Blackford destroys Westcott! Career Best. 8 for 8 including a Hatrick as KCC legend surpasses himself.

Watching the torrential rain come down in Kidlington on Saturday morning it looked to be another wasted day of cricket however Westcott's lovely village ground on the Rothchild Estate has excellent drainage and after a half hour delay a match reduced to 40 overs was played in near perfect conditions. Apart from some dampness due to sweating under the covers the pitch looked good and proved to be blameless and definitely as good as anything you will see anywhere at this time of year.
Westcott won the toss and not surprisingly chose to bowl first but on such a good surface, the dampness apart, it proved to matter little either way.
Kidlington did suffer an early loss when Razan Dogar(0) was bowled by Gary Ellis(1-18)in the first over with the score at 2-1 but from there the away side built a solid platform as Martin Eagle and Micheal Webb shared a partnership of 72. In fact it was some surprise when Eagle(23) top edged a catch to mid-wicket off Lawrence Burkitt(1-27) just as he was starting to cut loose and appeared about to dominate. It was Webb(46) though who was to be the batting star for Kidlington as he survived an early chance to the keeper off Ellis to then record a career best effort which included 4x4's and featured some sweetly timed back foot shots either side of the wicket. This was certainly a day to remember for Micheal before he fell to an excellent catch by Donley Romain off veteran Tony Cherry(3-28). Ordinarily Micheal would have taken all the plaudits for his efforts but events were to see him upstaged by a very special performance!
Paul Hewitt(17) had also given good support to Webb before being run out when failing to ground his bat and as for once Kidlington had kept wickets in hand this meant their young side were able to enjoy themselves in the quest for late runs. Magnus Taylor(4)looking good in his short stay before sacrificing himself for the team and likewise Harry Whitehead(11)who looked unlucky to be caught off a high full toss which should have been a no-ball. Craig Rogers(11 not out) was there to oversee this late charge but unfortunately suffered a side strain and was later unable to bowl, while Robert Webb(0) was also hampered by a wrist injury as he and twin brother Malcolm failed to trouble the scorers. Kidlington closed on 139-8.

After an excellent tea in keeping with this most enjoyable fixture, Kidlington skipper Jim Blackford turned to youth, in the shape of Malcolm Webb(0-14)who improved as he went along and swung the ball in his later overs, and Harry Whitehead(1-33) who found some pace and bounce but often bowled too short and wide down the leg side. Harry did take the important wicket of Jason Tomlinson(11)a player already with a century to his name this season with Micheal Webb taking a good catch at point.
At 56-1 though it was time for experienced heads as Westcott looked to be heading for a victory. Baiju Saleem(1-19) was to get a wicket in his first over when Magnus Taylor took a good catch diving foward to dismiss Andy Holland(11) he also had Romain(8 not out)dropped in the deep by Harry Whitehead in what was a fine effort by the only fielder fast enough to get to it. He also beat the bat often and kept one end bottled up but he too was to be upstaged!
From the moment he got the ball in his hand Jim Blackford, Kidlington's all time record wicket taker, proved to be a game changer. In his first over he bowled Dave Hawes(2) and in his 2nd he took a return catch to remove John Charlton(5). Gary Ellis(23) had the temerity to sweep Blackford off middle stump for 4 but was bowled trying to repeat the trick as Jim skilfully flighted the ball more and beat him all ends up. Charlie Baker(0) was another to be caught and bowled as Blackford was surely bowling Kidlington to victory and when Tom Young(0) was lbw this looked very likely.
However Westcott still had one final card to play though as Donley Romain had stepped down from the first team and could clearly bat. He needed a partner and that looked to be Tony Cherry(7) easily the oldest player in the match and able to drop anchor one end. He defended well for a few minutes, even managing a swept boundry. This then served to set up a dramatic climax as Blackford ran in to bowl the 25th over!
Ball 1 was blocked. Ball 2 blocked. Ball 3 Cherry attempts a sweep and is bowled! 82-8. Ball 4 a nervous Gareth Jones is trapped lbw 82-9 Ball 5 Burkitt slashes wildly and Raz Dogar takes a sharp catch behind the stumps as Blackford completes his first senior Hatrick-his best ever bowling figures and wins the match. What a climax!