You Better You Bet

Good evening. I start this penultimate blog of the season with grave news that will shock some of you and confirm some deep rooted suspicions in others

I have spent the day locked in interviews with The Cherwell League executive, ICC representatives and The Police.

Apparently irregular betting patterns were detected involving yesterdays match against Great Tew. A Far Eastern bookmaker based in Leighton Buzzard took two bets on Friday. The princely sum of £4.82 was placed on an accumulator bet that a run out would occur in the 43rd over of the Didcot innings followed by the dropping of a dolly catch in the 2nd over of the Great Tew innings. I cannot make any official comment but want to strenuously deny that these events are in any way linked. A similar dropped catch at Shipton the week before is also under investigation.

Yesterdays match was remarkable in that nothing remarkable happened, at all. The pitch was wet. Almost wet enough to cancel the match before we started. It was imperative that I won the toss and we bowled first. I lost and we batted. I know, I know; I only have one job to do and I got that wrong.

Pritch and Vish got us off to a great start, again bringing up 50 without loss. The ball kept low and stopped and we couldn't cope with the nagging accuracy of the Tew attack. Only Pritch passed 30. We were all out for 128 with nothing of note happening with the exception of a surprise run out in the 43rd over.

A splendid tea was consumed, homemade chicken tikka being a particular feature along with pavlova and a scrumptious selection of cakes.

We knew that Tew had a fragile batting line up and that with early wickets and scoreboard pressure this was still a game we could win. The pitch now seemed more even paced although batting still wasn't easy. Nothing of note happened in the first few overs with the exception of a dropped dolly catch in the 2nd over.

The spin twins applied said scoreboard pressure and were then backed up with some smart catching from 'showboat' Bernard and The Judge. The wickets didn't come early enough for us ever to feel like we were really in the hunt and Tew won by 5 wickets with plenty of time to spare. Not really a day to remember.

Results elsewhere guarantee us 3rd spot in Division 5.

The tour continues despite calls for lifetime bans and slapped legs. We travel to the wastelands of Brackley next week knowing that the result may still influence who plays in Division 5 next season. Don't bet against it.

Nice Weather For Ducks

I am starting with a musical recommendation this week. Those of you not familiar with Lemon Jelly are IMHO missing out on some classic downtempo English electronic wizardry. Check out '64-95' and Lost Horizons. Near perfect albums, both of them. My favourite is 'Ramblin' Man'. I defy anyone not to be inspired to travel and also be left with a feeling of wistful neglect that there are so many places yet to be visited.

Of course I only mention this for two reasons; most important is to hopefully encourage someone to discover Lemon Jelly and be inspired; also they wrote 'Nice Weather For Ducks' and I am a lover of the clumsy segue because that is exactly what it was yesterday, both literally and metaphorically.

We traveled to Shipton, 33 points above us, knowing that we needed our 'A' game and a slice of luck with the weather to have any chance of overhauling them and taking second place. At 74 for 0 chasing 185 to win hopes were high...........

Having called correctly we asked Shipton to have a bat. Matt bowled better than I have seen him for about 5 years, hostile and with prodigious movement off the seam (I was glad I had won the toss and we weren't batting). We had them at 23 for 4, all clean bowled by The Gravy. An honourable mention to The Don who also bowled beautifully but with no luck, on another day he would have taken five.

We took our foot off of their throat courtesy of two dropped catches, shamefully I was one of the culprits shelling an easy chance at slip. It is still haunting me this evening.

Shipton clawed their way to 103 before the next wicket as The Judge beat the defence of Shipton's Skipper. His mystery ball accounted for the next hapless soul and we were back on again. Wickets fell and runs were scored and Shipton ended on 184 for 9. We would have settled for that at the start, but it was 60 more than they should have got. Those damned dropped catches had cost us again. Matt finished with 7 for 60 and rightly lead us from the field to a tea as inspiring as the weather.

