HNNL October 2006 page 4
The Hook Norton Village Newsletter
October 2006 Series 31 No 5

Sports



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HOOK NORTON CRICKET BROUGHT TO THE NATIONAL STAGE
Hook Norton were in a national final this August and as far as we can gather this is the first time ever that the village has been represented at this high level in an open national competition in any sport. And who brought this honour to the village; it was the U13 Girls cricket team in the National Lady Taverners Under 13 Girls Club Competition.
Having become Oxfordshire Champions at Kingham Hill without losing a match, Hooky represented the county in the Regional Finals at Wellington College in Berkshire. As in the previous round it was the contributions from all members of the team which stood Hooky apart from the opposition. In a tight final match which at one stage Hooky looked like they might lose, fantastic bowling and fielding when it mattered turned the game round and Hooky won by the narrowest of margins against the Hampshire champions, Yateley. This made them Regional Champions and saw them through to the national finals in Birmingham on August 13th – leading to re-arranged family holidays for a second time !
Unfortunately prolonged rain intervened on the finals day and with no chance of a rearrangement, the tournament was reduced to a knock-out 'bowl-off' in blustery conditions not suited to accurate bowling.
Despite having a much younger team, Hook Norton triumphed over South-East champions Stoke D'Abernon in the quarter-finals, with captain Grace Young making the decisive strike on the stumps. The semi-finals saw Hook Norton face Thornbury from the South-West and in another low scoring bowl-off it was Shannon Crawford who made the breakthrough early on. With Thornbury unable to respond Hook Norton secured a place in the final where they faced Pannal from Yorkshire.
In the final the pressure of bowling with the reward of the National trophy at stake was evident in both teams but eventually it was the final Pannal bowler who struck the wicket leaving Hook Norton with only one ball left to force a sudden death competition. Unfortunately they were unable to respond, leaving Pannal to lift the trophy.
In being the National runners-up, having already won the County and Regional competitions, Hook Norton can take great pride. Their success will act as a great boost to the thriving girls section at the cricket club, which has been developing over the past five years, and which this season has provided five girls to represent Oxfordshire.
To celebrate the girls' achievements they were invited to form a guard of honour for the England and Indian Ladies at the One-Day International at Arundel where they received a presentation from both the teams at the close of play.
The team was ably captained by Grace Young with her formidable batting, and wicket keeping; and included star fielders Lucy Riley, Rosie Lunel, Katherine Yeomans, and Poppy Tibbets, the deadly bowling of Emma Rothwell, Claire Gardner, Juliet Gardner and the strong hitting of Shannon Crawford.

The boys' sides also had a full season with U17, U15, U13, U11 and U10 matches through the season. All the teams learned a lot through the enjoyable league matches. Also the by now famous Thursday night sessions with 1000s (well it looks like that at times !) boys and girls aged between 5 and 10 years old have been a particular hit. Why such a hit? Partly all those young smiling faces, and also it's great to see all those parents coming up to the field in the sunshine and supporting the Sports and Social Club by propping up the bar ! It certainly put a smile on Colin Scarrett's face this year and we are indebted to Colin for the hours he has spent serving drinks behind the bar.
There are so many people to thank for their support of Junior cricket that it is difficult to name them all, but we do have to mention the monumental efforts of Paul and Jackie White coordinating the Junior cricket, without whom we couldn't provide the level of training and fun that we do.

