Oliver's found playing cricket

I absolutely love Cricket and have done since I was a small child, some of my fondest childhood memories are of playing cricket in the garden, in the street, on the village green, for the school, in fact, whenever possible.

Well, its true to say I don't play so much these days but I do still enjoy watching a good game from the armchair, whilst having a picnic in the park or from the stands of a packed out England match.

So, you can imagine my joy when browsing through some old copies of the Oxford Jackson's Journal to find quite by accident that over 100 years ago my ancestors were also keen on the game and active in the local team.

The newspaper reports on a close game between Stonesfield and Finstock in 1899, at Stonesfield. The Stonesfield team includes 3 Oliver players, T. Oliver, E. Oliver and W. Oliver, all contributed with the bat and ball, though despite W. Olivers top score of 19 runs, Finstock ran out the eventual winners by just 3 runs.

Below is a transcript of the match score sheet from the newspaper.

In the wider context of the game, in the same year, the legendary Dr W.G. Grace (right) was the first player to play for England beyond the age of 50.