1s fall to heavy defeat at home
Thame faced Banbury on Saturday, and after winning the toss and choosing to bat, Callum Russell (pictured below) got the innings off to a fine start with a fluent 40. Once again, however, Thame lost wickets in clusters and were indebted to an enterprising 39 not out from Hassam Mushtaq as they scrambled to 190.
A combination of some excellent batting from Banbury skipper Lloyd Sabin (64), and some uncharacteristically mixed bowling saw Banbury ease home for the loss of just three wickets.
Thame travel to Horspath next weekend.
2s back to winning ways
The 2s travelled to Shipton-under-Wychwood. Winning the toss and electing to bowl first on a soft wicket, saw a great start for the visitors. An intelligent and accurate spell of bowling from Alex Bell (5-31, pictured below), consistently picking up wickets, was backed up by sharp fielding and great catches from young wicket keeper Oli Sutcliffe. Thame continued to apply pressure by tight bowling from the spinners, Ben Buckland (2-20) and Dan Patey (3-23), which saw Shipton finish on an under par 121 all out.
In reply, Thame came out of the blocks flying thanks to an excellent partnership between Justin Avery (52) and Jack Aston (57*), who were both scoring at a strike rate over 100. Thame comfortably chased down the total with the loss of only 3 wickets, ensuring they remained top of the table.
The 2nd XI face Witney Mills at home next week.
3s frustrated by draw away to Cumnor
Having lost the toss, Thame were put into bat and reached 53-4 at 18 overs thanks mainly to an assured 31 by opener Andy Jinman. A middle order 5th wicket partnership of 43 by Ian McStay (32) and Vim Desai (24) helped the score to 115-6 at 35 overs. Thame’s tail then managed to push the score onto 158-9 at the close of the innings.
In reply, Cumnor openers struggled to gain any momentum against the opening bowlers Pete Tervet (1-21) and Nick Humphries (0-19 off 8 overs) as they reached 36-1 off 18 overs. The introduction of spinner Vim Desai (2-21, pictured below) and Ian McStay (2-25) reduced Cumnor to 75-5 off 37 overs but the Cumnor shop was long closed at the half way stage. The late introduction of Luke Hayes (2-2) hinted at what may have been but sadly the result was a draw with only a small silver lining of a winning draw and 17 points.
The 3s, now in 4th spot, next play bottom of the table Oxford and Bletchley Nondescripts at home.
4s bag valuable points in defeat to league leaders
This week the 4s took on league leaders Cropredy. Thame won the toss and put Cropredy into bat. The opposition soon took to the opening bowling, capitalising on the odd loose ball to race to 65-1 off the first 10 overs – Max Muncaster taking the first scalp clean bowling one of the top order. Thame then looked to spin to halt the run rate, paying dividends with Dan Constant (pictured below) recording his career best figures of 6-57 of 15 overs. Constant and others benefiting from some superb catching in the field, notably from Patrick Willasey-Wilsey and Lewis Ludlam. Cropredy made 210-9 off their 45 overs.
Batting once again proved tough going for Thame. Early wickets falling to some impressive seam bowling from Cropredy. Key batting from Josh Edworthy (37) and Pete McDermott (25) in the middle order helped Thame to 94 all out in response. Thame eventually bagging a valuable 10 points from their endeavours, cementing their position of 5th in Div 10.
Next week the 4s are on the road to Didcot 4s.
