Your Oxford
Get involved: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting 'OXFORD NEWS' to 80360 or email »
CRICKET: Champs off to a flying start
8:27pm Sunday 11th May 2008
Oxford got the defence of their title off to a perfect start with a 69-run victory against last season's runners-up Slough at Romanway on Saturday in the Home Counties Premier League Division 1.
A cracking all-round team display, highlighted by a brilliant run out from Jack Brooks, secured Oxford's success with 13 balls to spare over the side they pipped for the title on countback.
Put in to bat, Oxford were reeling at 65-4 before New Zealander Rajiv Sharma and Ian Crosby saw them safely through to lunch without further loss.
After the interval, Sharma was dismissed for 37, and Crosby was joined by the returning Patrick Jobson, who missed last season through a golfing injury.
The pair put on 90 runs for the sixth wicket, with Crosby being dismissed eventually for an aggressive 76, which came off only 86 balls Jobson remained unbeaten on 41 as Oxford posted a challenging 224-9 off their 66 overs.
In reply, both Brooks and Philip Evans picked up early wickets.
Slough's captain Bobby Sher played a resilient innings until he was brilliantly run out by Brooks.
This proved to be the turning point, and Sharma, Brooks and Rupert Evans cleaned up the tail to give Oxford victory with 13 balls to spare.
All-rounder Sharma completed a fine debut, taking 3-21.
Your sayYourOxford
Add your comment
Register for a FREE The Oxford Times account and you can have your say on today's news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.
Please register now or sign in below to continue.
In this section
Sponsored Links
Editor's choice
The Mole and Chicken, Easington, near Thame
One of the pictures on this page gives a good impression of the delights to be enjoyed at the Mole and Chicken on one of those sunny days that now seem as far as can be from our present situation.
Early taste of Christmas wine
Next week is The Oxford Times Wine Club Christmas Tasting and, with just four weeks to go until Christmas Day, it is an excellent opportunity to sample a specially-selected range of wines for the festive season.
Dylan Moran: New Theatre, Oxford
‘I was the first person to discover that if you infected a person with Marmite, he would stand up and bark at the moon.” “Everybody under the age of 35 has the intelligence of raspberry jam.” “Children can hear vegetables hiding.”
Sleeping Beauty, Chipping Norton Theatre
There’s nothing King Couer-de-Loup likes more than a good battle: “We’ll march on King Florizel’s wet and wicked army,” he proclaims. His Queen is not so sure, however. She would rather her husband stayed around: there’s the christening of their daughter Princess Aurora to arrange for a start. And he certainly can’t go out and fight looking like that: “Your chain mail’s got a ladder in it,” she wails.
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
