20/20 Cricket Oxford UCCE 137-8
Oxfordshire 138-5 Thirteen runs in the last over of this TwentyTwenty encounter
saw Oxfordshire home after two and a half hours of drama, mixed
with some razzmatazz and entertainment, in the Parks. It led to heartbreak for Paul McMahon’s Oxford UCCE side,
who had watched the game seemingly slip away during a highly
impressive display of disciplined hitting from Ian Crosby before
battling back in front of a huge crowd. The UCCE side won the toss and chose to bat, and McMahon
immediately set high standards when he declared, “It looks a
decent wicket, so we’re looking to put pressure on
Oxfordshire and hopefully leave them an exciting chase.”
Though the side fell short of the total he had in mind –
“probably about 160” – his words were otherwise
prophetic. The minor counties side opened with two quick wickets. Luke
Parker’s middle and leg stumps were disrupted at the end of
the first over and Steve Hawinkels was caught at slip from his
first ball. However, the run rate soon began moving steadily
upwards, despite the further loss of Amit Suman for five, during
a pair of fruitful partnerships. Firstly Mula Richards and Will
Howard opened up, finding the boundary five times before Howard
was run-out in a mix-up, and then Richards and Simon Chorlton
took the score to 63-4 before Keith Arnold trapped Richards
leg-before for 29. With five wickets down after eight overs, Oxford consolidated,
as the Oxfordshire bowlers increasingly found bounce from a
length and a tight line, reducing Chorlton and McMahon’s
run-scoring opportunities. McMahon was well caught in the covers
by Ben Thompson with the score on 100, and 13 runs later a
simpler take for the same fielder removed Chorlton after an
innings of 35. The students were grateful for a few late swings,
particularly Josh Knappett’s pull for six and cover drive
for four in the last over, and finished on 137-8. Suman opened the bowling for the UCCE with a promising spell,
with the game’s only maiden followed by the removal of Adam
Cook for a solitary boundary, caught behind by Knappett. However, McMahon and wristspinner Steve Moreton were helpless
to prevent a superb salvo by Crosby, who reached 50 after just 38
balls, with five fours and three sixes. The Oxfordshire opener,
his footwork outstanding, ruthlessly exploited the slightest
abberation in line or length – one Moreton over was hit for
two maximums over mid-on, one of which cleared the pavilion. The
UCCE were understandably delighted when Hawinkels, from the
Norham Gardens end, enticed him in to one shot too many and
Moreton held the catch at deep backward square leg. Oxfordshire found the runs drying up from then on as Parker,
Hawinkels and the returning McMahon all found a length similar to
that of the opposing bowlers at the same stage in their innings.
Though singles kept the scoreboard ticking, boundaries were
becoming increasingly rare and a succession of attempted reverse
sweeps seemed to show the batsmen’s frustration. Callum Taylor therefore came to the crease with the score at
116-5 after a pin-point throw had run out Chris Knightley with
two and a half overs remaining. A superb over from Suman,
conceding just three singles and a leg bye, left Thompson and
Taylor needing a momentous effort to win the game. However, after a Taylor single, one Thompson shot was enough
to reverse roles entirely. Cross-batting the ball over mid-on, he
watched it sail over the rope and leave just six to win from four
balls. The UCCE took the contest to the very last ball, but Thompson
struck it down the ground and a slight misfield was enough to
allow the scampering Taylor back for a second run, ending a
thrilling encounter in fitting fashion. McMahon, though “obviously disappointed,” said that
the game “could have gone either way,” and predicted,
“I’m sure that The Parks hasn’t see the last of
20/20 cricket.”ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004 

Mention the letters RBT to anyone involved in Oxford rowing
and they’ll know who you are talking about: Robin
Bourne-Taylor, of Christ Church, and more recently Great
Britain.Whilst his contemporaries were on the Isis two weeks ago,
Bourne-Taylor, described by Sydney veteran Tim Foster as a
“rising star” of British rowing, was in Munich
competing at the second world cup regatta of the season, in his
third consecutive year in the Great Britain VIII. He will now head to the Olympics in Athens to compete in a
boat that won gold last time around. In September, he will return
to Oxford as President of OUBC and look toward finishing his
engineering degree, another Boat Race, another world
championships, and finally, Sandhurst. Exuding a quiet confidence, he is obviously somebody who is
sure of his own abilities, yet unpresumptuous about what the
future might hold. When I ask him how he thinks he will feel if
