IT was a baptism of fire for Wiltshire's young spin attack as Oxfordshire cruised to a 257 run win in the opening Minor Counties Championship match at Banbury.

With four established first team spinners unavailable, Wiltshire were forced to call on inexperienced South Wilts duo, Eddie Abel, 17, and James Hayward, 18, and on a turning pitch the hosts took full advantage.

The pair had just one Wiltshire appearance between them and the lack of experience proved costly as Oxfordshire batted strongly in the second innings to declare on 349 for 6 and leave Wiltshire a mammoth target of 402 to win.

In comparison Oxfordshire's slow left arm bowler Joe Porter took six for 36 in the second innings, for ten wickets in the match, as Wiltshire were put in a spin.

Captain Russell Rowe admitted the loss of experienced spinners Jason Searle, Richard Illingworth, Richard Foley and Richard Bates had been a big blow but backed the youngsters to recover from the set back.

He said: "It was very disappointing. We did not play well as a team and they were a strong side and perfectly balanced with a couple of very experienced spin bowlers.

"It was a big ask for our young spinners and although they have performed very well for their club we always knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle.

"They could not quite give us the control we needed on the day but having said that we did have them 96-6 at lunch on the first day and from there we should have gone on to win the game.

"In an ideal world we would have played one experienced spinner with the youngsters, as experience is particularly important for spinners. Richard Illingworth is available for our next match and the two will be able to learn a lot from him."

Oxfordshire won the toss and batted but were soon in trouble when in the second over of the innings Kevin Nash bowled Keith Mustow and Craig Haupt with his first two balls.

The hosts then slipped to 31 for 4 and 130 for 6 before Adam Cook (99 not out) and skipper Ian Hawtin (45) took the score to 250.

Richard Bedbrook was the pick of the Wiltshire bowlers taking five for 84 with Nash, two for 34, and James Golding, two for 18.

In reply, Wiltshire's innings stuttered on the first evening losing four wickets for just 104 with Baqar Rizvi out in the last over of the day for 45. Debutant Abel batted steadily to reach 29 not out.

On the second day Wiltshire were dismissed for 198 with Abel (34), Bedbrook (33), Golding (22) and Michael Coles (23), making significant contributions.

Joe Porter took four for 27 and Rob Lynch took four for 56.

Wiltshire bowled poorly in the second innings on a wicket taking considerable turn and Oxfordshire declared on 349-6 after 67 overs, leaving the visitors 10 overs and the whole of the final day to score 402 to win.

Wiltshire survived the final 10 overs but on the final day succumbed to 144 all out before lunch. Only Abel, with 38 runs in 34 overs, showed any promise.