Scorecard

Oxford Tour: Warborough v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 07 Sep 2025 at 2.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 5 Wickets

Match report Cricket as Conversation
Warborough vs Erratics – Warborough, Oxford Tour, Sunday 7 September 2025
Erratics CC won by 5 wickets

As I pondered Chris Cook’s request to write a few paragraphs on the game. An important one, particularly as it is the Steve Berry Trophy we play for, I imagined the conversations that would have been struck up with him around. I was taken by the idea that the charm of village cricket lies not just in spectacle but in conversation – between bat and ball, between styles, and often, between ideals. This was the final game of our tour to Oxfordshire, and we would emerge with two wins and a draw. On a damp pitch, we probably had the better local knowledge as we had played on the same square the day before. It was fortuitous that we won the toss and bowled first. No Steve Berry, but we had two contrasting opening swing bowlers, Lee Grant and Anuj Tiwari, who both had long spells against a strong opening Warborough partnership and for the early overs, they played like a side happily suspended between eras. Jamie Firth, young and aggressive with excellent timing, set the tone with a brisk 31 from 25 balls – an innings more modern in tempo than in temperament. His was a fluent essay, answered in turn by Adrian Zagoritis' slower, more traditional 29 – a batsman measuring the game to his own beat.

How would we fashion a wicket? Jamie’s exuberance proved his downfall, taking on Anuj’s arm on his attempt at another run (I wondered at the conversation Jamie and Adrian would have later). Enter stage left, Tom Osborne. We haven’t been very successful with his wicket in the past. Now, I have seen Anuj take a lot of wickets, and he enjoys these moments, but maybe not as much as on this occasion. Lee then stepped up next, having Adrian caught. Lee and Anuj completed their spells with the same figures, 9-2-1-40. But just as Warborough threatened to compose something significant, particularly with Ben Hughes moving through the gears. the Erratics intervened – not with thunderous aggression, but with quietly intelligent cricket. Fraser Chave’s bowling figures (9–1–35–4) speak of craft and control. He found support in Chris Cook, whose 3 for 18 was as much about patience as precision. Between them, they dismantled Warborough’s middle and lower order. Two different bowling conversations, but another strong Erratics partnership. 140 all out in 35.1 overs felt neither insufficient nor secure – a total suspended in ambiguity, awaiting context, also remarkably similar to the total against the Mandarins the day before.

The Erratics’ reply mirrored the innings we had just witnessed – uncertain to begin with, and later resolved by experience and calm heads. The top order stuttered. Duncan Chave played his way to 12 before falling to Shields. Martin Wright's lbw for 1 looked like a man caught between instincts – a shot not quite played, a ball not quite left.

Enter Jon Perkin and Fraser Chave – two batsmen with contrasting aesthetics but shared resolve. Jon’s 24 from 61 balls was an innings of stoic resistance, occasionally beautiful in its understatement. Fraser, by contrast, played with flair – 28 from 43, on his way to 7000 runs for the Erratics, but was bowled by Zagoritis just as he looked set to settle the matter. Peter found himself run out going for a quick single. I understand that in early Erratics days, he would often be seen running quick singles in Chris Cook partnerships! The late-order finish was, fittingly, a collaborative act. Chris Cook, serene and methodical, anchored the final phase with 22*, while Anuj Tiwari – all clean lines and uncluttered aggression – struck a vital 21* off just 14 balls to carry the Erratics over the line. Cricket, after all, is often decided not by grand statements but by small acts, performed well.

Jacob Williams (9–3–15–1), bowled beautifully for Warborough. Warborough will remain a force as their youth system is producing some good cricketers for them. In this game of margins, 28 extras proved important as Jon Perkin, keeper on the day, gave away none..

Erratics Cricket Club emerged as the more articulate of the two sides in this dialogue, winning by five wickets with overs to spare. Yet the real fascination lay not in the result, but in how the game unfolded – rhythmically, patiently, like a good story resisting the temptation to rush its ending.

This was a match that rewarded nuance. It is easy in friendly cricket to see batting as dominance and bowling as destruction. But here, the Erratics won through subtlety – both in their bowling, which asked quiet questions, and in their batting, which gave patient answers. Fraser Chave’s double of 4 wickets and 28 runs was the headline performance, but it was Chris Cook – stumpings, wickets, and a not out – who embodied the Erratics’ steady pulse.

Thank you once again to Dave Berry, Steve’s brother, for coming and awarding the Steve Berry Trophy to the Erratics, so we ‘keep’ it for another year.

There is an old line that cricket is played best by those who understand it least as a contest and most as a conversation. The Erratics spoke with clarity, listened with care, and, when the moment came, responded with winning intent. Steve Berry would have been proud to have been part of this story. I can see him wiping away the tears as we witnessed Fraser achieving his 7000 runs milestone.




Oxford Tour: Warborough Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
140 (35.1 overs)		     
Jamie Firth run out  J Perkin 31 25 5 124.00
Adrian Zagoritis ct  L Grant 29 43 5 67.44
Tom Osbourne ct  A Tiwari 1 13 7.69
Ben Hughes ct  C Cook 37 34 7 108.82
David Gittings st  C Cook 11 23 1 47.83
Ben Debenham ct  F Chave 12 24 2 50.0
Josh Paul Not Out  5 25 20.0
Jacob Williams b  F Chave 0 1 0
Paul Baker lbw  F Chave 1 12 8.33
Edward Shields b  F Chave 4 4 1 100
Ian Potter b  C Cook 1 7 14.29

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Anuj Tiwari9.0240140.004.44
Lee Grant9.0240140.004.44
Fraser Chave9.013548.753.89
Chris Cook8.111836.002.20

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 11w 8b 6lb 
for 5 wickets
28
140		        
Duncan Chave ct  E Shields 12 23 2 52.17
Martin Wright lbw  J Williams 1 14 7.14 1
Jon Perkin st  A Zagoritis 24 61 4 39.34 1
Fraser Chave b  A Zagoritis 28 43 4 65.12 1
Chris Cook Not Out  22 51 1 43.14
Peter Colclough Run out  4 14 1 28.57
Anuj Tiwari Not Out  21 14 3 150.0 1
Lee Grant   2
Matt Crawford  
Phil Power  
Mark Phillips  

Oxford Tour: Warborough Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jacob Williams9.0315115.001.67
Edward Shields4.1117117.004.08
Ben Hughes3.001600.005.33
Paul Baker7.011100.001.57
Adrian Zagoritis4.0029214.507.25
Jamie Firth5.011900.003.80
Ian Potter4.001900.004.75