the schedule allows him to go to the opening ceremony of the
Games, he stresses the fact that official selection is yet to be
made but says, “I’m a patriotic type of guy, so I
imagine it would be pretty special.” Equally, the respect
for the abilities of the people he competes with is palpable. When Robin arrived in Oxford, he rejected the life of a
typical student and devoted himself fully to OUBC. “I made
the conscious decision that I wasn’t going to go out and get
pissed every night. I wanted to win the Boat Race and see where
my rowing went from there.” One sacrifice he does seem to
lament a little is his involvement in college life, but again
emphasising the positives, he says, “The relationships you
have with the guys in the crew are pretty tight, and I don’t
feel I’ve missed out too much.” Anybody who watched the
Boat Race in 2002 or 2003 would be inclined to agree. The other thing about Bourne- Taylor is that unlike some
university oarsmen, he seems genuinely enthusiastic about college
rowing. “I can’t think of anywhere where there is such
a massive enthusiasm for rowing concentrated in such a small
environment,” he says. He has acquired legend status within
his college Boat Club. Affectionately referred to as the RBT3000,
freshers are passed down a mantra attributed (no-one is sure
whether accurately) to him: “I do not feel pain, I feel
electrical impulses to my brain.” In his first Summer
Eights, stroking his college 1st VIII, he won first division
blades without having to row out of the gut; last year, in the
midst of finals, he rushed home from a GB training session to
race in the top division. Conversation naturally moves to the Great Britain squad and
his hopes for this summer. Bourne- Taylor says whilst the fifth
place at the first international regatta of the season was below
par, the fourth achieved in Munich was more encouraging. As he
points out, the important thing is to be quick in August, not
June, and he has great belief in what the crew can achieve then.
Whilst he will not be drawn on whether he is expecting a medal,
highlighting that the goals the VIII have set themselves are not
about potential outcome, one senses that as a highly competitive
individual he has his sights set on gold. After that, as a member of Oxford University Officer Training
Corps, an organisation that he cites as giving him support over
the past four years, he is relishing the prospect of Sandhurst. I
ask him whether he will continue to row to such a high level when
in the army, and his response is typical: “I hope to, but
we’ll see what happens.” Given his track record, I
wouldn’t bet against it.ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004 

Queen’s followed their victory in the Ultimate Frisbee
League by winning cuppers, beating Pembroke/Jesus 5- 2 in the
final. Their run of competitive victories now extends to over a
year, blemished only by a single preseason friendly defeat at the
hands of Christ Church. With Ultimate continuing to grow in Oxford, cuppers took the
total of colleges entering teams into tournaments this season to
20. Big in America and catching on here, the sport is a fast team
game in which each side aims to catch a frisbee in the
other’s end zone, without dropping it on the way or moving
while holding it. The game is particularly strong in Oxford with
the University women’s team having recently been declared
Team of the Year by the Sports Federation. Queens’ cuppers victory was made possible by a mix of
longterm squad development and the good fortune to possess gifted
players. They have had the largest Ultimate squad in the
University for some time and regular practice sessions and
technical drills have given the team consistently high standards
and a comfortable knowledge of one another’s game. It was
this strength in depth that gave Queen’s the edge in the
final against opponents who relied too heavily on the admittedly
flawless handling of GB Junior international Adam Lerman and the
pace and athleticism of Joe Devietti. The champions succeeded in
stifling the pair and patiently worked the disc upfield with
series of short passes centred around their key handler, Chris
Brown, and his fellow Blue, Mark Rogers. However, with Brown, Rogers and much of the rest of their team
leaving this year, Queen’s will be hard-pressed to defend
their double crown. Such news will be some relief to last
year’s double winners, Linacre, who could only manage third
after being beaten by both finalists. Christ Church will also be
encouraged by the prospect of a potentially open path to
silverware, after surpassing expectations and only narrowly
losing the third place play-off.ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004 

Before the Blues game against Oxfordshire on Friday evening,
it was the turn of the colleges to try 20/20 cricket as last
year’s cuppers winners Pembroke defeated Keble by 7 wickets.