Pritch and Vish opened and gave us the perfect start rattling up 74 for the first wicket at more than 4 an over. It looked like we would canter home. Pritch departed after a stylish, confident 51, he knows he should have made it a ton but cannot be blamed for what happened next. We slumped to 87 for 5, including 4 ducks to add to Shiptons 3 (you see where I am going now?). Yet agin we had been undone by bowlers who simply bowl straight. Whether you call it filth or dibbly dobblers makes no difference. It was highly effective and too good for our middle order. At the other end Vish held firm. The run rate plummeted and we were well behind the pace as the rain started. It didn't stop. Game over.

The harsh reality is we don't deserve to finish second. Shipton and Tew have been better than us this season. We have two games left with pride to play for. With the exception of two players we have underperformed this year. I hope that the final two matches will see a few of us proving a few points and taking 50 points.

I Can't Stand The Rain

Hands Up, Baby Hands Up, Gimme Your Heart, Gimme, Gimme Your Heart, Gimme Gimme.

As a lyric this cannot have taken long to write. Jean Patrick, the lead singer of Ottowan is still touring in Russia where he is much loved and hasn't paid for a drink or a meal since September 1980 such is the idolatry . Ottowan also penned the disco classic, D.I.S.C.O.

She is D, desirable
She is I, irresistible
She is S, super sexy
She is C, such a cutie
She is O, oh, oh, oh

Ottowan spent even less time on the lyrics to this. Quite frankly Jean Patrick annoys me.

Anyhow, hands up who likes rain? Strangely the answer is probably about 50:50. The seconds profited enormously yesterday on a day when only a handful of matches produced a result. And what a result it was. Victory has increased the lead at the top to 34 points. Two more wins and it is time to start the celebrations.

Thirds and fourths were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

The field of dreams hosted half of what may have turned out to be a cracking game. The rain robbed us of what I am sure would have been another victory.

Invited to bat first under leaden skies and light drizzle my hopes were not high that we would get more than a few overs in. The instructions were simple: get out there and score quickly to set up an early declaration. The Judge and Peter Pan duly obliged and we had 50 on the board in 11 overs just as the sun came out. The now drying pitch started to misbehave a little and batting suddenly became much harder as the ball stopped and popped. 54 for 0 turned into 91 for 6 with only Pritch making a decent contribution of 40.

The Banbarians simply bowled straight and just back of a length and let the ball do the rest. Three of our top order got out playing across the line before they had worked out the pace. Now we were in a spot of bother and the declaration was a non starter as the sun continued to shine.

This mini crisis needed our fittest, leanest, most agile and lithe men. Sadly they were already out so it got Pingu and Skip. These two elderly men prodded around and rode their luck a bit and wore down the Banbarians with obdurate defence and delicate dabbing. The score inched above 120. We decided to have a crack at the spinner and all of a sudden we were above 140 on a pitch that would get harder to bat on. We both got out with 5 overs to go but had taken the score to par on this pitch.

The Don strode out to join The Caretaker in the middle having never scored a run for Didcot before. It would be inaccurate of me to say that he never looked like getting out. He did however show determination and fight and was able to let The Caretaker have plenty of the strike. The last 5 overs added 34 crucial runs to take us to 183 for 9. Jordan played superbly. He bludgeoned a couple of cracking fours and two sixes, including one from the last ball of the innings for the second time this season. A great knock, and one he looked like he enjoyed. Jim scored his first runs. His record of never getting out is also intact.

We all enjoyed a splendid tea provided by Jules and Emma. The turkey and cranberry rolls were especially fine. Amazingly the sun was still shining.

Soon afterwards the sun wasn't shining anymore. The heavens opened. We lost over an hour. Time was killed quizzing, with Peter Pan in his element as Bob Holness. It was a shame to bring the quiz to an end just as Brockett was displaying the unfathomable depths of his knowledge about Boy Bands. Who would have thought?

Sadly we only had time for 2 overs before the heavens opened again. Enough time to take one Banbury wicket.

The rain didn't stop and we shook hands. It was a pleasure to play a team that wanted to play for once. Too often this season the oppo. have looked for any excuse to call it a day early. Banbury were a credit to themselves for the spirit in which they approached the day.

