National Counties Beat MCC

Oxfordshire all-rounder George Tait enjoyed home comforts to set the National Counties XI on their way to a 102 runs victory over a strong MCC side at Banbury in the annual representative match.

Tait made a run-a-ball 108 not out at the ground where he used to play his club cricket to take National Counties to 252 all out against an MCC side that was full of players with National Counties experience.

Dorset seamer Ollie Breckon then took four for 24 in 6.3 overs to snuff out MCC’s resistance with his county team-mate Oli Soames among his victims.

Lincolnshire’s Tom Keast gave National Counties early impetus with 37 from 38 balls but he fell to Hertfordshire slow left-armer Ashley Sivarajah and Berkshire’s Andy Rishton soon followed, LBW to his former county team-mate Chris Peploe.

The former Middlesex slow left-armer, who retired from National Counties cricket at the end of last season, was as miserly as ever and conceded just 26 runs in his ten over spell.

Peploe added the wicket of National Counties captain Dan Lincoln, another Berkshire player, but not added the scalp of Dan Lincoln, another Berkshire player.

The departure of Wales NC’s Sam Pearce to Suffolk’s Darren Ironside left National Counties wobbling on 130 for six but Tait transformed the innings.

With excellent support from Wiltshire’s Arthur Godsal (22) and Dorset’s Josh Croom (15), Tait almost doubled the total in the last 24 overs of the innings.

Sivarajah and Middlesex off-spinner Josh de Caires shared six wickets between them but their success also suggested that a target of 253 might prove challenging on a turning pitch.

National Counties opened with the slow left-arm of Buckinghamshire’s Conner Haddow who quickly dismissed De Caires, the son of former England captain Mike Atherton, and Ironside in successive balls.

Cheshire’s Alex Money then edged Wiltshire’s Josh Croom behind for another duck which left MCC reeling at six for three.

Soames tried to rebuild the innings, making a patient 35 before he fell to Breckon and Croom then accounted for Dorset coach Ed Ellis which broke a stubborn sixth wicket partnership with former Northamptonshire all-rounder Chad Barrett.

Sivarajah fired a few defiant shots at the end of the innings but Breckon returned and stook the last two wickets in as many balls to clinch victory with 18-and-a-haf overs to spare.

Representative Match

Banbury: National Counties XI 252 (George Tait 108), MCC 150 (Ollie Breckon 4-24). National Counties XI won by 102 runs.