CRICKET: Adam Jones to the fore in Cumnor's win

Hassam Mushtaq produced a match-winning performance by taking 5-34 to help dismiss the Milton Keynes side for 150.

Mike Higgs helped out with 3-38 as only Zak Wade (34) of the visiting batsmen hung around for long.

Earlier, Naeem Shahzad had claimed 5-58 as Thame were bowled out for 206, in which Mushtaq (40) was again the star turn for the hosts.

Thame Town 25pts, Wolverton Tn 7

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Banbury 2nd pulled off a shock win at morning leaders Leighton Buzzard Town in a match that was one-sided from start to finish.

Alex Shortt (3-30) made early inroads as Town slumped to 20-3, then left-arm spinner Steve Hart took 3-13 as the home side stumbled to 103 all out.

The early loss of Andrew Sabin proved to be only a slight setback as Will Briggs (58no) made light work of the chase, smashing six fours and four sixes in his 58 not out from 60 balls.

One Tom Light over went for 32 as Briggs cracked 4,6,4,6,6,6.

Leighton Buzzard 3, Banbury 2nd 25

Oxford 2nd’s woes continued as they suffered an embarrassing defeat at home to previously winless Long Marston.

The visitors scored at will in amassing 290-5 after electing to bat first. James Beesley (47) and Simon Butler (38) got them off to a good start, and Matt Storey (80no) and Sam Bastin (61no) built on that.

Oxford were soon in disarray as James Beesley ripped out the top order before going on to finish with 7-31 from 14 overs.

Richard Musk (48) only delayed the inevitable as Oxford were rumbled for 114.

Oxford 2nd 3, Long Marston 25 Mark Nelson hit 110 as Great Brickhill chased down Twyford’s 247-6 with remarkable ease.

Graeme Carter chipped in with 51 as the visitors crossed the winning line by six wickets with 7.2 overs to spare.

Earlier, Jack Deal (44), Tanveer Nadeem (43no) and Bilal Afzal (40no) had led the way for Twyford, but their apparently competitive total proved well under par.

Twyford 9, Great Brickhill 25

Tiddington started the season with three wins to be the early Cherwell League leaders, but have not won since and face unbeaten Great Brickhill this weekend.

By contrast Cumnor, their conquerors on Saturday, started with two defeats but are now on a fine run that has seen them rise to fourth, tucked in just behind the pace-setters.

After winning the toss, Tiddington stuttered to 217 all out, with five of the top seven doing the hard work of playing themselves in, only to fall just when they threatened to get going.

The only partnership to surpass 50 was between Matthew Maule (47) and Chris Goodman (43), who added 67 for the sixth wicket.

Much of the credit must go to the Cumnor attack, and Adam Jones in particular.

He made a couple of early breakthroughs and then returned to mop up the tail and finish with 5-57 from his 11.3 overs.

Adam Cook, who took three catches and engineered a run out, then took the lead with the bat, hitting 45 from 50 balls to give his side’s innings the ideal start.

A mini-collapse from 69-0 to 88-4 suggested Tiddington’s fortunes were on the turn.

But Joe Dale (76) and the consistent Devane Warner (35) added 68 to put the visitors in command.

Cumnor then went on to reach 219-7 in the 42nd over.

Cumnor’s title credentials will be tested this weekend when they play host to Leighton Buzzard Town.

However, Tiddington must be wondering where their next win is going to come from.

In Division 2, Sandford St Martin became the first side to avoid defeat at the hands of Horspath 2nd as the two sides played out a high-scoring draw.

Hosts Sandford started well through Ian Reynolds (50) and Martin Anson (42), who added 91 for the first wicket.

Charlie Beeson then hit 74 from 84 balls as Sandford closed on 286-7.

Horspath responded positively through Jack Biggs (85) and Dominic O’Connor (55), but both were removed by Simon Smith, who went on to finish with 5-71 and leave the visitors short on 260-8.

Sandford St Martin 18pts, Horspath 2nd 9 Aston Rowant 2nd closed the gap on Horspath by demolishing Didcot.

After choosing to bat first, Rowant were well placed on 110-2 before Jordan Morrison (5-39) engineered a collapse that left them all out on 179.

Thaddeus Cooper (34), Chris Eaton (31) and Andrew Dyer (30) failed to build on promising starts.

