NOMADS CC/Virgin XI   v Gaieties CC April 29th 2007 2.00pm, Oxford University Press Ground Jordan Hill Oxford   

The first game of the season is usually played in miserable conditions on a damp pudding of a pitch. Well the heatwave that was the month of April put paid to that particular stereotype, and although the chill winds decided t o take a quick trip to Oxford for the day, we were greeted by a fast bouncy track, which was put to excellent use by the opening bowling attack of debutant Karl " the Kiwi Kwikkie" Thorns and Ilija "the Serbian Swinger" Krunic.  Karl - fast and agressive if a bit wayward - put a few of the opposition batsman on their backsides, but it was the nagging probing of the Serbian Seamer (ooh er missus) that brought about the first wicket. Whilst we pegged the scoring right back, wickets proved hard to come by, and it was only a late flurry that brought about a repectable target.

Virgin's innings got off to an inauspicious start, but when the third wicket fell with only 31 on the board, Rob "Wych the Twitch" Wycherley strode (? ) to the wicket, the game turned on its head. After a sensibly cautious start, Rob increasingly managed to impose himself on the opponents bowlers and a high-class unbeaten hundred was his due reward (is the cheque in the post now, Rob?). He was well supported by first Jamie "Super Trooper" Lane, and then Andy "What's My Name Again" Smith with stands of 83 and 80 respectively, before a fine cameo from Paul "The Minister" Brown saw us home. A very satisfactory and satisfying start to the season.  

Result:  Nomads won by 5 wickets
Toss:    Gaieties     
Umpires: Andrew Loutit & others
Scorer:  Various
Debut(s):Karl Thorns 

GAIETIES XI
J Vincent   st Wycherley b Wakefield 85
R Woolhouse c Wycherley  b Krunic     3
H Thurston  not out                  58
S Dutta     bowled Krunic            50
Extras      (b21,lb3,w12,nb3)        39
TOTAL      (3 wickets dec,39 overs) 231
Dnb:A Akhta,B Nealon,A Rolfe,M burton,J Schneider,J Horsman,N Cowley.

Fow:1-30,2-140,3-231.

Bowling-Thorns 11 1 34 0,Krunic 13 1 68 2,de Caires 6 0 53 0,Wakefield 6 0 38 1,Blumberg 3 0 36 0. 

NOMADS CC Innings 
P Wakefield c M Akhar b Horsman    6
P Bell      c Rolfe   b horsman   13
J Lascelles c rolfe   b Cowley     8
J Lane      c Horsman b Schneider 27
R Wycherley not out              112
A Smith     c & b       Smith     26
P Brown     not out               12
Extras     (b9,lb5,w7,nb1)        22
TOTAL      (5 wickets,34.2 overs)232
Dnb:D de Caires,K Thorns,I Krunic,ME Blumberg. 

Fow:1-17,2-26,3-31,4-114,5-194.

Bowling-Cowley 7 1 30 1,Horsman 10 1 38 2,Mansur Akhtar 6 0 40 0,Schneider 7 0 77 1,Vincent 4.2 0 34 1. 1.