Finishing second is going to be quite a challenge now. We simply must beat Shipton next week.

Goin' Through The Motions

Good evening one and all. A double helping of all things Didcot today. Last weekend was rather busy in the Gates household what with a cricket match and a wedding to squeeze in.

You know that saying 'If you can remember the '60's, you weren't there'? It's a reference to the amount of character altering chemical compounds consumed during the decade that gave birth to everything good in life. I can't remember much about last weekend, it is a blur of bubbles, cigar smoke and a snowman nose.

To be honest there wasn't much to report on last weeks game at home to Bledlow Ridge. To be honest there isn't much to report on yesterdays game either. Both matches had a sense of inevitability to them that started before a ball had been bowled. The only tension was at the coin toss really.

Having called correctly and invited Ridge to bat we duly set about the top order and soon had them at 45 for 5 with 3 wickets for The Gravy and 2 for Sean Cronje. Spectacular catches from The Judge and Showboat Pritchard backing up great opening spells from both bowlers. A period of consolidation from Ridge got them 92 before the fall of the sixth wicket when Cookie removed the unconventional Needham (we later learned he plays a lot of hockey) Laurel and Hardy joined the fun and The Gravy ended with 4 for 33 as Ridge withered to 123 All Out.

The chase was uneventful with Pritch and The Judge putting on 48 for the first wicket leaving Gravy and Cookie (doing his best Chris Tavare impression) to finish off. An 8 wicket victory achieved without ever needing to get out of second gear.

We travelled under dark, foreboding skies to Nondescripts yesterday knowing that a winning toss would all but guarantee a victory. It did.

In an almost carbon copy of the previous week we had Nondies at 39 for 5 with 3 for The Bisto kid and two for Stimpo. We lost 4 overs for rain and set off again with Nondies 6 down. A strange batting display from their top order. They appeared to have technical ability but were unable to concentrate for longer than about 10 minutes and ended up getting out just as they appeared comfortable, going for the big glory shot. Ahmed managed to get his knickers in a twist about something or other and duly tripped over them. He was still muttering about something only he heard hours later. Play the ball you muppet.

A wicket apiece for The Don, The Judge and The Caretaker (Le don, le juge, le gardien - a film by Luc Besson, coming to a cinema near you?). Stimpo finished off the tail to finish with 4 for 30 from 11 overs. 122 all out wasn't going to cause us any problems unless the rain intervened.

We set off at a clip and rattled up 60 for the first wicket, Pritch making a fluent 34. Brockett soon joined The Judge and they both carried their bats on the way to an 8 wicket win. Bris finishing on 42 and Jules on 34. Home and hosed by 6.10 we headed south to the FoD to watch the end of the seconds victory.

A stiffer test awaits next week as we welcome Banbury to the FoD. A must win game. At this stage of the season no one has scored a ton yet. Surely it is well overdue.

Wounded Knee

Good morning pop pickers and welcome to my last ever blog. As a single man that is. Some days I sit here searching far and wide in an attempt to dredge some nuggets of interest from the previous days cricketing fayre. This week there was no such problem after a day filled with incident, drama and nearly 600 runs.

We were on the road again, this time at Tiddington. My first visit to a lovely little ground, or at least that is how it looked when I arrived. Little did I know that it hides a dark, dark secret.

Winning the toss for the first time in a little while I had no hesitation in asking Tiddington to bat, a mistake of Hussain like proportions? Maybe.

There were very few highlights in our bowling and fielding performance as Tiddington racked up 310 for 7. There opener carried his bat on his way to an unbeaten 150. A classy knock with shots all around the wicket. He was well supported and made the most of a cracking track. We bowled with discipline and rarely looked ragged with the ball. A couple of spilt chances had they been taken may have restricted the score to under 300. Sometimes you have to give credit where it is due and say well batted.

The whole innings was marred by a nasty injury to Vish. For the first time I saw a cricketer leave the ground in an ambulance. Something I never want to see again. Showing 100% dedication to the Didcot cause Vish chased the ball to the boundary in an attempt to stop 4 overthrows, he slid into what we all assumed were painted wooden boundary boards. They were concrete. The thud was sickening. He didn't move. We all instantly knew it was bad.

