Rabbit

Charles Hodges and David Peacock. Two names that will bring back warm memories for those lucky enough to bask in the sunshine at Knebworth in August 1979. Knebworth is a small village to the North of Brackley.

Knebworth is unique amongst English villages in that it does not have an idiot; an ancient law passed in 1084 by the local baron ensures that each year the biggest idiot is sent South.

Anyway, back to 1979. Charles and David were sitting backstage preparing to warm the crowd up for Led Zeppelin. They needed something catchy to follow up May '79's smash "Gertcha'. Inspiration struck as two idiots walked past; babbling inanely and incessantly , it was impossible to ignore them both.

Coz you wont stop talkin,
Why dont you give it a rest?,
You got more rabbit than sainsburys,
Its time you got it off your chest,
Now you is just the kinda girl to break my heart in two,
I knew right off when i first set my eyes on you,
But how was i to know you fed my earholes too?,
With your ecessive talking,
Your becoming a pest,

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of this genre defining moment in Rockney pop history a cricket match was played in Didcot yesterday. It featured the only living relatives of those two men.

Inviting the opposition to bat first on another sunny day skipper Gates was feeling apprehensive. Would Crabbie's bone spurs hold up? Would The Judge be able to resist the tension? Would Bernard be able to resist The Judge? Would The Didcot flasher make an appearance?..........

Brackley started cautiously against an accurate spell from Pritch and Matt. One wicket apiece was the only reward. 73 for 2 from 19 overs. Cometh the hour, cometh the Caretaker. A wicket with his second ball as he turned one just enough to catch the outside edge of Cartwright's bat, smart work from Brockett and he was off back to the hutch. A devastating spell reduced Brackley to 133 for 8 with The Caretaker having 5 for 25 at one stage. Jules softened them up at the other end of course, his flatter, faster one being comfortably the quickest bowling of the day.

Smart catching and excellent ground fielding even drew a rabbit onto the field of dreams to offer his support. He didn't last long. A few biffs at the end and Brackley were all out for 172.

Some delicious scones were consumed and enjoyed by all. Especially Brockett.

Jim Perera and Judge Boyle opened our reply. Jules didn't die wondering and was clean bowled trying to hit the ball into space. This brought Bernard to the crease. Felix would be a better name for him, such were the lives he seemed to have. Still, he made them pay, and with Vish took the score to 101 before perishing to Dick Dastardly Newby.

Throughout this time Vish had been batting beautifully, following on from his undefeated innings last week he went on to make 77 not out from only 80 odd balls including fourteen 4's. His classy innings was a joy to watch, driving off both front and back feet and pulling viciously, quality.

We won comfortably by 7 wickets with overs to spare, the end coming with a flurry of Monster boundaries from Cookie.

Afterwards, the feeling of relief at finally laying a ghost to rest was palpable. It was only 25 points at the end of the day, but it felt more significant than that. Next week we line up against third placed Tiddington. A sterner test awaits I am sure.

Great Brickhill 2 V Didcot 2

Didcot travelled all the way to Great Brickhill and were almost back in Didcot at tea time if not for some resistance from Prasad (33) holding one-end while Dan Alderson (50) batted sensibly with a mixture of attacking shots and defence to put up a partnership of 75 runs. At the end Matt Tatford and Rob Green batted the last 5 overs to use up the 47 overs.

The Great Brickhill opener A. Ward dropped down from the 1^st to play closer to home and was in a great hurry to finish the game, flashing at every thing, he was lucky not to be caught off Dan’s second delivery when he mis-timed a hook and it just dropped short of Rob Green fielding at fine leg. However he was unforgiving on anything just short of a length and he reached his 50 in double quick time. He was caught off a short pitch delivery from Peter Sykes at the furthest boundary; deep midwicket to a well judged excellent catch by Matt Tatford. The game was almost over but Didcot managed to collect another wicket just before the end to a diving catch from Viraj!

Great Brickhill 25 Points, Didcot II 5 points

With this result now we are dangerously close to the bottom of the table (8^th). We need to raise our game to win the rest of the games now!

Didcot 3rds v Leighton Buzzard

We had them in trouble batting first with Stewart Green getting some wickets once he had spent 4 or 5 overs warming up! Rob Keat bowled beautifully with no luck and little reward.

Carl then bowled short on leg stump to a bat who only had one shot (pulling the short ball).Raj bowled well, as did James Bywater. Sam Couldrick got a wicket with his first ball and then went downhill slowly (he really is very tough on himself).

Buzzard ended up getting 195 for 7 thanks to only two batsmen getting over 50.

Byzie then got bowled by a shooter first ball before Raj and Santosh batted really sensibly against some fairly average bowling. As soon as the 100 partnership came up Raj, on 46, unleashed a drive that brought about a catch Paul Collingwood would have been really proud of. That one catch changed the whole game. Santosh followed soon after for 56. Elvis couldn’t hit short leg side bowling (which he normally eats for breakfast) and then some irresponsible batting from others left us hanging on as they bowled three extra overs before 7.30.

Pluses. Rob Keat’s bowling from the start. Stewart getting better as the spell continued. Raj bowling ok and batting with maturity. Santosh getting a well deserved 50. Carl’s actually getting better in fifth and sixth overs.

The thirds really do need to win a couple of games now to ensure we don’t end up in same Division as fourths.

Big news is that the fourths may pass the 3rds if they carry on their current form. Recording their first win of the season has left stand in skipper in effusive mood. Rather than try to edit and risk losing the essence of how important this win is I have posted it in all it's glorious glory on Teamer.