew first blood for the Tigers. Luring Jones into big shots in the hope
he’d give a catch in the deep, Hass’ bowling figures paid a heavy price before
the big-hitting Jones finally made his mistake. When he did finally top edge
one, it was Hass himself who got under the ball to take the catch off his own
bowling. The aggressive Jones should have been delighted by his contribution of
59 in a partnership of 106.
And Hass was involved again as Steve Dobson claimed the
wicket of the opener, Godfrey, as his first for the Tigers. Mistiming his shot,
Godfrey skied it and Hass was only too happy to take his second catch of the
evening. The opener eventually despatched for an excellent 44.
But with Uffington skipper, Daniel Painter, at the crease
and the scoreboard still ticking over nicely for the White Horses there would
still be plenty of work to do for the Tigers if they were going to give
themselves a decent target to chase down.
Dobson didn’t have to wait too long for his next wicket as
Uffy’s Fillery became the first duck of the evening. Clean bowled without
troubling the scorer in the slightest. For the first time in the evening, the
match began to swing in favour of the Tigers.
And when Cam Newton-Grain returned to bowl from the Burford
Road end to bowl the Uffington skipper for 16, the Tigers were delighted at having
their opponents at 137-4. Interestingly, Newton-Grain’s would be the only
wicket tonight for the trio of Tigers heavy artillery as fellow speed merchants
Zubair Olympia and Pete Bartlett worked hard without claiming wickets on this
occasion. There’ll be plenty more games for you to find those elusive wickets
fellas.
This was evening where youngsters would shine and Uffington
had their own in the form of the diminutive E. Greatrix. Playing cut shots that
many older batsmen would be proud of, the young man from Challow continued the
Uffington run accumulation. But as the quest for runs became desperate in the
final over, he would see his partner Taylor run out by bowler Tim Lowe as he
failed to make his crease after being sent back by young Greatrix. And he’d
also his brother become the third Uffington duck of the evening as batsman
turned bowler, Lowe, bowled him.
An Uffington total of 155 and it would be a tough run chase
for the young Tigers.
The big total forced Floyd into a last minute change of
openers as Stew Moss elected to drop down the order to make way for the
naturally aggressive Steve Dobson. And as Tim Lowe and Steve Dobson took to the
crease with the swagger of youth, absent skipper and batting supremo Chris
Grain would have been proud of them as they took the fight to Uffington.
Batting with the urgency that the Tigers’ situation
required, the openers balanced nippy running between the wickets with
controlled aggression for their boundaries as they kept up with the run ate set
for them.
It would be Steve Dobson who’d fall first as he went for a
big shot off Fillery and found himself caught in the deep for 41. The openers
had given the Ambush a solid foundation of 69 on the scoreboard but still
plenty more to do for the remaining batsman.
With his opening partner back in the pavilion, Tim Lowe
continued his assault on the Uffington bowlers with the reliable and
hard-to-remove Stewart Moss happy to play along. But with the score on 94 and
the game still on a knife-edge, Moss uncharacteristically played around a
straight ball from Fillery and was bowled for 7.
Now Hass Olympia has quickly become a favourite amongst
younger and older Tigers alike. He goes about his work cheerfully and often
spectacularly accepting every challenge put in front of him. And tonight would
be no different. After an excellent bowling and fielding performance, he was
looking to round a good night’s work with the bat.
He and Tim Lowe added another 16 before big Tim fell to the
same fate as his opening partner, this time a victim of the Uffington skipper.
And, like Steve Dobson, Tim Lowe had added a crucial 41 to the Tigers’ run
total.
Hass Olympia took up where Lowe and Dobson left off,
grabbing quick singles when he had to and boundaries where he could. Mark
Westaby joined him but was bowled by Taylor for a quick eight, followed by
keeper Huw Neyroud who was run out for 6. Cam Newton-Grain, hoping to grab some
late glory as the target dwindled along with the overs, was sent packing for a
duck as he went for a big drive off the bowling of Taylor.
And so it would be left to another popular young Tiger,
James Grist-Perkins, to settle the matter. With just three balls of the innings
remaining and four needed for a Tigers victory, James despatched a straight one
back past the bowler to secure the first Tigers victory of the league season.
He would finish with the winning four to his name whilst Hass Olympia improved his
batting average further with a fantastic 37 not out.
A fantastic game and a spectacular Tigers performance
against excellent opponents. Its what the West Oxon Midweek League is all about
isn’t it.
Congratulations and thanks to every Tiger who joined the
Ambush against Uffington CC. You really put in a shift and got what you
deserved.
Tigers, we salute you!
Click below for Uffngton batting and Tigers bowling performance
And click here for Tigers batting and Uffington bowling
Scoring courtesy of the numeric and totally decipherable Geoff Lowe. Thanks Geoff!
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