Vish is in hospital today. Our hearts are with you little buddy.

Tea was a splendid affair featuring homemade chocolate bon-bons, homemade sausage rolls and ice lollies. Nathans melons were splendid also. (Thame: take note, there are shops not far away that sell food and milk).

Chasing 310 to win sets some challenges. Cookie set off like a train. He was super focused and in great nick. Tiddington weren't quite sure what to do and I felt went defensive with the field placings way too early. 5 fielders on the boundary after 6 overs when you have over 300 on the board is super defensive. Not surprisingly runs dried up. When we did find the boundary a fielder was instantly moved out to cut off the runs. I know that it isn't easy getting the balance right but sometimes you have to risk losing to win a game like this.

We accumulated runs none the less with contributions from everyone in the middle order. Bernard had his best innings in a Didcot shirt and proved that the £2.5M spent on his sojourn down under was money well spent. He mixed solid defense and careful shot selection with powerful clean hitting to notch up 95 from only 84 balls. He was well caught on the boundary, had this gone for 6 his second fifty would have taken him 24 balls. Well done Bernard.

This rousing display of power cricket lifted the Diddy spirits and when combined with Thatchers cider on draft was reminiscent of Taunton in the 80's with Viv and Botham at the crease. Splendid.

Incidentally, can anyone name three Nik Kershaw (star of the 80's) hits? There is a special prize waiting for anyone who actually reads this and posts an answer.

We ended on 268 for 6. Could we have won it? Maybe. Life is full of if's, buts and maybe's.

So, we return to the Field of Dreams next week after an extended break. I am looking forward to returning home. A few questions may be answered next week.

Can Bernards tea match his batting prowess? Will the phantom bunny concealer make an appearance? Who will fill Vish's (tiny) shoes? Will we get to see the wheelchair ramp used?

All will be revealed in a weeks time.....................

Hungry Like The Wolf

I am happy to report that the firsts recorded their first away win of the season yesterday at Thame.

Put in to bat on what looked like a sporting wicket with plenty of grass and some suspicious looking filled in patches didn't inspire much confidence. Two early wickets and the doom mongers were muttering about how we can't win away from home. At 56 for 7 with the ball cutting and seaming around corners combined with low and slow bounce it looked like we would do well to make it past the 68 we rolled Thame over for earlier this season.

It is not often that the skip gets in to bat with time to play himself in, let alone with 27 overs left. He was due a knock after about 4 years in the wilderness. With a sense of timing normally reserved for passing comets (they only come past once or twice every century) he dug deep, relishing the attritional nature and lack of pressure to score quickly. Joined by The Caretaker as the ninth wicket fell at 85 they put on 41 in an unbroken partnership that gave us a a total to bowl at. It was The Caretakers best innings this season and the skips best for more than 15 years.

Tea passed without incident or enjoyment; I mean who runs out of milk so that 3 cups of tea have to be shared? Pathetic.

Thame rarely appear to be 'up for it' and yesterday they looked even less interested than normal. Half their team stayed in the pavilion watching the golf. No supporting from the boundary from this lot.

This lack of interest and dysfunctional behaviour is pure gold for us. Early wickets from Morne and Northern Gravy had Thame reeling and out of the game at 11 for 4. This rapidly turned in to 19 for 7. Morne bowled slow medium pace cutters and was unplayable ending with 3 for 8 from 10 overs. Matt simply bowled full and straight and let the ball do the talking as he ended with 6 for 19.

We didn't drop a catch either. Nice.

Only two of Thame's side offered any sort of resistance with the unfortunate Richard Carr spooning a slow full toss straight to midwicket from Cookie. His departure ended any hope Thame had of pulling off an unlikely win as they were all out for 80.

Perhaps we needed a game like this to put some fire back in our belly. Results elsewhere went our way and finishing second is back in our hands now.

Next week we travel to Tiddington and need to be ravenously hungry for the 25 points. We must fight for every run and wicket like our very lives depend on it.