Coloured clothing and music may have been the order of the day
but Pembroke’s victory was largely thanks to a disciplined
bowling and fielding performance. Having won the toss and elected to field Pembroke skipper Paul
Ramsay led the way making a breakthrough with his third ball
removing Booth for a single. When Chris Stearn nicked his next
ball to Jonathon Fennell at slip, Keble were reeling at 3-2. They took time to recover with captain Rafe Roylands (23) and
Ross Bland (14) putting on 31, but were unable to score quickly.
Ramsay, who finished with figures of 4-1-10- 2, was ably
supported by offspinner Adam Hunter (4-1-6-2). A rally from Stuart Drury (29) and Alan Bannister (22) boosted
the Keble score to a competitive 116 with 31 runs coming from the
last two overs. Keble required early wickets to put pressure on the Pembroke
but had to wait until the eighth over when Dan Fox was caught
superbly at backward point by Booth off the bowling of Stearn for
13. Any hope of a Keble fightback faded with Laurence
Parker-Brown (39) and Nick Warrillow (22) adding 44 runs for the
second wicket in just 6 overs effectively ended any Keble
resistance. Warrilow fell in the 14th over, attempting to repeat a huge
six off Roylands getting stumped by Tim Oliver in the process,
the same bowler finding the edge to remove Parker-Brown two overs
later. Fennell and Tom Bullock required just 3 overs to score the
remaining 23 runs, with Fennell squrting the winning run to third
man with on over to spare.ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004 

What could have more drama, more nail-biting sleepless-night
inducing tension than the Semi-Finals of the 5-a-side Football
Cuppers? Exams, perhaps. If the matches at the Iffley Road Sports
Complex were lacking in anything it was in atmosphere as the
pressures of Sixth Week started to take their toll. St Catherine’s started with style against Somerville in
the first semi. A cute flick from midfield ruthlessly sliced the
Somerville team apart and Ben Isaacs pounced to put Catz 1-0 up.
Isaacs’ fruitful usage of the ball meant the score soon
multiplied to 2-0 as he royally thwacked a loose ball into the
corner of the net. Somerville tried gamely but too often resorted
to aimless shots from distance, with Catz more versatile and
proficient. Marshalled ably by the vociferous Attree in goal and
with the languid probing of Hardyment providing the instigation,
Catz were like a brand new efficient sports car with more
shots-tothe- pass than the slow, uneconomic old banger that was
Somerville. The second-half opened dramatically. Unaware that the
time-conscious referee had allowed Catz to take a quick kick-off,
the Somerville keeper was walking towards his goal,
back-to-the-ball as a shot was trickling towards the corner of
the unguarded net before he instinctively flung his foot towards
the ball to prevent it crossing the goal line. For the rest of
the half Catz were content to play for time, though Somerville
scored the goal of the day, a superb flowing move combining
defence, midfield and attack before Bennett finished precisely to
make it 2-1. It was but a consolation, as Catz deservedly reached
the final. St Hugh’s took on Magdalen in a more even match. Neither
team dominated a frenetic first half. An early Magdalen shot by
Chris Woodcock was palmed away well by ‘keeper Wilson. Amid
the physicality of the battle Hughs’ twinkle-toed Patterson
stood-out. Rolling his foot over the ball and dropping his
shoulder he consistently created space to enable him to let fly
with several stinging shots which the Magdalen ‘keeper Carl
Saunders did well to block. One 15-yard bullet was brilliantly
tipped over the cross-bar by the stopper who saw the ball very
late. The second half started in the same vein with Saunders
preventing Patterson scoring with a flick. Penalties seemed
inevitable before, with seconds left, Hughs’ Lockwood’s
hopeful toe-poke dribbled in agonising slow motion into the
corner of the net. Can anything really be as dramatic as
football?ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004 

A man had to be talked down from St Michael’s Tower on
Cornmarket Street on Monday afternoon, after threatening to
commit suicide for the second time in a week. The man, known as
Billy, can often be seen playing his guitar next to the railings
outside the tower, and is well liked by the church’s staff. An informant, who works in the shop at the bottom of the
tower, and would only give his name as Philip, said that Billy
came in to ask him for money at midday on Monday. Upon his
refusal, Billy ran up the tower, and was pursued by the organist,
who was practicing at the time. The organist stayed with Billy until the arrival of the
police, who arrested him “for his own safety”.
