One huge advantage to the new league structure is the regionalisation of the lower divisions. It means the 4s have some great local games against the likes of Harwell, Marcham and Abingdon to name but a few.

There are still a couple of road trips to be made and one of which is to Chearsley. Now in the grand scheme of road trips this is one of the more pleasant ones. There are others I can think of where after a drive of well over an hour you have to park on the streets surrounding the ground and hope your car is still there when the game is over. Not a problem in leafy Buckinghamshire and the rather idyllic village of Chearsley.

However a different kind of danger awaits when you get to Chearsley’s ground. This is in the form of their number three batsman, Mr Mark Claridge. I first crossed paths with Mark before some of yesterday’s team were even born. On that day he smashed me (and the rest of the Didcot attack) around the ground and then picked up some wickets. This became a regular occurrence over the years only avoided one season because he had unfortunately, or fortunately for us, torn his Achilles and was out for a while.

On the odd occasion we got him early, we would then often run through the rest of the team but you could always guarantee that if he batted for a while, the total would be high. I discussed this fact with the club president earlier in the week and was told by DP “Don’t worry Elvis, he’s an old man now”. Having seen he got 50 last time out and some wickets I wasn’t convinced but I travelled to Chearsley safe in the knowledge that at least I didn’t have to bowl at him this time.

For those that haven’t had the pleasure of playing at Chearsley, it’s a great village ground but it slopes. Not just in one direction but from one corner to the diagonally opposite one. This means that not only do bowlers have to run up or downhill (the gradient in that direction is the same as Lords is across I was informed yesterday) but once they get to the crease they have to cope with a pretty severe sideways slope taking the ball with it. Not the easiest of grounds to bowl on.

Nevertheless with a green tinged wicket on display, and having lost my number 3 & 5 batters the day before to the 3s, when we won the toss a bowl was the only decision we had. I’d had a quick look at the opposition as well and no sign of Mark Claridge, result! Things got better 4 balls into the first over when Callum Henderson cleaned up the opening batsman’s middle stump. This was one ball after hitting the batsman’s other middle stump if you get my drift, resulting in a short delay whilst he checked everything was still in place to the usual cries of ‘if you’re lucky mate the swelling might remain after the pain has gone’. Anyway he was obviously still perturbed about a repeat occurrence as he went back to a ball that he should have been forward to and the rest was history.

This was where things went downhill as I spotted, emerging from the pavilion, my nemesis and out to the crease strode Mr Claridge. The question now was could we get him early or was it going to be another long afternoon in the field.

The aforementioned slope was causing issues for our young bowling attack. Brought up on the flat surfaces of Boundary Park, they are unaccustomed to having to double as mountain goats during their run up and they struggled a little with line and length. Still, things like this are all part of their cricketing development and next time they are faced with slopes they will be all the better for it. The Chearsley batsmen batted well, seeing out the good balls and punishing anything wide or short.

Special mention must go to Finn Williams who on his Cherwell League debut took 2-35 off 8 with some beautiful in-swing and also Jon Coleman making his club debut returning figures of 1-20 off 6. Jim Casson showed that experience counts in these conditions and bowled a miserly spell of 29 from 8 overs.

After the first wicket fell on 4, it took another 154 runs to get the second wicket and that was when Stratford departed for 59. Claridge brought up his century and immediately retired hurt with a hamstring pull towards the end of the innings and Chearsley finished on 212 for 4.

The run chase was always going to be tough and 212 was simply too many runs on the board for us on the day. A shout out to Ally Henderson, who after his session with Tubes on Thursday, top scored with 21. Robbie Casson came in towards the end and played some beautiful shots on his way to 19 and Jon showed he can bat as well as bowl with a gritty 17*. Didcot were bowled out for 126 in the 38th over.

A tough day at the office for the 4s but there were plenty of individual positives to take away and with 6 juniors in the side it was great to see them all performing well and fighting until the end.

Next Saturday we welcome the Golden Sparrows to Costello Field. Let’s hope the red kites that often circle Boundary Park help us to pick off the pesky sparrows and get us back to winning ways.

[Before anybody sends me messages yes I know that Red Kites are scavengers and don’t usually take live prey, it’s called artistic license]