One hardly needs to be Dickens to describe the splendid day that had seen both the men’s and women’s MCC teams emerge victorious against their Oxford CC counterparts after a day of high-class, entertaining cricket.

The shadows had hardly begun to outrun their objects by the time the MCC women had rounded off a great session of bowling to leave the Oxford ladies reeling at 94-9 off their 20 overs, 28 runs short of the target. A sizeable crowd had been treated to some quality bowling and batting and were now gathering for the presentations.

The Oxford women had suffered a shaky start in their chase against some tight opening spells by Gemma Porter and Davis. Oxford’s talismanic stalwart Genevieve Porter fell to Davis while Gemma Porter accounted for Trishan Holder, much to the disappointment of the crowd, but particularly to a merry mob of youngsters (boys and girls) who had stopped their nets and gathered to watch, hoping for some elegant Caribbean stroke-play from their new hero. Izzy Kirby, fresh from an academic-cricketing pilgrimage to Canterbury, then joined the doughty Eleanor Bath to restore some credibility to the Oxford total. Their stand of 29 was Oxford’s highest but then Bath fell to a well-taken run-out from Amanda “Steamer” Potgeiter, and Kirby was removed by Danielle Warren.

Thereafter, the Oxford innings’ Manhattan chart would be more descriptive of a small town in the rural Midwest rather than the iconic outline of the Big Apple. However, the innings continued to be entertaining and kept Joe Ward, their dedicated scorer (and here moonlighting for the Oxford men’s team), fairly busy. As is her wont, Emilia Bartram struck some lusty blows and was on the verge of bringing the Oxford innings
back on track before aggravating an injury and hobbling to a run-out. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as MCC turned the screw although Numa Shah and Ridhi Kashyap shared an entertaining stand of 21, with Shah falling to a reverse sweep soon after selling Kashyap short for an easy run-out.

Earlier in the day, the MCC innings had started in the same vein as Oxford with the visitors losing a couple of quick wickets to the redoubtable Bartram before Cull and Routledge began a recovery. The Oxford bowlers continued Bartram’s good work with economy and wickets, Kirsty Gregor enjoying the sunshine with a brace and Leo Ives removing wicketkeeper Bingley.

This brought Gemma Porter to the crease with Issy Routledge to construct a match-winning stand. The final MCC total of 122 may have seemed on the light side and Oxford captain Genny Porter would have been proud of the effort in the field by her charges as they made their way to lunch. However, it would prove to be too much.

The men’s game had also been an entertaining affair as the MCC opened up on a cloudless morning at Jordan Hill. The weather had decided to bless this great gathering of the old and the new, players and spectators, young and old. At times, the cricket faded into a picturesque background as people renewed old acquaintances and exchanged anecdotes, the murmur of quiet conversation providing a lulling leitmotif in contrast to the action in the middle.

After the loss of an early wicket, MCC had set about their task with a gusto, tucking into anything too short or too full. The outfield had been manicured to within an inch of its natural length and any potential impediments such as leaves had been blown off by the groundstaff. It was futile to chase anything to the boundary, but the hosts stuck at it in rising temperatures. MCC were helped by a number of dropped catches
in the rough and tumble nature of a T20 game, this one being played in whites.

Oxford captain Dylan Swanepoel switched his bowlers around to stem the flow of runs but there were good partnerships between Chowdury and Puri and then Toor and Shroff capitalising on the dropped chances. Oxford youngsters Appleton and Newbury were happy to have bagged a brace each. The MCC total of 196 was at once a tall order but also seemingly within reach, on a good deck and fast outfield.
On balance though, as the MCC ladies’ innings began, Adam Hall would have been the happier captain at the break.

There was a sense of quiet efficiency about the ground as the Oxford CC players and staff went about their roles, calmly overseen by their chief choreographer, Ros Porter. Aside from making sure that the players and guests were welcomed and looked after, the lunch well organised (a big thank you to Molly Muir for the wonderful catering) and the ground and facilities flawless, she even had time to sit and watch
the game: an amazing person and a credit to the club. She was aided by another club legend and personality in Ross Buchanan, who nearly stole the show with endless, unstinting rounds of ice-cold watermelon slices throughout the day. Greatly appreciated by players and spectators!

Players and guests enjoyed a great lunch and a word from the sponsors. It was a pleasant change to see such passionate sponsors. It could not really be otherwise as they have strong ties to the club and the people: a huge thanks to RioMed for their
continuing support of this event and sponsorship of Oxford CC.

I had the pleasure of catching up with RioMed founder and MD, Mario Mohammed during the interval, resplendent in his MCC regalia, to talk about our playing days at Headington as it then was. He was the most fearless batter I had seen and passionate about his cricket. And to top it all, he is still the same humble and approachable person that we knew and loved back in the day. I am glad to say that the same fearlessness and passion shines through in the great work that his company is doing, as eloquently explained by Shafeda Mohammed, outlinining the
importance of equality, diversity and inclusivity within the world of cricket. This is something that resonates strongly with Oxford CC and we were absolutely thrilled when Shafeda also announced that RioMed would continue their sponsorship of Oxford CC for a further five years.

As the sun rose to its zenith, the Oxford openers made their way to the middle to begin the task of overhauling 196 in 120 balls. For many, this would have been the first glimpse of William Ashton and hopefully won’t be the last. His easy stroke-play was redolent of lazy afternoons on deckchairs and ice-cream, watching seaside county games at Hove or Scarborough. His opening partner Swanepoel looked the more aggressive, helping himself to a classic straight six on the way to 29 runs at a good lick. Harry Way continued the good work after his captain’s departure but once Ashton had been bowled by Simeons, the middle order struggled against an ever-rising asking rate and ever-dwindling number of balls left. Averages were feverishly discussed by the waiting batters as MCC skipper Hall sportingly brought on some part-time bowling which resulted in a few big hits to keep the spectators and the DJ interested.

By the time the moonlighting Joe Ward made his grand entrance to the Benny Hill theme tune, and to loud applause from the Oxford women, now limbering up for their own innings, the result was a foregone conclusion. The game had still been an entertaining one and there were always more watermelon slices and good conversations to look forward to.

It had been a great day and it would be a lazy hack to say that cricket was the winner. It was, but this day went beyond cricket as the 44 players, the officials, and spectators gathered for the closing presentations. There was still a happy energy and generous applause as the match officials received the recognition they deserved and Oxford CC players Will Ashton and Emilia Bartram took the Mike Nurton
trophies. We were all tired but happy: the day had promised much and had delivered on a grand scale.