Cropredy batting 2nd scored 87-2 Will French 27no; Joe Fox 26no and Luke Cherry 3-27 beat Banbury Veterans 81-6 Andy Cross 27 and 1-25.

Banbury batting 1st scored 156-0 Andy Prior 29no; Richard Simpson 26no; Josh Taylor 26no; Ben Cross 25no & 1-12 and Jack Lamden 25no beat Chipping Norton 47-6 Liam Manley 3-18.

Shipston batting 1st scored 96-6 Marcus Ireland 39no & 2-19; Ryan Worthington 16 and Dan Knight 2-31 beat Hook Norton 56–6 Adam Bennett 15.

Sandford batting 1st scored 127-3 George Welch 30no; Chris Thompson 27no; Tom Goffe 2-17 and Max Harris 1-26 beat Ruscote Lions 75-6 Sami 32 and Naveed 2-22.

To the Oxfordshire Cricket Community

2021 was a fantastically successful year for all cricket in Oxfordshire and we should all be very proud of what has been achieved both on and off the field. Our plans for 2022 are even more adventurous. Despite the challenges of Covid, we all pulled together and came out stronger for it. At this time of reflection, we should always take time to remember those less fortunate than ourselves and be thankful for how lucky we are. 

On behalf of the Board and Workforce of Oxfordshire Cricket, may we take this opportunity of wishing you a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Chris

Kind regards

Chris Clements

Chairman On behalf of the Directors

Congratulations to Shipston as Champions by a single point from Charlbury!

Shipston batting first scored 131-5 Marcus Ireland 34 & 3-21; Jack Murphy 30; R Worthington 22 and B Weston 2-6 beat Cropredy A 53-6 Josh Tustian 19; Fergus Lynch 15 and J Sparkes 2-42

Charlbury batting first scored 145-3 T Eaton 29no; R Knight 28 & 1-17; S Smith 27 beat Hinton 97-2 M Bokhart 27no and Shaun Gardiner 26no

Sandford A batting first scored 131-6 Lewis Anson 39; Martin Anson 22 and Will Hutchinson 2-27 beat Hooky Renegades 117-6 Keiron Scott 25 and Ethan Bennett 23

Silverstone batting first scored 144-4 Henry Smith 34 & 1-18; Sach Patel 31 & 1-43 beat Marston St Lawrence 132-6 Liam Lake 58; Tim Brookes 2-28; and Dave Robson 1-30

DIVISION 1 starts on January 11^th.

Sussex Cricket is delighted to announce that Harrison Ward has signed a contract for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The deal makes the 22-year-old available predominantly for white-ball cricket while allowing him to complete his studies at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

The left-handed batter and part-time off-spinner made his first team debut this summer, appearing in three first-class, two List-A and six T20 matches, including Sussex Sharks’ Vitality Blast semi-final at Edgbaston.

Born in Oxford, Harrison is a product of the talent development partnership between Oxfordshire and Sussex. He is one of two players – alongside James Coles – to have followed this route to the professional squad at The 1^st Central County Ground.

After signing his contract, Harrison said: “I’m delighted to have signed my first professional contract with the club that I’ve been involved with since the age of 15.

“I want to thank the club for giving me this opportunity and, with a winter behind me, hopefully I can contribute to winning games of cricket for Sussex next season. We have a good group of young players and, if we work hard, hopefully we can build something special at the club.

“I would also like to thank my family for supporting me through the various lockdowns when I wasn’t contracted, and also Oxfordshire cricket for their support with the partnership with Sussex.”

James Kirtley, Sussex’s T20 Head Coach, commented: “Harrison showed some of his ability at Finals Day with the bat with some very strong shots. He is a more than capable off spinner a very fine fielder. Harrison delivered some great skill last summer which allowed him to force his way into the T20 side.

“At Sussex we understand that not every player will make the traditional journey from being a four-day player and then adapting to limited overs cricket. Harrison is at the opposite end of the spectrum, and I personally think it is a sign of great foresight that we understand that players can mature in different ways and that all types of players deserve that opportunity.”

Sussex Championship & One-Day Head Coach, Ian Salisbury said: “Harrison was around the squad a couple of years ago and things didn’t quite work out for him, but since then he’s shown real determination and worked extremely hard to earn another opportunity.

“We saw glimpses of what he could be capable of last season, and he’s made it clear through his approach that he is absolutely committed to building on those and making it as a pro cricketer.

