It had to happen sometime. Berkshire have lost a Championship game, their first since August 2014 when they went down to Devon at Exmouth, writes Dave Wright.
Starting against Oxfordshire at Henley in June 2015, they then went on a remarkable run of 36 matches in the Championship, including the title play-offs, but the record-breaking sequence came to an end on Tuesday (August 17) when losing to Oxfordshire by 283 runs at Thame CC.
The hosts declared on 294-8 in their first innings and then bowled out the defending champions for just 140.
That healthy lead was extended as they made 270-7dec the second time around and this left Berkshire with an impossible run-target of 425 to win.
They slumped to 52-6 and were dismissed for 141 shortly before tea on the final day, so it was a very disappointing way in which to mark their 1,000th championship match.
The only Berkshire player who can look back to this week’s game with any real satisfaction is Euan Woods.
The Henley allrounder took 3-62 with his off-spin in Oxon’s first innings and 6-101 in the second, whilst also claiming the other wicket to fall via a run-out.
With the bat, he made scores of 42 and a battling 68, the latter coming off 173 balls after defying the home attack for close to four hours. Only two team-mates made it to double figures, Chris Peploe scoring 20 – he shared an eight-wicket stand of 49 with Woods – and opener Matt Rowe with 10.
Josh Lincoln top-scored with 43 in the first inning, but surprisingly there were two ducks for brother Dan, who had hammered 141 from just 87 balls for Slough last Saturday.
Oxon’s batting honours went to Thame’s Ollie Ebsworth-Burland with outstanding knocks of 81 and 117, while paceman Gareth Andrew was their most successful bowler with returns of 5-39 and 3-35.
Although still in with a chance mathematically, this defeat is a big setback to Berkshire’s chances of winning the Western Division 1 title as they are third on 38 points with Oxon top on 51 and Cheshire on 43.
There is just one round of matches remaining with Berks taking on unbeaten Cheshire at Falkland CC and Dorset hosting Oxon, both starting this coming Sunday.
