Four wickets down and no runs on the scoreboard was hardly the solid foundation Oxfordshire were seeking as they chased victory in their opening Minor Counties Championship game of the season at Thame yesterday.

And although Rob Williams's men staged a recovery of sorts after such a nightmare start to their second innings, they still slipped to a 126-run defeat at the hands of Shropshire.

Set 266 to win on the final day of their first ever three-day Western Division game, Shahbaz Ali, Patrick Jobson, Charlie Knightley and skipper Williams were back in the pavilion before a run was scored.

The bowler to do the damage was paceman Dave Boden, who claimed all four wickets in the space of five balls, including a hat-trick.

Shahbaz, promoted from No 8 to opener, was the first to go, and Jobson and Knightley both followed first ball. Williams hung around in comparison - he was out to the second ball he faced! From such an extraordinarily bad position, the home side's final total of 139 all out was something of a triumph.

It owed much to a dashing 40 from Stewart Laudat, a patient knock from Keith Mustow and a display of great concentration from Adam Cook.

Cook faced 116 balls for his unbeaten 32, to go with his 31 not out from 101 deliveries in the first innings.

The young Cumnor captain's stubborness and ability to leave the ball alone may well see him promoted to open for the next game against Cheshire at Challow starting on June 17.

Cook's batting was one of the few bright spots for Oxfordshire in a generally disappointing match.

The others were the form of Mustow, who seems to have found his feet again at this level after a couple of fallow seasons, and the bowling of Laudat, who took six wickets in the second innings, while debutants Paul White and Ian Adams also impressed with the ball.

But the immediate outlook for Williams's side is rather gloomy.

With the injured Keith Arnold likely to miss the rest of the season and the out-standing batsman Craig Haupt almost certain to do likewise because of availability problems, Oxon do not look nearly as strong as last year, when they finished second in the Western Division.

If new county coach Jack Potter needs some encouragement, he might like to look at his teams's recent record against Shropshire.

Last year at Shrewsbury, Oxfordshire lost by eight wickets, and the year before that, Shropshire had by far the better of a draw at Shipton.

Both matches were the first of the Championship campaign, but in both instances Oxon went on to enjoy successful seasons.

But that was with Keith Arnold ...

SHROPSHIRE

First Innings: 277-6 (M Marvell 141 no).

SHROPSHIRE

Second Innings

(Overnight 105-6)

G Home lbw Laudat...7

K Evans c & b Laudat...12

G Mumford b Laudat...19

D Boden c Adams b Laudat...10

A Shantry not out...1

Extras...8

Total (all out, 66.3 ovs)...144

Fall: 1-15, 2-19, 3-37, 4-83, 5-84, 6-96, 7-105, 8-114, 9-134.

Bowling: Laudat 17.3-3-54-6, Peddy 33-10-47-3, Adams 5-12-0-0, White 11-3-17-1.

OXFORDSHIRE

First Innings: 156 (A Johnson 5-21).

Second Innings

K Mustow c Mumford b Johnson...47

Shahbaz Ali lbw Boden...0

P Jobson b Boden...0

C Knightley lbw Boden...0

R Williams b Boden...0

S Laudat lbw Shantry...40

A Cook not out...32

I Hawtin b Shantry...3

G Peddy c E Home b Johnson...2

I Adams b Boden...4

P White b Boden...0

Extras...11

Total (all out, 59.1 ovs)...139

Fall: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 6-64, 6-125, 7-128, 8-133, 9-139.

Bowling: Evans 9-2-29-0, Boden 12.1-4-32-6 (inc hat-trick), Shantry 14-9-13-2, Johnson 15-8-21-2, Jones 1-0-13-0, Downes 7-3-16-0, Ralph 1-0-6-0.