Inspector Gibbs, of the Thames Valley Police, said that the
incident was “dealt with promptly and swiftly”. He
added that the police will “now rely on medical experts to
take on the case.” Monday’s events followed an almost identical incident
last week, when the same man sat on the tower and had to be
talked down by the police. Church administrator Francis King
said, “It was a cry for help rather than anything
serious.” Philip commented that he has witnessed similar behaviour from
others in the past, although, to his knowledge, no one in recent
times has actually attempted to jump off the tower. There is said, however, to be a copy of a 1301 inquest
describing how one Robert de Horityn fell from the tower “by
mischance”, so that “the whole of his body was
broken”. The tower is commonly known to be the oldest
building in the whole of Oxford. Police insist that this was an isolated incident. Inspector
Gibbs commented on the fact that “people don’t
associate Oxford with this”ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

The recent speculation and hyperbole surrounding the
vulnerability of British democracy following the ever-so
dangerous attack of a flour-filled condom found its parallel when
140 Union hacks assembled on Sunday, appropriately at the
invitation of the President, to debate why they would rather be
‘pretty than witty’. The IRA really should have been
told. “University politics are so vicious precisely because the
stakes are so small”, as some Yankee villain once said, and
student venom never can be so full of bile as a literal mass
debate in the attempt to qualify for Union election. The first to step forward is Tobi Rufus, who continues in his
vocal impression of a twelve-year-old girl by imploring the House
to “Consider David Beckham”. Indeed it is extremely
difficult to consider Mr Beckham when one is looking at Rufus,
but at least he brings a degree of coherency. Much unlike the
string of pretty young blondes who followed his massive presence
– pretty, but certainly without wit. ‘Um, yah…um, yah…um, yah…’ they
twittered away for the necessary two minutes. “Rah…rah…rah,’ shouted their old school
chums in encouragement, as if speaking for a couple of minutes
was some sort of challenge. Not that anyone was there to listen to these double-barreled
bits of fluff. Feeding time at the zoo descended into complete
farce as the anti-Rah opposition poked at legislative loopholes
to stop one presidential candidate’s friends from qualifying
in time. ‘Hoorah’ and ‘Hear, hear’, they jeered and
booed, with occasional neighing to those pashminas and up-turned
collars opposite, once assured that they could bring this
spectacle to an end. The Commons has nothing to offer this comic pandemonium as
young Tories aspirant for safe Conservative seats practice the
waving of paper and artificial heckling. Events may not have been pretty, Union hacks are far from
witty, but with many of these hacks destined for those green
leather seats in Westminster the school boy antics in Parliament
look secured for one more generation at least.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

Two on-leave soldiers from Northern Ireland have been arrested
following an assault on three students. The Jesus College students and their friend from Aberystwyth
University, went to casualty after the arrival of the police in
the early hours of Wednesday morning. Two suspects will appear in
Oxford Magistrates Court on Friday 11 June, charged with causing
actual bodily harm. The students encountered two men as they walked to
Hassan’s Kebab Van, on Broad Street, on their way home from
The Studio nightclub. An altercation took place over a dropped
meat pie. After asking an abusive question, one of the men
punched the Aberystwyth Law student, Craig Maggs, in the face,
knocking him to the ground. Maggs was then kicked in the head
twice before Jesus first-year Maths student, Andrew Hindley,
intervened in an attempt to protect his friend. He was struck in
the face and had half of one of his front teeth broken off. The