Nothing less than 100% effort is acceptable. I am looking for proof from every player that they want to win this league. No more excuses.

Frustration

It's back to the 70's tonight pop pickers. A decade that has left a lasting impression on popular culture. Who could forget Sweet, Mud, The Seekers and of course The Prodigy. Happy times.

Beer was about 10p a pint, petrol hadn't even been invented and a mobile phone was actually cemented into every street corner and painted red. You could leave your back door open as well in them days. People actually went to the pub to have a drink rather than a crayfish tossed in a balsamic reduction. I still enjoy a pickled egg in a bag of salt 'n' vinegar; mind, it is difficult to find a pub that sells pickled eggs these days. Progress, pah.

1974 witnessed the peak of The Drifters meteoric career. Born in Braintree before the 1960's The Drifters shuffled about aimlessly for years before Their chart smash 'Kissin in the Back Row of the Movies' sold 58 million copies in a week in the UK alone, it knocked 'Tiger Feet' off the top spot and started a feud between the two bands that was only settled 6 months later in a pub car park with bike chains and cudgels. (Mud won, obviously).

This song was a firm favourite in the Perera household. Viraj was bored of glam rock and had recently sold his platform shoes and silver jumpsuit. The easy listening, saucy, Drifters were an obvious replacement.

History doesn't record whether Jimmy Perera was present to watch The Drifters perform a barnstorming set at Swindon Oasis in 2008. All that is recorded is that a bolster cushion was requested to enable a small boy to see his favourite band. You can draw your own conclusions.

Challow visited the Field of Dreams and ruined a perfectly splendid day. How a side can be buoyed by such negative, dull aspirations is beyond me.

They fulfilled their dreams by not being in the game for even one ball and clung on by the skin of their teeth, nine down and 70 runs short. This sort of toss is what ruins cricket as a sport.

We were invited to bat first on the now traditional bowlers graveyard. Everyone got a few runs, Jimmy going on to notch up another half century. Is it time to kick on and pass that ton? I think so. Cookie and Bernard batted brilliantly and we added 100 runs between over 37 and 47, eventually ending on 257.

We were all reminded of what we missed from Dan Alderson on his return to Didcot.

Tea was spectacular. I have never seen so many varied homemade cakes. A stunning effort from Sarah Broughton that raises the bar to previously undreamed of levels. The Usain Bolt of cricket teas? I think so.

The Challow innings is hardly worthy of note. I wouldn't have bothered writing a single word had it not been for the introduction of Brought Filth for a simply stunning spell of 3 overs that saw him take his first ever First Team Cherwell League wickets. Ending with figures of 2 for 72 from 3 overs. I wish I could say he swung the game our way. I can't. Challow resorted to patting back slow full tosses and didn't even run for leg byes. My only hope is that they broke down or had a puncture on the way home.

After the match Jimmy rushed off to strap on his platform boots and head down the Roxy. The rest of us ate more pavlova and tried to forget a miserable afternoon.

Beer & Sex & Chips 'n' gravy

Good evening blog fans. You find me in a considerably more convivial mood this week. Last Sunday was pregnant with opportunity; everything was lined up ready for a momentous day. Plenty of cold beer and wine, BBQ fired up, outlaws popping round later in the afternoon.

The World Cup really has been dull this year, hasn't it? Or am I just becoming old and cynical? Anyway Capello and his bunch of pampered, under achieving millionaires fulfilled their potential absolutely. Has there been a more inevitable and disappointing end to anything since The Roman Empire slipped into The Dark Ages?

The Field of Dreams welcomed the auld enemy again yesterday as Brackley's finest visited us for the fifth consecutive year. It has been one of the spicier fixtures in recent years. This year was different however. I can't remember a better bunch of players, and has there ever been a better visiting umpire than Dennis? I can't remember one. It just shows what happens when the village idiot misses the bus and spends the day marrying his cousin.

