Blues End of Season Report
Newly elected 2013-14 Captain Gus Kennedy, takes us on a whistle stop tour of the past season.
"After a damp 2012 season, 2013 heralded a year when a talented generation of cricketers, headed by the 2013 Captain Sam Agarwal (Queens’) and 2012 Captain Ben Williams (Hertford), finally left an indelible mark on the Varsity cricket series.
Agarwal inherited a side that, with the exception of an exhilarating Twenty20 win at the Parks in 2012, had had little on-pitch success to celebrate in recent memory – it was 2009 when an Oxford side last claimed the CB Fry Trophy with victory at Lord’s, and 2010 when the Blues last won a Varsity Series. In 2013, this was to change, with early season form suggesting that this squad could revive OUCC’s dominance of the early 2000s.
Following on from an excellent preseason tour to South Africa the side took shape over the Trinity term with a solid blend of experience and talented freshers. The team embarked on a successful BUCS run claiming dominant victories over Southampton, Brunel and Aberystwyth to complement a more tensely fought win over Bath. The side ably led by Pembroke ‘keeper Sam Westaway, entering his 3rd season with the squad as deputy to Agarwal, who was delighted with the early season success. After the early BUCS wins he commented,
“The great strength of the 2013 squad is undoubtedly in its depth. We’ve had performances from stalwarts such as Sam Agarwal and the returning Dan Pascoe but it has been the form and contribution of younger squad members that has really excited me. Take for example New College’s Sam Cato, who against Aberystwyth was a revelation with both bat and ball”.
Agarwal’s blazing hundred against Brunel saw him top the run scoring chart in the first half of the season, where he sat alongside former light blue Gus Kennedy whose aggregate was boosted by back to back half-centuries against Southampton and Aberystwyth. The BUCS season culminated in a tense loss to Leeds 1 in the semi-finals of the Cup, a result made all the more impressive given the mass exodus of players to exam duty in the final weeks of the competition.
Prior to the Varsity match the Blues were also with a series of fixtures against the countries strongest club teams, school boy teams and composite XI’s. Teddington Cricket Club, renowned as one of London’s most successful clubs and satisfied by a 140 run thumping of Cambridge’s Blues the day before, visited The Parks in early May. The Blues rattled through the Teddington top order, reducing them to 104-6 before they scampered to 191 in their 50 overs. In reply, Ben Jeffery (St. John’s) launched a solid reply before Worcester’s Tom Chadwick saw the team home to a comfortable victory with 38*. The fixture against the nomadic ‘Arabs’ saw former England ODI spinner Alex Loudon blaze a hundred before 1998 Blues Captain Mark Wagh compiled a masterful 180. 370 was plenty enough for the visitors, but not before they were met by force of fresher Matt Winter. The LMH batsmen dispatched the Arab attack to all parts of the Parks, and indeed Oxfordshire, before being cruelly run-out in sight of a deserved century.
Perhaps the most impressive victory of the pre-Varsity season was reserved for the Blues annual trip to Arundel Castle. Set in an idyllic West Sussex estate, the ground is overlooked by the 11th century stately home of the Duke of Norfolk, and the opposition comes in the form of an XI, bearing the Duke’s name, and containing some of the Sussex league's best club cricketers and visiting professionals. The Blues fielded first on a bitter spring day, with Keble’s Don Gordon opening up with an accurate and incisive first spell. The spoils were however shared; with Agarwal and Cato also each claiming vital wickets as the Blues took an assured position early in the match. A series of calamitous run outs saw the Duke’s XI declaring at 9-down to set a possibly tricky target of 191 in 45 overs. As it turned out the target was a touch too small, as Ben Jeffery bludgeoned a magnificent unbeaten hundred and Kennedy 78* to see the team home with all 10 wickets still intact. This form in addition to victories against St. Edwards and the Free Forresters meant that the side went into the Varsity Matches full of confidence.
The Varsity Series
Lord’s had not been a happy hunting ground for Oxford in the previous 3 fixtures contested at the ground, with Cambridge having run out victors by 17 runs in most recent 2012 edition. Oxford made a near perfect start to the game, putting Cambridge into bat under grey clouds and taking early wickets to leave the Light Blues at 4-48. Fred Johnson bowled an outstanding spell with figures of 2-10 off 7 overs before the spin trio of Agarwal (1-37 off 10), Freddie Fox (St. Benet’s & 2-31 off 9) and Sam Cato (New College & 2-32 off 9) applied pressure to limit Oxford to 8-153 off 46.3 overs when rain came down. Set a revised target of 89 from 20 overs, former Light Blue Kennedy (Wycliffe Hall & 43*) attacked the target, first with support from Ben Jeffery (St. John’s) and then captain Agarwal. A dominant victory was achieved with 3 overs to spare, sending the present Oxford fans into raptures.
After a washed out Twenty20, the team’s focus turned to the traditional Blues 4-day fixture at Fenner’s. No one could quite have anticipated what was to unfold when Cambridge won the toss and decided to bowl on an overcast first morning. After Kennedy and Jeffery had negotiated the first hour, both fell quickly, leaving Ben Williams and Agarwal at the crease at lunch. Williams played fluently before departing for 43, an important innings almost forgotten in light of later proceedings. Agarwal moved swiftly through the gears in the afternoon session, bringing up a tremendous 100 off 132 balls mid-afternoon. His innings continued to grow in momentum, with shots all around the ground, dispatching both seam and spin with complete ease. At stumps Oxford were 377/4, Agarwal 213* having been ably supported by fresher Matt Winter (LMH & 51). The following morning Agarwal continued supremely on to 313* before declaring Oxford on 550. His innings came off a mere 312 balls, breaking both Varsity and University cricket records. With such a major deficit, Cambridge were on the back foot, and their troubles were exacerbated as Tom Williams (Balliol & 5-34) and Singapore International spinner Sachin Mylavarapu (St. Hugh’s & 5-23) tore through the opposition line-up for a measly 119. Following on, Cambridge offered greater fight to end on 245, but still 186 short of making Oxford bat again. Vice-Captain Sam Westaway (Pembroke) completed the final dismissal of the fixture to claim his tenth catch for the game, a Varsity wicket-keeping record. A dominant victory was attained and Oxford had at last started to correct for Cambridge’s recent success.
The 2-0 Varsity series victory indicated the strength of the Oxford side. Although Agarwal’s innings in the 4-day fixture was quite phenomenal, the season’s fixtures had indicated that any one of the side’s top 7 could have contributed a match winning innings. Similarly amongst the bowlers, wickets were consistently shared between seamers Johny Marsden (St. Hilda’s), Tom Williams, Ben Williams and Johnson and the 4 spinners used in the Varsity Match.
Agarwal and Westaway led the side very ably through out the season and for this they can claim much of the credit for team’s success. Looking forward to 2014, the departure of stalwarts Agarwal and Ben Williams is a significant loss, but with the return of 2012 Blue Owain Jones to the side (missing through injury in 2013) and the continued development of the entire squad hopes are high that 2013’s victories can be repeated."
Gus Kennedy
Captain 2014