The senior men's side also achieved a “first ever” for the club in winning the Premier Knockout Trophy for Oxfordshire - the Airey Cup. This is a hard fought competition and the 1st XI put in some of their best performances in the season to put out sides such as Westbury (traditionally one of our “bogey” sides) out in the early rounds. Probably the best performance of the whole season came in the semi-final when we were put in to bat by Great Horwood on what could only be described as a “sticky wicket !” following heavy rain over the previous 2-3 days. Having ground out a competitive total of 150 through sheer application, the side then went on to bowl and field fantastically well on a much improved wicket for the opposition batsmen. We managed to bowl out the opposition just a dozen runs short of our total. We had to play twice as well as the opposition on that day just because of the conditions.
That meant that when it came to finals day “all” we had to do was just a little better than the opposition. But inspired by the words from our captain Simon Richards “to just go out and do them!” we completely outplayed Eynsham. The bowlers and fielders took centre stage first. Right from the first ball from Andy Cooper that was right on the mark, Eynsham never looked like posting a challenging total. Dan White and Chris Belcher two of our bowling stars (along with Gary Wilson and Robin Scotter in earlier rounds) used all their experience from last year's final to put in two excellent bowling performances putting pressure on all the Eynsham batsmen. While it was the experienced Andy Cooper and Paul Souch that took 3 wickets a piece, it is really reassuring to see all the younger bowling talent coming through. This was all backed up by an exceptional fielding performance which was commented on by all the spectators and indeed the opposition. A couple of highlights were a good high catch by Nick Leader to dismiss their best batsmen and a sharp run out by Gary Wilson. A total of 158 was never likely to be strong enough for Hooky's strong batting side and the only wicket to fall was that of Melvyn Riley, but not before he had put the ball over the boundary rope several times with 6s and 4s in his 30 runs. Simon Richards and Tim Lunel then eased us home with unbeaten scores of 65 and 58 respectively. Simon Richards was man of the match for his innings and it was particularly fitting given the tremendous effort he has put into captaining the side over the last 3 seasons. The whole club would like to thank Simon for all his time and effort in leading Hooky to glory !
As I write this the 2nd XI have their last game of the season coming up in the unusually warm September weather and are looking for the win that will make absolutely sure that they can come back to win division 7 next year.
Can the summer have zoomed past already ? It's an ideal time for us to thank those who sponsor the club in different ways: Hook Norton Brewery became our main sponsor this year and clearly helped inspire the best year ever for the club. The Village Shop providing the teas, which not only means that we are the most popular club to visit, but means that relationships with wives and partners are slightly less strained over the summer months ! The Sun has been very welcoming for the all important post-match “analysis” and finally sponsorship with Café Le Raj in Chipping Norton lead to an excellent mid-season evening out !
If any of the above has inspired you, please do ring Tim Lunel (Seniors) or Paul White (Juniors) and book your place in what we are sure will be a scorching summer next year !

HOOK NORTON (SENIOR SECTION) FOOTBALL CLUB
As I write this column, our cricketers are about to put away their bats, linseed oil and other equipment for another year, thereby signalling the onset of the home football season and the time for the Football Club's members to start painting the goal posts and re-erecting the posts and rail on the eastern side of the old pitch. How time flies! Yes, it's time for the home league programme to kick off at The Bourne but, before that happens, the Football Club would like to send its heartiest congratulations to the Cricket Club for going one better than last year, by lifting the Airey Cup. Well done to all concerned!
Because of cricket, as is usual, all of our first 8 league matches of the season so far for the First Team have been played away from home and, despite travelling to such far- flung destinations as Trowbridge, Pewsey Vale, Wootton Bassett, Cricklade, Purton. Letcombe and Cheltenham, the team has still managed to accumulate a very creditable 13 points as it now prepares to face a succession of home matches, by way of compensation, at “The Fortress” (otherwise known as The Bourne!). With a strong squad of players, assembled by Ben and Adrian, and with Stuart Lester ('Scrap's dad) now managing the Reserve Team, we have high hopes and expectations for both teams this season and, already, such hopes and expectations have been borne out by early results. Only time will tell!
We sincerely thank Smiths of Bloxham, with others too many to mention, for their very generous First Team sponsorship and, without them, there is little doubt that we would most certainly struggle to survive at this level of football, the achievement of which is a credit to the present club and to all those who, in the past, have worked so hard to establish it at this level.
As I have said before, as well as endeavouring to enhance the good name of our Football Club and that of the Sports and Social Club to which it is affiliated, the achievements of our teams, at both senior and junior level, I honestly believe, are good not only for the morale and well being of the players and those closely associated with them, but they are good also for the morale and well being of the whole of our local community. Accordingly, I ask that those who have supported and helped us so loyally and generously in the past will continue to do so and for those who have not yet done so and, may be, would like to, please come along. We will be pleased to see you and will enjoy having a drink and a friendly chat. Our aim, especially as we have just acquired FA Charter Standard Club status, is to provide a facility of which we would hope to make the whole of the village and its catchment justly proud.
Up the Hooky!
Geoff 'Jesse' James