“We want to build a squad of multi-format players, but there’s more than one way of achieving that. Harrison’s skills currently lean towards the white-ball game, but you just have to look at a player like Davey Warner to see that that’s no barrier to ultimately achieving success in the longer form. Our aim as coaches is to help Harrison do that.”

With the recent news of Dylan Driscoll and Zach Lion-Cachet both being awarded a place on the Sussex Academy, we recently spoke to Dylan. 

Dylan (16) had a successful summer which saw him selected to represent South and West U15s at Bunbury. For Oxfordshire’s U15s he scored a total of 461 runs which included three centuries. He also played for the County Men’s 2nd XI as well as also play for Sussex U15s which saw him score a century on his debut. The pathway journey for Dylan started at the age of 10 when he was in the U10s. At that age, he scored 135 not out v Norfolk at Malvern.

Q – What were your immediate thoughts of being offered a place? And what does it mean to you to be in the Sussex Academy? At a young age?

A – I was over the moon, it has been one of my goals for the past few years to get into the Sussex Academy, so I was very happy and can’t wait for it to kick on.

Q – So recently at the weekend, you went up to Hove? So what was your induction like? What did it entail? What things did you do as part of it?

A – So we went down, I went down early that early the day, had a physio screening with the physio. And then we went over to one of the meeting rooms where we were given a speech about the academy and how it’s run and all the things involved in it. Then we went back over to the indoor Academy where we had the net session with one of the batting coaches, did some bowling with James Kirtley and then we went in the gym for a bit to do a little bit of our programme that we’ve been set.

Q – With yourself still being at school, how is it gonna work with you being on the academy.

A – So we’ve had quite a bit of talk with the school and Sussex about how we manage all my time. And we’ve come up with a good plan of how we can involve the academy and school at the same time, getting a good range of everyone.

Q – if you could pick one or two things, what are you most looking forward to about being on the Sussex Academy?

A – I think the main thing is the variety of coaches you get there, the high-class coaches, from different people, and just the experience with people that I haven’t really got a chance to know yet but it will be good over time.

Q – With yourself having played for the under 15 In the summer, how easy has it been to settle in with meeting some of the players and the coaches that have been working with you?

A – So I know a couple of players and coaches from the game I played in summer, so it’s a bit easier getting stuck in the environment which made it a lot easier for me.

Q – Last season you were involved in Bunbury what was that experience like for you?

A – It was a whole different game. We’re playing against the best kids in England, different level of experience, everyone’s on the top of their game. And you really have to bring your best and do as well as you can, a good challenge!

With the recent news of Dylan Driscoll and Zach Lion-Cachet both being awarded a place on the Sussex Cricket Academy, we recently spoke to Zach. 

Zach (17) had a successful summer which saw him score a hundred for Oxfordshire U18s against Sussex at Blackstone. He then went on to play for Sussex’s U18s, Sussex 2s, Oxfordshire’s County Men and 2nd XI. This included a century against Wiltshire 2nd XI and hit an impressive 73 on his County Men debut. The pathway journey for Zach started at the age of 8 when he was in the U10s. He scored 115 not out v Wiltshire at the Bryanston U11 Festival.  In 2019 he was selected for South & West U15s who went on to win the 50 over and t20 competitions at the Bunbury Festival alongside James Coles.

Q – What were your immediate thoughts on being offered a place? What does it mean to you to be in the Sussex academy?

A-  I was delighted to be invited to join the Sussex Academy and it wasn’t a hard decision to accept the place. It is an amazing opportunity to be a part of such a special Club and have the chance to progress my cricket in an environment where they are promoting young cricketers. 

Q – You recently did your academy induction, what was that like, what did it entail?

A – The Academy induction was excellent as I had a look around the facilities at Hove, completed a gym session and had a net session in the indoor school. I also had the chance to meet some of the different coaches and S&C staff.

Q – With yourself still being at school, how will it work with being in the academy?

A – I will be training twice a week with Alan Duncan and other coaches who will come to school to do sessions with me. During the holidays, I will be spending time down in Sussex to complete sessions at Hove.

Q – What are you looking forward to about being in the academy?

A – I am looking forward to being a part of training sessions with the pros and having different opportunities in the summer to play alongside different people. I am really looking forward to going down to Sussex in mid-December where I have training sessions with the pros. I am looking forward to meeting other players on the Academy and am excited to work with all the specialist coaches.

