Men’s First XI

Captain Peter Baker; Secretary/Treasurer Jon Hughes

Having not won a match for the past season and a half, the first XI was not expecting to achieve wonders this year. The first match of the season saw Queen’s take on Worcester, the reigning league and cuppers champions. After a spirited performance in the field with David Nasralla and Alex Karalis Isaac taking three wickets apiece, Queen’s required 240 to win from their forty overs. The batting was led by Oliver Leyland and Jaime Rowbotham. This combination proved fruitless and Queen’s slumped to 74-6 after twenty-one overs. A partnership of 65 between Peter Baker (50) and Carl Margetts (17) earned Queen’s valuable bonus points but eventually the innings ended on 148 all out. Sadly, the league matches continued in the same vein with Queen’s losing five of their eight games and having the other three cancelled due to poor weather. Although the results did not go as planned, there were many good performances throughout the season, which enabled Queen’s to score more than a hundred runs in every innings and take enough wickets to cause the opposition problems. The final game of the season saw Queen’s needing to beat second place New College to avoid relegation. A solid bowling performance left Queen’s with a target of 221 from forty overs. Despite the efforts of last year’s captain Thomas Tayler (45) and this year’s captain Peter Baker (40), Queen’s only managed 128 all out. Unfortunately, this resulted in Queen’s being relegated from the top division.

The cuppers competition provided Queen’s with both joy and frustration. The first round opposition was a poor Somerville side which was bowled out for 112, with notable performances by Jon Hughes (4 for 25), Matthew Baker (3 for 22) and David Nasralla (3 for 18). This low target was comfortably reached in the twenty-seventh over for the loss of five wickets. Unfortunately, the second round match against St. Anne’s was never played. Although the fixture was arranged on several occasions, a combination of bad weather and a lack of covers resulted in the match being decided by the toss of a coin which Queen’s lost. Despite the disappointment in both the league and the cup, there was much enjoyment to be had in the form of weekend friendlies. The first of these matches was against the John Dignan XI, which saw one of Queen’s better performances with the bat. Oliver Leyland’s innings of 52 was the day’s highest by a Queen’s batsman, followed closely by innings of 49 and 41 by Peter Baker and Matthew Baker respectively. Unfortunately, the bowling was not of its usually high standard and the opposition reached the target of 187 for the loss of only three wickets. Five more weekend friendlies were played with Queen’s winning one, drawing a second and losing the other three. These matches saw some of the season’s best individual performances. John Devoy took four wickets for 32 runs against the Lemmings old members team, and Peter Baker finished with figures of four for twenty in the same match. Matthew Baker made an impressive 89 against the Captain Scott XI, but this innings was not enough to avoid defeat. This year was the 100th anniversary of the sports ground and to mark the occasion a match between Queen’s and the Crocodiles old members team was arranged with a superb three-course lunch and wine. This produced an amazing innings by Marcus Marvell who scored 140 not out and steered Queen’s to 214 for 4 off 39 overs declared. The Crocodiles responded slowly and finished their innings on 169 for 5 off 41 overs resulting in the match being drawn. The second XI led by Chris Bowling developed into a very enthusiastic, if not always successful, side. Notable performances came from Mark Rogers who impressively managed two half-centuries. Our thanks go to Martin Cross who never failed to produce an excellent wicket and to his wife for preparing the best teas and lunches in the league.

Women’s XI

Captain: Clare Cruise

This year the team enjoyed a successful run in cuppers, and the 2002 season also saw a great increase in the number of those who were involved. In the group section of cuppers, Queen’s beat Wadham I by thirty runs and Pembroke by one hundred runs. Progress through the quarter final was assured when St Hilda’s were unable to field a team. Sadly, a spate of bad weather prevented the competition proceeding further. Special mention must go to Miranda Hayward and Annie Bowden who topped the batting averages and to Kelly Furber and Annie Bowden for topping the bowling averages. Congratulations should go to both Kelly and Annie for being selected to represent Oxford against Cambridge.