Dark and gloomy for our visit to the bucolic setting of Garsington. The wicket looked dry and worn, and having lost the toss for the 13th time this season, we were invited to bat first.

P. Cherry and B. Sykes opened for Chearsley, the former coming into the game in good form and looking so, confidently driving the first ball of the innings for four. The Garsington bowling improved, with one bowler racking up three consecutive maidens, as a steady start saw us 26-0 off the first ten overs. We then lost Ben for 13, just as he was picking up the tempo, but M. Claridge looked in good nick as he started positively, hitting his second ball for four and finding the boundary every over. Despite looking set for a decent score, Mark was trapped LBW for 22, the team 57-2. E. Lloyd, up the order after a promising cameo last week, joined Paul at the crease. Sensible batting from the pair ensued, as each looked relatively comfortable despite the occasional uneven bounce, and the score ticked along steadily. 53 were added for the 3rd wicket before Garsington changed their wicket keeper and brought him onto bowl; this worked as Ed miscued the bowler's long-hop loosener, caught for 26 (110-3 off 31 overs). With 14 overs to go, each of the incoming batsmen attacked, with varying degrees of success, and wickets fell at regular intervals. Paul was finally caught for 49, but the team reached 169, all out in the 45th and final over, a decent enough score in challenging conditions.

The weather remained overcast and blustery for the Garsington innings, and N. Babington and H. Lazaruk opened the bowling. The former took a while to find rhythm, opening up with a hattrick of wides, and the latter bowled a little short, as Garsington made a good start (29-0 off the first 6 overs). The opposition then channelled their inner Chearsley, taking a suicidal single to Harry, who made no mistake with a simple run out. Nick kept things tight, and Harry struck again, this time with the ball, trapping the surviving opener LBW for 12, a big wicket, having made 79 against us in the reverse fixture (42-2). J. Wright replaced Harry with the ball, but struggled a little in the windy conditions, and the opposition successfully attacked Mark, as they added 93 for the third wicket. Two bowling changes brought us back into the game, as D. Stratford struck to remove the No. 3 for 55, and Ed Lloyd bowled the No. 4 for 35 (144-4), before Duncan picked up another quick wicket as a nervy shot was skied to J. Burnham at square leg (145-5). Garsington seemed keen to end the game as quickly as possible, as incoming batsmen came in swinging from ball 1, as Ed picked up two further wickets, but the approach just about paid dividends as the opposition reached their target with 3 wickets to spare.

Full scorecard: https://www.cherwellcricketleague.com/scorecard.php?MatchID=15801

A reasonable performance despite defeat as we remain safely in mid table, picking up enough points to comfortably guarantee survival. One final home game to look forward to with no pressure, as we look to end the season on a high [TM].