Oxfordshire grabbed their first competitive victory of the season with a five-wicket win over Surrey Cricket Board in their ECB 38-County Competition group game at Christ Church yesterday.

Henley paceman Steve Wright took five wickets as Surrey were shot out for 182, and Oxford's Keith Mustow then top-scored with 80 as the hosts strolled home with 7.1 of their allotted 50 overs in hand.

Keith Mustow

New coach Jack Potter read the riot act to his players after last Sunday's defeat by Kent Cricket Board.

And it seemed to do the trick as Oxfordshire produced their best display of the season by quite some distance.

But the victory was overshadowed by a controversial catch by 19-year-old Cumnor batsman Ian Crosby and the events which followed.

With Surrey handily placed at 90-1, Crosby brilliantly caught John Fry in the deep, but then appeared to step on the whitewash boundary line.

The umpires consulted Crosby, who told them that he believed he had stayed within the field of play but that he could not be certain.

However, instead of giving the batsman the benefit of the doubt and awarding six runs, Fry was given out.

Surrey skipper Mark Bainbridge was incensed and stormed out to the middle to demand, unsuccessfully, that the decision be reversed.

It was a bad call by the officials, but Bainbridge's behaviour was disgraceful.

As it turned out, the fall of the classy Fry was to prove crucial as Surrey, who had beaten a weakened Oxon side in this competition last Thursday, lost their way badly.

Wright finished with 5-46 in his second game for the county, while 34-year-old Shipton left-arm spinner Shaun Miller picked up two wickets on his debut.

Oxfordshire got off to an unsteady start in reply.

Stewart Laudat and Ben Thompson were bowled by successive deliveries from the pacy Kervin Marc, but Mustow and Rob Williams put on 109 for the third wicket to take the home side to within sight of victory.

**SURREY CRICKET BOARD

T Carter c Cook b Wright. . .14

J Fry c Crosby b Peddy. . .38

S Newman lbw Miller. . .41

C Harrison c Wright b Adams. . .8

S Andrews run out. . .0

M Bainbridge b Wright. . .26

R Johnson b Miller. . .6

D Gorrod c Cook b Wright. . .28

E Cruz b Wright. . .2

K Marc c Hawtin b Wright. . .8

A Moon not out. . .0

Extras. . .11

Total (all out, 49 ovs). . .182

Fall: 1-26, 2-90, 3-102, 4-103, 5-117, 6-128, 7-152, 8-167, 9-182.

Bowling: Wright 10-0-46-5, Adams 10-1-37-1, Laudat 9-0-45-0, Peddy 10-2-18-1, Miller 10-0-32-2.

OXFORDSHIRE

S Laudat b Marc. . .7

K Mustow lbw Bainbridge. . .80

B Thompson b Marc. . .0

R Williams run out. . .41

A Cook not out. . .17

I Crosby lbw Harrison. . .0

S Miller not out. . .1

Extras. . .37

Total (5 wkts, 42.5 ovs). . .183

Fall: 1-32, 2-32, 3-141, 5-180, 6-181.

Bowling: Marc 10-1-37-2, Johnson 2-0-17-0, Gorrod 5-3-21-0, Harrison 7.5-0-43-1, Moon 10-1-22-0, Bainbridge 8-1-33-1.