Oxfordshire Cricket is delighted to announce that pathway players Zach Lion-Cachet, and Dylan Driscoll have both been awarded a place on Sussex County Cricket Club’s Academy for 2021/2022.

The news marks an exciting time in our partnership with Sussex, which was just recently extended for a further five years. Both boys will go on to follow the likes of Harrison Ward, James Coles and Harry Startin who were the last Oxfordshire Pathway Graduates to be awarded a place on Sussex’s Academy. 

Zach (17) had a successful summer which saw him score a hundred for Oxfordshire U18s against Sussex at Blackstone. He then went on to play for Sussex’s U18s, Sussex 2s, Oxfordshire’s County Men and 2nd XI. This included a century against Wiltshire 2nd XI and hit an impressive 73 on his County Men debut. The pathway journey for Zach started at the age of 8 when he was in the U10s. He scored 115 not out v Wiltshire at the Bryanston U11 Festival.  In 2019 he was selected for South & West U15s who went on to win the 50 over and t20 competitions at the Bunbury Festival alongside James Coles.

Dylan (16) also had a successful summer which saw him selected to represent South and West U15s at Bunbury. For Oxfordshire’s U15s he scored a total of 461 runs which included three centuries. He also played for the County Men’s 2nd XI as well as also play for Sussex U15s which saw him score a century on his debut. The pathway journey for Dylan started at the age of 10 when he was in the U10s. At that age, he scored 135 not out v Norfolk at Malvern.

Matthew Barnes – Performance Director at Oxfordshire Cricket said:

“Dylan and Zach are players of high potential whose dominant performances have deservedly been rewarded with a place on the Sussex Cricket Academy this year. Academy selection has been hard earned, and is an achievement that both they and their families should be very proud of.

I take this opportunity on behalf of everyone at Oxfordshire Cricket in congratulating both Dylan and Zach on their Academy selection and to wish them every success with their transition into the Academy at Sussex Cricket.”

Zach Lion-Cachet said:

“I was delighted to be invited to join the Sussex Academy and it wasn’t a hard decision to accept the place. It is an amazing opportunity to be a part of such a special Club and have the chance to progress my cricket in an environment where they are promoting young cricketers. “

Dylan Driscoll said:

“I was over the moon, it has been one of my goals for the past few years to get into the Sussex Academy, so I was very happy and can’t wait for it to kick on.”

Phil Hudson – Interim Academy Director at Sussex CCC said:

‘Whilst the previous 18 months was challenging for all associated with the Sussex Cricket Pathway the performances of several of last years academy intake in the first team environment demonstrated that the programme continues to produce cricketers with the attributes needed to perform at the highest level. The 2021/22 Academy intake is an exciting group of players who have all been invited to join the programme for the first time. The group covers all disciplines of the game and all those included produced outstanding performances for Sussex and Oxfordshire. I am looking forward to supporting this talented group of cricketers further to ensure their continued development, working alongside new Academy Director Mike Yardy’ 

The top of the table clash resulted in Charlbury prevailing. Shipston batted first and were restricted to 83 all out. Dan Knight, 19 and Max Morris, 16 top scored. Matt Jenkinson 3-21 and Charlie Sinton, 1-20 were the pick of the bowlers for Charlbury.
Charlbury reached 85-3 with Rob Knight, 27 not out and Matt Doran, 23 the pick of the batters.
This leaves Charlbury on 132 points with Shipston on 131.

Silverstone beat Hooky Renegades in a tight game. Batting first Silverstone scored 155-4.  Ryan Knight, 42 not out, Sam Patel, 25 and Ben Cooper, 24 top scored.
Hooky almost made it but came up 7 runs short, making 148-4. Kieran Scott, 49 not out and James McPhee, 36 almost got them over the line. Sam Patel bowled well with
2-50.

The young Cropredy side made 120-3. Toby Dunlop, 36 not out, Josh Tustain, 28 not out batted well.
Marston St Lawrence reached 121-4 in the final over. Matt Riddle, 51 not out and Ryan O’Sullivan, 30 not out saw Marsto home. Sam Coggins bowled well with figures of 3-40.

The final game of the evening resulted in a win for Sandford A over Hinton. Hinton could only manage 69 all out with Will Peel Yates top scoring. Sandford A reached 70-1 easily with Martin Anson, 22 not out and Alex Tebb 21 scoring the majority of their runs.
Matt Harris bowled well, with 2-29.