The beginning of Trinity term means different things to different people. For those who enjoy watching people dressed in white stand in fields for hours on end shouting silly phrases, it can mean one thing, and one thing only: the start of the cricket season.
Both male and female teams have started this season strongly, building on the runaway successes of last year. After a season which ended with the retention of the T-20, One-Day and Test varsity trophies, the men’s team decided to kick off their season with a tour of Sri Lanka, where new captain Matthew Winter and tour manager Bill Frewin led the Blues on a successful training and team building exercise. Birthplace of such cricket icons as Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya, the unique conditions made for an interesting change for cricketers brought up on green wickets and overcast skies.
Starting in Kandy, going through the capital Colombo to the test ground of Galle, the Blues played a host of teams, beating St Antony’s College, the University of Peradeniya, St Peter’s College, and the University of Jayawardenepura. A tough test for the Blues followed, the fi nal games being played against a very strong club side from Maggona. In games fraught with excellent cricket and high drama, the heroics of Agarwal, Mylavarapu and O’Gorman were not enough to prevent narrow losses. Back on home soil, pre-season has kicked off with games against St Edward’s and Teddington, whilst a number of OUCC players have joined the Oxford MCC (joint Oxford and Oxford Brookes) team, gaining valuable first-class experience. Abidine Sakande topped off a memorable game against Surrey bygaining the scalp of game-changing batsman (and insuff erable egoist) Kevin Pietersen.
Looking forward to the season, Winter said, “Though we have lost a couple of very influential players, we have got some really exciting talent joining us. “Freshers such as Hughes, Gnodde, Claughton and Harrison have already made a real impact on the side, and our all-rounder Owain Jones has returned to us having missed last season, which strengthens the team considerably.”
The women’s team finished their 2014 season brilliantly by thrashing their Cambridge counterparts, winning the T-20 game by eight wickets before batting from Tina Gough, Ellie Bath and bowling from Ridhi Kashyap secured the One-Day varsity trophy comprehensively by 140 runs. The team kicked off the season with a resounding 166-run win against Cambridge on Wednesday 22nd April. The victory was led by superb contributions in particular from Eleanor Bath and debutante Sian Kelly with the bat, and fellow debutante Immy Brown with the ball.
Training hard all winter, captain Ellie Ingram and incoming President Ridhi Kashyap are “full of confidence” about continued success in both league and varsity, describing their squad as being composed of “talented returning and new players all eager to contribute”. In the ‘big-three’ family of established university sport, cricket can come across as the slightly awkward older sibling. A switch to pay-per-view television coverage and the recent stagnation of the England team have invariably damaged the state of cricket on a national level.
The successes of last year have demonstrated the thriving and active cricket scene at Oxford, which will hopefully translate into another double-sweep of varsity trophies this summer. It would be “wonderful”, says Winter, “if students came to watch the games this summer”. With both teams composed of experienced Blues and exciting young talent, from a full range of years and colleges, dedicated to playing (and winning) with an exciting brand of stylish cricket, I’m sure many will.
