V&A XI:  D. Pitlarge(c), L. Nieboer, A. Jacot, C. Jonkers N. Constantine, C. Kulasingam, J. Arnold(wk), D. Scott, D. De Caires, W. Carpmael, A. Wayland

Bacchus XI are, by now, regulars at Stonor. It is the cricket team for former members of the Oxford University Wine Society. The team’s name, purpose and location suggests frenzied rites and undergraduate revelry of a now unfashionable kind. Such associations do not, however, spring immediately to mind on shaking hands at the start of the day with Patrick Hudson, the team’s articulate and self-deprecating captain, a writer for “The Tablet”.

The discussion that followed was a diplomatic assessment as to how we might maximise the cricket and enjoyment of the day to follow for all concerned.

The chosen mechanism was a modified time game –  80 overs for the day with a maximum of 42 overs for V&A as the team batting first, with the option to declare at any time.

Bacchus hitherto have not fielded strong teams at Stonor. However, they more than compensate with the exuberance and charm of the team and its retinue, which includes parents, friends, an Australian Oxford law professor and, this year, a father of one of the players, who is also a qualified umpire and who was willing to stand for much of the game, together with, most precious of all, Felicity – an even rarer jewel, a willing and competent scorer who kindly volunteered to take care of our scoring. Scorers are eccentric creatures (go to any first-class ground on a County Championship day and you will see what I mean);  Felicity, for all her evident intelligence, was no exception and, by the end of the game, she had climbed up into one of the trees by the nets.

This was my debut as a captain. It is years since I have been “skip” – I had to brush up. I had a partially read copy of Mike Brearley’s most recent book, “Turning Over the Pebbles” and dipped into that. Although interesting, this wasn’t particularly helpful: extended musings on Beethoven, psychiatry and Henry James did not really address the realities, or much else, about cricket captaincy. I also got stuck on the non-cricket bits – the author’s commentaries on James’s complexity added little to one of the pithiest judgements on the Master, that of Marilyn Clover Adams : “It’s not that he ‘bites off more than he can chew’ but he chews more than he bites off.”.

Although heretical, I wonder whether the great Test captains, including Brearley, should be measured against the full set of more humdrum captain’s duties. Take Headingley ’81 as an example: I’m sure that, say, neither Dilley nor Old called their captain early in the week of the match to say something like “sorry Mike, can I let you know on Wednesday evening whether I’m up for this…”.

That said by Thursday V&A were well set following a concerted and thoroughly appreciated effort. Nicky Bird took pity on this debutant captain and used all of his considerable charms to persuade Sarah Jenkins to come out of retirement less than a year after she might have thought that she had freed herself. Special thanks are due to Sarah, herself worried by the health of her ailing and beloved dachshund, Brecon.  She ensured that this particularly convivial fixture lived up to its billing with style and characteristic efficiency.

The batting order was rejigged, and V&A opened with Will Carpmael and Christy Kulasingam – a left-hand /right-hand combination, one of the captain’s insightful innovations which yielded two runs between them.

Will had opened with his son George in the last game against Bacchus. He had hit a powerful but correct 50 on that occasion. This time around, he was out immediately without scoring. Aside from a slight grumble about the pace of the pitch (justified), Will remained jovial and engaged throughout the day. He also undertook considerably more than his fair share of umpiring.

Nick Constantine was in earlier than he might have liked – still with clouds, a damp pitch and a relatively sharp Bacchus opening attack to contend with. Despite one or two imprudent lofted shots, Nick hit the ball with commitment and raced ahead in a partnership of 40; Christy then departed followed by Nick 8 runs later, the latter bowled for a breezy 39 by Patrick Hudson who had, since last season, relinquished the wicket-keeper’s gloves.

This brought together Jasper and Lachlan. Both are in good form and have already produced one important partnership for the team this season.  Each could be described as muscular in his approach – although, any silken adornments probably belong to Jasper with his ability also to glide the ball beautifully through extra cover, set against Lachlan’s more mechanical striking.

What is harder to describe is the perceptible and vital tension between the two which drives their successful performances together – the best this correspondent can offer for now is that, at times, it seems more Burton and Taylor than Langer and Hayden.

The partnership yielded 67 runs and some bemused expressions from the fielders.

Lachlan departed on 47 to a blameless catch.

Enter Dennis De Caires – elegance for muscularity. Dennis’s game, both batting and bowling, is located on the graceful side of orthodoxy. There was time for Dennis to display this, and some more Arnold boundaries, before coming off to enjoy Sarah’s feast, with the pate defiantly placed in the centre of the spread on the buffet table.

Nicky gave his usual address. His theme was etiquette and grace, in particular on the cricket field. It was all very wholesome with no obvious victims; that said, the punchline involved Nicky, as wicket-keeper, dropping a catch with gloves on. That, in turn, had been a memorable feature of Patrick Hudson’s keeping in the last fixture … no doubt inadvertent and, like Basil Fawlty with the Germans, I think we got away with it.

Back to the cricket: more of the same from Dennis until he chipped up a catch and exited on 16; Jasper sportingly decided to retire at 43.  V&A were looking good for 200.

However, the momentum was not maintained. The captain’s decision to drop himself to 7 to explore the more aggressive aspects of batting led only to a lame glide to gully’s midriff where there was sufficient cushioning to allow time for the fielder’s hands to locate the ball and then clasp it. Andrew Wayland was then undone by a rare sight: a proper googly (an uncharacteristically underhand ploy from our otherwise virtuous opponents). We were soon down to the last wicket partnership of Dominic Scott and Adam Jacot which, with Dominic pinching the strike in the dying overs, added something to the gaiety of nations, but little to the score. It was time to declare.

Earlier in the day a red kite had been spotted catching a mouse but then strangely releasing it and letting it escape. The merciful spirit guiding that event had, however, clearly departed Stonor by the time that Christiaan and Lachlan took the new ball.

Lachlan was, as ever, fast and accurate. His figures were 4-5, all clean bowled. It is a measure of his skill and achievements that these are not remarkable figures for him. He had to be “eased” out of the attack, although he could be spotted in the outfield with an unsated jackal’s stare, signalling for another over.

Christiaan was equally fired up: it is easy to envisage his younger days at the Parks and the Oxford college grounds; less obvious, but sometimes perceptible, is the acquisition of the forceful resolve in his teenage years necessary to enable him to have survived in the less arcadian environment of West Midlands league cricket. His figures were 2-26 , but there could easily have been more wickets and less runs with many of the runs coming, with a hint of desperation, from lofted shots in the arc between midwicket and long on (of course I mean “cow”) from Billy Sutton-Mattocks the tennis virtuoso adapting his racket skills, quite successfully, as part of the last gasp from the Bacchus’ top order.

V&A’s four other bowlers were no less effective: each of them, Christy, Dennis, Andrew Wayland and Adam hitting the stumps for a wicket apiece. By the time they had finished their work, Bacchus had been rolled over for 70.

We wrote to thank Patrick, his team and retinue for being such splendid guests and helping out with just about everything. Patrick’s gracious response included the following: “sad to say, the middle order your lads swatted aside was one of our strongest”; nevertheless, he continued, “ …there are few better days out…”. I can’t speak for the alternatives to the Bacchus middle order but there is much in what he said about the day itself, something which many contributed to from both sides, on and off the field.