Andrew Dyer (4-36) and Dominic Whatman (4-44) helped dismiss Didcot for 135, with only Ian Demain (40) able to stand firm.

Aston Rowant 2nd 25, Didcot 7

Markus Jeacock (92) and Matt Warner (67no) saw Great & Little Tew 2nd to 249-7 at home to Oxford Downs.

Amin Rafiq (54no) steered the visitors to safety on 194-8, despite Warner (3-31) and Matthew Clark (3-69).

Great & L Tew 2nd 19, Oxford Downs 7

Sam Butler took 5-48 and Mark Strong snaffled 3-33 to bowl Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts to a thrilling win at Challow & Childrey.

Nondies were defending 192 all out, in which Atif Ali starred with 72 and Garry Adamson contributed 40. Martin Turnbull (3-26) and Oliver Dimbylow (3-42) both enjoyed success.

Challow were always up with the required rate, but lost wickets, such as Ryan Gordon (43) and Justin Penrose (30), at key moments and were all out for 184.

Challow & Childrey 8, Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts 25

Paul White marked his 500th appearance for Abingdon Vale by taking 4-60 in a four-wicket win at Bledlow Village.

Charlie Downes hit 80 as the home side were out for 216.

Ryan Chapman took three early wickets, but Joe Butcher followed up his 3-52 by bashing 91, and Tim Chilvers chipped in with 59 as Vale cruised to 218-6 with 32 balls to spare.

Bledlow Village 10, Abingdon Vale 25

In Division 3, Cropredy look like turning the title race into a procession, as they kept up their 100 per cent winning record by battering Banbury 3rd.

Jake Heath took 6-20 to send the visitors crashing to 53 all out, with Cropredy easing to 54-3 inside 16 overs.

Cropredy 25pts, Banbury 3rd 3

Blewbury & Wallingford stay second, but lost ground after being beaten at home by Shipton-under-Wychwood 2nd.

Put into bat, the hosts were bowled out for 168. Warren Ainsworth (40) and Ian Harris (39no) shone with the bat, while Jack Davies (3-38) and Paul Hemming (3-51) did the damage with the ball.

Shipton’s 170-5 was built around the innings of Charlie Miller (51) and Liam Hare (36no).

Blewbury & Wallingford 8, Shipton-under-Wychwood 2nd 25

Oxford Downs 2nd saw off lowly Dinton 2nd.

Downs reduced the visitors to 92-6 and 146 all out, thanks to another good spell from Steve Roberts (3-30).

Matthew Kelloway ran out of partners to finish 52 not out.

The hosts were then 37-3 before Wes Bartlett (61) helped Downs reach 148-8.

Ox Downs 2nd 25, Dinton 2nd 10

Rob Humphreys hit 71 for Bicester & North Oxford but still finished on the losing side at Cublington.

Greg Jenkins took 4-31 and Darling pouched 3-21 as the visitors were dismissed for 170.

The home side made steady progress to 174-5 through Carter (56), Jenkins (50) and Nick Talbot (39no).

Cublington 25, Bic & N Oxford 8

Horley came unstuck against Dominic Pritchard, who took 5-33 to bowl them out for 155 and set up victory for Buckingham Town 2nd.

Ben Laycock then hit 74 in Town’s 157-3.

Buckingham 2nd 25, Horley 5

In Division 4, an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 144 between Nathan Brooks (72no) and Neil Smith (67no) propelled leaders Tiddington 2nd to victory at Kingston Bagpuize.

Kingston had posted 212 thanks to Arthur Verdin’s 81, but Tiddington deserve credit for bowling straight, with eight of the ten home batsmen being bowled or lbw.

At 69-3 the game was evenly poised, but Brooks and Smith took the visitors to 213-3 in 32 overs.

K Bagpuize 7pts, Tiddington 2nd 25

Dan Swindells struck exactly 100 not out and Malcolm Evans hit an unbeaten 45 not out as Witney Mills hammered Chearsley by eight wickets.

Chaminda Wimalarathna (3-30), Swindells (3-32) and Pierre Lefort (3-47) had shared the wickets as the hosts were all out for 186, before Mills consumed only 31.1 overs in making 188-2.

Chearsley 5, Witney Mills 25

Joshua Markham (92) and David Barnes (59) took Brackley to an imposing 283-8 at Great Brickhill 2nd.

