Isis C.C. 2009 AGM Captain

ISIS CRICKET CLUB 2010

Ground: Queens College, Abingdon Road, Oxford

Last Update: 29/08/2010

k.whiter@elsevier.com

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2009 AGM - Captain’s report (Nick Wyatt)

What an amazing season - both for the club and for me. The birth of my first child was always going to change my life for the better, and when William Nicholas Wyatt was born on August 27th the dream of opening the bowling with my son became a real possibility! This huge change in my life also meant that this was going to be a big season for me with Isis. It was always going to be my last season as captain, and I had hoped that I would bowl well and take lots of wickets before my availability for the club thins (just a touch).

It has been my favourite season as captain. I feel that I have been able to use the knowledge that I have built up over recent years to good effect, play well myself, have the respect and backing of my team-mates and continue to instil the philosophy I believe we should be working towards - ‘inclusion and development of players old and new’. The fact that we lost more games than we won was undoubtedly disappointing (vice versa has become the holy grail in recent years), but this was a season full of positives for the club. We have seen new players arrive (welcome to Alf, who has bowled and batted well in his first season), and Isisans young, and not so young, reach new highs.

The summer, as ever, finished with a thrilling fixture away to Ipsden. It would have been great to win (or draw) such a fantastic match, but the fact that we almost defended a score of 125 was of great credit to a side who have, at times, fielded and bowled superbly this summer (Luke’s boundary catch epitomised the commitment we have seen in certain games).

Five months earlier, the season had begun with five defeats in the first six games, being followed by five victories on the bounce! These games saw two five-wicket hauls for myself and fifties for Olly (x2), Jules, a 49 from Rich Stephenson and a brilliant 42 from Nelly. These opening matches produced some real crackers - a three wicket win, chasing 100 against Aston Tirrold; a four run defeat to Dorchester; beating Wytham by one run, with Lester, Jonners and Dave P all batting well (and the honourable Bob Werlinger being less aggressive with the willow); a ten wicket mauling of OUP and Keith Whiter and Nelly walloping us to victory over Blackwells! In this spell we also secured our silverware for the season. The Appleton six-a-side was a cold and blustery occasion, but Isis warmed to the situation better than anyone else, and in Rich Stephenson and Jonathan Ponsford we had two fine hitters to lead us to fairly comfortable victories in all of our games. The last game of this winning run was our first match on tour. For your pleasure, an edited version of the tour report follows:

After a brisk check-in the Isis crew hopped into a taxi-bus and headed towards the clubhouse of local side Temple Cloud. The village team (Rich Appleyard’s local club) were entertaining a Watchet 2nd XI in a league game, and they cruised to victory in front of their biggest crowd of the season. Along the short boundary the Isis rabble clapped, cheered, drank and gambled - the batsmen admiring the straw-coloured wicket and the tiny boundaries; the bowlers quivering as the ball sailed to the boundary following the merest of tickles from the batsman. Isis would return the following day to play a ‘classic’ against a local pub side.

As the evening drew in the boys headed back towards the hotel for a quick shower before meeting in the hotel bar for a pint or two - Rich Appleyard took a bubble bath causing us to be somewhat delayed!
Dale Jacobs lacks experience when it comes to playing drinking games (I’d like to say he learned as he played - but I’ve never seen anyone fall for the left hand drinking rule so many times, whilst already consuming as a punishment for not being able to remember his own rules in 21’s). Bristol hosts its fair share of stags and hens. We saw The Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, Bananaman, Superman and all their friends. With time ticking on, and the thought of Wiblin (late arrival) joining the party whilst in the vicinity of a hen and her chicks, we headed out of the hotel and down towards a local cider bar. An hour (Olly was in charge of the map) later and we were all ready for a stiff drink. As young-pup of the touring party Dale was just about to get exactly that, as a traditional cask of 8.4% cider was kindly selected for him by his good friends. Fortunately he drank his half pint slower than Dave Penhallurick bowls/Wiblin runs the first run, and the teenage bowling sensation (dressed as ever in his ridiculous sunglasses) was beginning to get frisky as Wiblin arrived to point out every short skirt Dale might miss. Hosts Andy James and Rich Appleyard then herded us off towards a vodka bar - surely the very words spell trouble!! After a few racks, containing various flavoured potions, a somewhat jaded (drunken) crew headed out onto the streets of Bristol. For some it was time to stagger towards a comfy hotel bed, whilst younger members embarked upon an important mission of enlightenment (see Dale Jacobs to become further abreast of this).

