Banbury CC will look to make it four wins out of four this weekend after both firsts and seconds were victorious over depleted Stony Stratford last weekend. The 1st XI take on Great Brickhill at home this weekend, while the 2nd XI travel to Wellesbourne. Both matches start at 1pm and the bar at White Post Road will be open from 12 noon.
Luke Ryan’s men make two changes, but former Australian International Tim Paine will not make his debut, due to a prearranged function in London. Instead his Banbury bow will be at Great Tew next week. Both Ian Tew and Will Briggs make their seasonal debuts, the later returning from a winter in Melbourne, replacing Justin Lambden and Lloyd Sabin in the XI.
Last week Banbury, despite some testing moments, cruised to a 7 wicket win against Northants Prem outfit Stony. Jimmy Phillips (3-19) and Olly Wright (2-27) were the pick of the bowlers, their middle innings spell reduced the hosts from 85-1 to 105-6. Earlier seamers Blanchard, Manley and Penhale had suffered some bad luck with touch chances being missed and tight decisions not going their way. Richard West picked up 2 wickets also as he and Manley closed out the innings on 171-9 from the allotted 45 overs.
New signing Hugo Darby (22) and Ed Phillips (13) looked breezy in the opening spell, but some good bowling from Alex Strong soon had Banbury in a tight spot at 55-3. This brought Captain Luke Ryan and Vice-Captain Lloyd Sabin to together. The pair built a century partnership, including some good late innings acceleration. Both made 50s, as Banbury won with more than 15 overs to spare.
The full score card can be seen here http://banbury.play-cricket.com/website/results/2400427 .
Meanwhile the 2nd XI racked up over 300 vs Stoney 2s. Captain Charlie Hill, who misses the next two weeks due to Uni commitments, made good use of the outing scoring 70 not out, but new signing Tom Bartlett stole the show and made the best possible start to his Banbury career posting an unbeaten century.