Greg MacDonald (80) and Arran Aris (63) did all they could to keep the match alive, but Brickhill were eventually bowled out for 208.

Great Brickhill 2nd 7, Brackley 25

Arshad Latif was back to his blistering best, crashing 123 not out from 75 balls as Stokenchurch sent Leighton Buzzard Town 2nd packing.

His innings lasted only 80 minutes as he smashed 18 fours and six sixes in a breathtaking display.

Town’s 195 all out was made to look woefully inadequate as Stokenchurch reached 196-1 in 18.3 overs.

Stokenchurch 25, L Buzzard 2nd 5

Bradley Rose took 4-18 as Kimble dismissed Bletchley Town for 123.

The visitors made hard work of the run chase, as they crawled to 124-6 in 41 overs.

Bletchley Town 7, Kimble 25

In Division 5, Paul Butcher produced an outstanding all-round display in Abingdon Vale 2nd’s home win over Bledlow Ridge.

First he took 7-50 from 17 overs as Ridge were restricted to 209-9. John Rolfe hit 81 and Simon Bird made 60.

Then Butcher hit 97 and Chris Darley clipped 52 in Vale’s 210-8, victory being secured with a scrambled single off the final ball.

Abingdon Vale 2nd 25pts, Bledlow Ridge 8

Callum Biel’s 70 not out helped leaders Oxford 3rd record a comfortable win at arch rivals Horspath 3rd, who ended the day point-less.

The hosts struggled to 157 against Andrew Busby (4-42) and Gareth Langley (3-23). Oxford made it to 158-3 with more than 15 overs in hand.

Oxford 3rd 25, Horspath 3rd 0

Atif Ali took 6-51 for East Oxford, who moved up to second after sending Twyford 2nd tumbling to 108 all out.

The hosts had posted 178, thanks to Urfan Ahmed (48), while James Marriott with 5-57 and Ben Elkington (3-53) bowled well for Twyford.

East Oxford 25, Twyford 2nd 6

Leigh Lewis (56), Mark Walker (37) and Sam Shepherd (31) took Aston Rowant 3rd to 181 at Cumnor 2nd, for whom Jack Miell (4-49) and Sam Herbert (3-32) shone.

Cumnor’s reply was built around a fine 82 by James Lee, before Alex Hodder-Williams (38no) finished the job by taking his side to 182-6.

Cumnor 2nd 25, A Rowant 3rd 9

Waleed Ali (3-20), Phil Jackson (3-24) and Sam Woodruff (3-28) combined as Long Marston 2nd dismissed Thame Town 2nd for 97.

Earlier, Rory Miscampbell (46), Martin Beale (36) and Billy Jeffrey (36no) were behind Marston’s 205-8, which also featured decent performances from Sam Nicholls (3-30) and Chris Penny (3-48).

L Marston 2nd 25, Thame Tn 2nd 3

Tom Scrase scored 127 for Kingston Bagpuize in their Division 9 game against Abingdon Vale 4th, yet finished on the wrong end of a nine wicket-defeat.

Scrase dominated Kingston’s total of 183, as the rest of the team struggled against the bowling Mark Rallings (5-31).

It was then the turn of Mark’s father, Paul to hit 93 not out in Vale’s 184-1.

Andrew Stevens made 68 as Division 6 leaders Banbury 4th pulled off a successful chase.

Replying to Bledlow Village’s 210-9, Stevens assisted them to 213-7 in the 42nd over.

Another century came from Shipton-under-Wychwood 3rd’s Jamie Nelson, who made 130 in their Division 7 game against Bicester & North Oxford 2nd.

Nelson helped Shipton reach 259-5, with their opponents holding out for a draw 120-7.

Andrew Hodder-Williams scored 111 for Cumnor 3rd as they rattled up 227-3 against Oxford Downs 3rd in Division 8.

Downs were 88 all out in reply, Matt Todd taking 4-32.

Aston Rowant amassed 287- 1 against Blewbury & Wallingford 2nd, thanks to Matthew Luxford (128no) and Alex Ferreira (88).

Blewbury struggled to 110-8 in reply to get the worse end of a draw.

The best bowling performance of the day came from Didcot 3rd’s Luke Higgins, who captured 8-60 to bowl out Banbury 5th for 185.

Yet he still ended on the losing side as Didcot mustered only 116 in reply.