other Oxford student, James Longster, then tried to separate the
individuals involved. He too was struck before the assailants
left the scene. Rebecca Hazel, a Jesus historian at the scene, had phoned the
police at the first sign of trouble. They arrived within minutes
and collected the shaken students before searching the area for
the assailants. Shortly afterwards, two men were found involved in an
“exchange of words” on Cornmarket Street, according to
WPC Simmonds. They were restrained before being taken under arrest to St
Aldate’s Police station. Simmonds confirmed that two men
found on Cornmarket were arrested in connection with the assault
on the students, and were charged with causing actual bodily
harm. The two, aged 18 and 25 respectively, cannot be identified
prior to their court hearing. “Everyone involved had
consumed a rather large amount of alcohol”, said Simmonds. The students involved were treated for head injuries at
Accident and Emergency. Maggs, who had been visiting his friend
Longster, said, “Until then it had been a really good
night,” adding that his first time in Oxford had
“certainly been an experience.” Longster said that the
incident had been “a mindless, unprovoked attack”.
Andrew Hindley, who was the most seriously injured of the
students, faces a hefty dental bill to repair his tooth. He told
Cherwell that he had attempted to calm the situation down but one
of the men was being extremely aggressive. “When I saw Craig
go down, my first instinct was to protect him,” he said. The charged men have been allowed to return home for a
standard bail of one week until their appearance a week today in
front of the Magistrates Court. Thames Valley Police have also
informed their regiment of the arrest, and the Royal Military
Police are expected to deal with the incident accordingARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

OUSU was in confusion this week as it attempted to implement
the result of last term’s referendum on the future of higher
education funding. The overwhelming result of the referendum was
to ‘reduce student numbers’ but the student union is
having difficulty reconciling this with current policy such as
‘free higher education’ and ‘equal access for
all’. Daniel Simpson, OUSU Council Delegate and Labour Club Chair,
said, “The policy is a single line and very unclear, so we
don’t know how it can fit with access”. Concern was
raised as to why the contradictions with other areas of OUSU
policy had not been foreseen. Ken Owen from the Education Reform
Group which campaigned for ‘reduce student numbers’
said it was OUSU’s responsibility “to make sure that
each option was a real choice.” The committee decided to ask political groups to look for a
definition that would not contradict other parts of OUSU policy
and if this was not possible, to suggest a second referendum to
ask “Do you think it should be OUSU policy to reduce student
numbers?” This would allow OUSU Council to decide higher
education policy itself if a “No” vote was returned. Some of those present feared that students might view a second
referendum as OUSU ignoring the result of the first free and fair
vote. Owen claimed “another referendum would confirm the
perception that some people within OUSU are doing everything they
can to avoid implementing the result of the referendum. At the
end of the day a referendum result has a much clearer popular
mandate than OUSU Council ever will.” Helena Puig-Larrauri, OUSU President, was quick to quash
speculation that this might be the end of the referendum result,
saying that F&F was a “greenhouse for ideas” but
ultimately campaigns are committed to OUSU policy. However, OUSU is constitutionally bound to hold a new
referendum if requested by ten JCR or MCR presidents, or 500
ordinary students. Ed Griffiths, who tried to put a motion
through OUSU Council earlier in the term, which would have
allowed it to ignore the referendum result, is believed to be
currently attempting to put such a petition together.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004