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ISIS CRICKET CLUB 2010 Ground: Queens College, Abingdon Road, Oxford |
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Last Update: 05/09/2010 © Keith Whiter, April 2003 k.whiter@elsevier.com |
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2007 AGM - FIXTURE SECRETARY’S REPORT (keith Whiter) |
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The 2007 cricket season was probably the most badly rain-affected season in the club’s history, which together with the odd no-show from depleted opposition saw Isis C.C. lose seventeen of its planned matches for the year. Nevertheless, by rescheduling a couple of those and picking up some additional fixtures in the later months, I am proud of the fact that we were still able to complete 42 matches in a winning season, our first since 2003. Had there been no interruptions, we would have played against as many as 35 different opponents during the season, which speaks volumes about the quality of our list, our worldwide web exposure and the desire of other clubs to play against us, whether touring teams or local rivals. We typically play our toughest opposition at the start of the season, but I cannot think of any of the sides we played against this year that I would recommend we drop. Adding in club days such as the six-a-side and Chairman’s invitation matches, the variety and depth of cricket we offer our members is clear to see and a credit to a club whose foundation is and always will be friendly competition.
2007 skipper Nick Wyatt again led the appearances tally, playing in 31 of the available matches, followed closely by the young and ever-improving Dale Jacobs who played 30 games. Fifty different people represented Isis over the 2007 season, 27 of which played in five or more games.
The 2007 six-a-side was this year won by Charlton-on-Otmoor, who out-played last season’s victors United Oxford Hospitals in an unusually one-sided final. The competition was again marred by late withdrawals that this year left us with seven teams, four of which were produced by two clubs, Isis and Charlton. After winning all of their preceding games, the Isis A team made it through to the semi-finals but blew up against a determined Charlton A team. The Isis B team performed creditably too and won two of their three qualifying matches, only to go out in a bowl off against the eventual winners. In order to ensure a full entry I propose that we open up the competition to additional clubs in 2008 by invitation, although that may be at the cost of entering only one of the Isis teams, although we can hold one of team back to fill the gap in the event of late withdrawals.
The 2007 tour to Connaught, Ireland was a huge success, although a gruelling one in terms of journey time. Unfortunately, Galway let us down for a fixture although the Mayo team were splendid hosts for both the Saturday and Sunday fixtures, even if the standard of cricket was affected by the soft and barely playable Castlebar wicket. For 2008, I recommend to this AGM that the club try a tour of Amsterdam. The itinerary will again likely involve travel on the evening of Friday 23rd May, games on the Saturday and Sunday, and return travel on Monday 26th May. Travel to Holland should prove to be much easier, being less than an hour away from Heathrow, and flights with the budget airlines should not make costs prohibitive. There are a good number of clubs in the Amsterdam area, and the pitches are reportedly excellent.
Our first foray into the Friendly Cup provided the highlight of the season, where we jubilantly lifted the trophy following a hard-fought contest against a very capable and talented Moreton team, who will have regarded themselves as favourites on the day. There is no doubt that our victory was largely down to a sensational unbeaten 153 from Richard Stephenson, the club record individual score. The bowling and fielding performance that preceded it were also notable though, even if we did give maybe 40 runs too many away, when concentration and work-rate lapsed towards the end of the Moreton innings, and a couple of catches went begging. The two preceding games were also excellent with a narrow last-wicket victory in the opening game against Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and a fine win over Ipsden in the second, featuring possibly Isis’s best ever fielding and catching performance in living memory, which helped defend a good 210 score to see Isis home by 12 runs in a game that ebbed and flowed throughout. We were honoured to be invited to join this annual competition, and in the end did ourselves proud both on and off the field.
Another successful venture was our 20th anniversary Chairman’s Invitation XI match, which saw a splendid competition in fantastic sunny conditions. Isis won that day, although only after a late rally by the tail-order just saw us past the winning post. It was tremendous to see some old friends on the field again, and this is something we should definitely repeat, although I would recommend that we only do so every five years to keep the occasion special.
And so, the end of season statistics were that Isis played 30 weekend and 13 mid-week matches during the 2007 season and won 24 of those, with our best endeavours being in the weekend matches where after a difficult start we lost only 9 of the 30 games started. In midweek encounters we lost some very close encounters, games which we should probably have won (London Taverners and Appleton stick particularly in the mind) but sadly ended up winning only 5 of the 13 started. Nevertheless, the 2007 season can only be regarded as a resounding success, and one which despite the weather will be hard to follow in terms of excitement and success. Congratulations to the Captain and Vice-Captains who led the teams so admirably and did tremendous work off the field in ensuring that Isis continually fielded strong and capable teams. I for one am already longing for the winter months to pass quickly, and I am gagging for the 2008 season to start. |