When we did gather together for brunch a veritable feast was had by all, and the opportunity was taken for those that had accompanied Jacobs Jnr to spill the beans as to why he was grinning like a Lester Whitby after five pints. Needless to say whatever had tickled Jugsy’s fancy, he was quite keen to revisit her again that evening! Gossip shared, we were gratefully picked up once more by our taxi-driver Buster; and on arrival at the ground we were allowed to nurse our hangovers by batting first. Joe, in particular, looked white as a sheet. The pre-match warm-up highlighted the amount of cider still left in the system, as our attempts to impress the local side with our athleticism and catching skills were short lived due to injury and poor judgement. A short boundary and a slope had led to great excitement amongst the Isis willow wielders - indeed it had been literally hours since we’d seen Wiblin so goggle-eyed and dribbling at the mouth. Yet early wickets put Isis firmly on the back-foot. After a solid 42 from Rich Stephenson, we were fortunate that Roy and Luke had joined us for the day and Blatchford Snr went about pulling three early deliveries for four to put us back on course for a respectable score. Wiblin also chipped in with a cheeky 30 - including a glorious six and a ridiculous five (both of which we’ll be hearing about for decades to come)! With 164 on the board Isis had to work darn hard for victory on what was a tiny ground compared to Queens and SSJ. Both with ball, and in the field, Isis kept grinding away in balmy conditions though, with Whiter and Wyatt eventually draining the scoring opportunities out of the Ring O’Bells XI. A satisfying win often makes the world seem a brighter place, but as we sat on the outfield after the game, beer in hand, sun beating down, two balloons drifting overhead, there wasn’t a place in the world that any of us would rather be (apart from Dale maybe, who was distracted by the call of a wild cat or dog out across the rolling hills). Isis wouldn’t be properly on tour without consuming enough curry to blow down the third pig’s house, so no sooner had Richard Appleyard taken another bubble bath we were heading towards our evening (10pm) meal. From the luke-warm to the bloomin hot a good feast was had by all.

Monday morning brought drizzle and uncertainty, but after consuming several piglets and a cask of orange juice Isis headed north towards Leonard Stanley. Lester’s 50 not out and a tidy 21 from Brendan Lewis were the only highlights. Leonard Stanley had one or two big hitters in their team; with several of the Isis attack being despatched into local hedgerows and gardens! A quick pint afterwards saw the 2009 tour brought to an end in the best possible way. All-in-all a fantastic weekend.

The next game after tour saw Isis continue to enjoy themselves. Victory over Quokkers came thanks to three wickets from Roy and great batting from Luke (43) and Brendan (53). It is worth noting at this point that although we were short of massive team totals this season, we were blessed with some fine contributions from a range of batsmen! Fine fifties were enjoyed by Olly, Lester, Rich Stephenson, Rich Bubblebath, Young Harold, Brendan, Chris Tarratt and Jules. I was particularly gutted to hear that Harry had more than doubled his best score for Isis with many regular players not being there to toast his achievement. I am delighted that he and Luke are quickly becoming shining examples of the Isis Batting Academy. Ten-wicket wins come in one of two categories: embarrassing mauling of weakened team, or, glorious, enjoyable win over old rivals. Guess which bracket our one-sided lambasting of Oxford United Hospitals falls into! This was a Twenty-20 match where our opposition scored about 80 off the first ten overs - we looked doomed. Then tight bowling and a brace apiece for Keith Whiter, Joe and myself (plus run-outs for Jonners, Jakey and Joe) saw Hospitals bowled out for a good score of 123. In reply Olly (44) and Lester (a most pleasurable 69) dispatched the ball to all corners of the ground, whilst Jonathan (at number three) clapped politely as he waited, and waited, and waited, for a wicket that was never to fall!

This one-sided affair was in stark contrast to the three matches which followed it. Firstly we won by two wickets over at Kempsford (Roy and I sharing seven wickets, and Jack making it clear who’s arm you do and don’t run to). We made hard work of chasing down their total of 93, but Paul Jacobs, Keith Whiter and Keith Ponsford coolly showed everyone else that reaching double-figures was indeed possible. We than failed to chase down a bizarre score of 130 for four against OCC (Jonners taking three wickets and top scoring with 27), and a few days later Lord Williams’s beat us by four runs in a high scoring affair. June meandered into July with several more victories, including a strange game against Aston Village, where our top four all retired at 25, we had five different catchers, a run out, and King Herod took three for nine! In our victory over RT Harris it is also worth noting a fine 40 from Sir Peter Wiblin, which he followed up with another 40 in a 47-run win over Saxlingham, where Olly blasted 94 not out and KW took 4-20.

Games in mid-July saw us mostly defeated or watching the rain fall - although Rich Stephenson enjoyed a 69, Joe took 4-16 and Jack Wells established himself as an Isisian. Mid-August saw us return to winning ways. Firstly Wytham were put to the sword as Jonathan smashed 39 and Chris Tarratt walloped 52 as we set our beloved visitors a target of 142 to win. They only fell 80 runs short bless them, with Jonners taking 3-6 and Nick Hardy finishing an expensive spell with figures of 3-0. Even Olly Walter was drafted into the pace attack to contain our biggest rivals! Next came a good victory over Probation All Stars. Then came the highlight of my season, which was, ironically, with the bat. It gave me huge pleasure to be involved in a hundred partnership with my life long friend (and fellow Isis all-rounder) Olly Walter. The club was however thankfully saved from having a number 11’s name listed alongside the Isis 4th wicket record partnership (112), as our unbeaten stand of 104 saw Isis to victory over a young Kempsford side. Keith Whiter, who had a fine season with the bat, then top scored with 39 in a frustrating defeat at Wootton. Victory over University Offices was a rather one-sided affair, where Lester batted particularly well. This nine-wicket win was followed up by our last victory of the season - an even more one-sided game against Oxford Mail. Lester and Olly were both undefeated as we posted 131 off 17 overs. In their innings we then used nine bowlers - including two overs of mesmerising spin from Paul Jacobs.

The season ended with a run of defeats, but it was nice to see John Cripps, Wib, Dave P and in particular Harry Stoneman make runs. Harry even took a couple of wickets!! The Friendly Cup Final was to be one of many really close, exciting games. Good knocks from Dave P and Jakey helped us hobble to a score of 138, before we took to the field with four of our 11 suffering from injuries. Once again though our fielding and bowling was of a high standard, with Jonathan Ponsford taking 3-25 in a fast, aggressive spell where Isis crowded the bat. Joe Walter then took 3-20 and ‘Safe Hands Wyatt’ took two sharp catches, as Dorchester wobbled and creaked to their target. And so, the thriller at Ipsden then rounded the season, and my tenure as captain, off nicely. KW and Jack took three wickets apiece as we almost defended 125.

This just leaves me with one or two really important thank yous. Captaining a cricket team like Isis brings with it a huge range of highs. Seeing people make their first 50, take their first wicket for the team or watching part-time wicket-keepers snaffle amazing one-handed catches, all give you an amazing buzz as skipper. Then there are the ‘off’ days; the days when we field poorly, don’t fight hard enough with the bat or bowl waywardly. Either way, the support of your committee and core players is of paramount importance. It has been great to have three good Isis friends as my vice-captains this season. I want to thank each of them most profoundly for their efforts in helping to get teams together, their advice on and off the pitch and their contributions with bat, ball and keeper’s gloves. Lester, Joe and Jakey you are a credit to Isis Cricket Club! The day-to-day running of the club can be easily taken for granted. No-one at Isis puts in more time and effort, throughout the calendar year, than Keith Whiter. Once again we were blessed with a fantastic range of fixtures old and new. The Isis website is also something which really gives our club the edge over other cricket teams, and it should not be forgotten that maintaining the vast array of pages that can be found at www.isiscc.org.uk is a time consuming task. It has been a most frustrating injury-hit summer for Keith Ponsford. I am sure we all wish our esteemed chairman a full recovery in time for next season. For not only does he take many a wicket in the under 16’s category, but Keith is of course the face of Isis. No one else would have sacrificed their spare time as much as KP has this season if they were unable to play. He has tirelessly attended games to meet new Isis players and welcome visiting teams, whilst making every effort to ensure that Martin’s beer barrels continue to tick over nicely. As you start to tire of my waffle I should like to reignite your fires with the thought that Pete Wiblin will shortly be talking you through his spreadsheets! Wib, a man who really has an eye for a good figure, has once again ensured that Isis has a much healthier bank balance than most county sides. Wib, we thank you for keeping the club in such a fine state. No one else is better suited to chasing Nelly across the car park in their pants with a wad of money in their hands than you. It was also great to see our President Ray Cherry back playing again this summer. My penultimate vote of thanks goes to Olly Walter. Not only is he organising a mighty fine piss-up next month, but more importantly Olly has played a most notable part in guiding me through my three seasons in charge.
And finally, most importantly of all, I would like to thank everyone here tonight. As members of Isis Cricket Club you are blessed with playing for a fantastic side - one made so by the camaraderie of its growing group of players! 56 players, around half of whom are members, have represented Isis CC this summer….you should be most proud to be one of them. I thank you for your umpiring, scoring, to those who have dragged the kit around, to those who have cajoled friends into playing, to those who have made teas, prepared pitches and given people lifts. I wish you all a healthy, happy winter, and a successful season next year! A toast, quite simply, to Isis!

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