Skip won the toss and invited Brackley to have a bat. We started well with a wicket in the first over, Gravy was quicker than normal and ripped out the off stump. He continued to bowl with vim and vigour, catching the outside edge on at least three occasions. Only one went to hand (actually left breast) and was spilled. A now trademark sharp catch from The Judge and another direct hit from the Lost Boy for a run out and Brackley were 50 odd for 3. Brackleys number three is a class bat and was in great nick until he slapped a wide one to Pritch in t'covers for a sharp catch. 77 for 4. Was there anything to come from Brackley? Yes. But not enough. Cartwright Jnr. batted beautifully for 79 and was the last wicket to fall. His best innings against us, for sure. Nobody could stay with him long enough to post a competitive total. The Judge accounted for the dangerous Cartwright Snr. with a smart catch from Brockett.

Northern Gravy did the damage, ending with 6 for 56. His best spell so far this season. He even carried on after he had split his webbing. The man is an inspiration.

183 was 50 short of par at Chennai. Our run chase was un-eventful. Exactly the sort of run chase I enjoy the most. The Lost Boy anchored our innings. Having been dropped on nought he punished Brackley by carrying his bat on the way to 71. Vish never looked like getting out and was particularly severe on his older brother (bowling for Brackley for the first time).

A couple of (Word Up) cameo knocks from the cod piece wearing Jones and Cook saw us home with an hour or so to spare.

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon then. I am already licking my lips in anticipation of next week.

Dirk Wears White Socks

Like Guinness, good things come to those who wait. This could be a metaphor for how to bat at The Field of Dreams or it could be an apology for the tardiness of this weeks blog. It appears there is a small group of sad, desperate men in South Oxfordshire whose Sunday is not complete without a fix of post match analytical ramblings mashed together with oblique references to song titles. To you I apologise profusely.

Saturday started with the now oft exploited and written about trip to West London to oggle at SJM and participate in Cricket AM. I thoroughly enjoyed it , particularly meeting Dirty Dirk Nannes. What a cracking guy, I imagine he would be highly entertaining on an all day session, preferably in his native Amsterdam.

So, what of Shipton? Are they better than us? Can we beat confident, capable, experienced sides?

We didn't make them work hard enough, that is for sure. I believe that Didcot on top form are a better side, and certainly well capable of beating teams like Shipton; full of experience and talent and most importantly confidence.

The weather was like Chester le Street on Saturday, the pitch straight outta Chennai. What has happened to the bouncy, pacey square of a few years ago? The only danger was playing shots too early in an innings, once you get the measure of the pace you could bat for a week and not see a ball spin or seam. The new league balls lose any hardness after about 7 overs and cannot be shined for love nor money. Who'd be a bowler?

Shipton racked up 257 for 5, pacing their innings beautifully, had we not dropped their skipper on 13 (twice) we may have restricted them to 30 less or so. He went on to make 98 not out, batting nearly 50 overs. We toiled, heavy with fatigue and post stardom blues. I think we actually did reasonably well all things considered.

Our run chase never quite gained the momentum we needed to seriously threaten Shipton. Skipper Gates was torn between playing safe and not letting Shipton open up a points gap by beating us. With hindsight perhaps we should have played more aggressively. Last weeks capitulation to Banbury was still playing on my mind and I didn't want us to lose two on the Jonathan.

The real positive was Crab Hands return to form. The best he has looked for a couple of years, welcome back Matt, let's hope the form continues. The big stride and effortless push through extra cover was back, as was the on drive and whip to midwicket. Brockett batted beautifully also, never looking in trouble once he got his feet moving and ended with a tidy 42 not out.

So, what did we learn?

Enough sleep and lack of distractions before the start are important. That three an over for the first 30 overs is fine, so long as you have wickets in hand. Catches win matches (again). Don't hit the ball to the one fielder in the deep when you have an ocean of space around him.

A big game next week at table topping Tew awaits us. I will be getting an early night on Friday, getting up focused and arriving at Tew in plenty of time for a decent warm up.

What about you?

Sunday Blues

It had to happen at some point I suppose, the unbeaten record, held for 22 games, ended yesterday at Banbury as the firsts fell to a 2 wicket defeat.

Asked to bat first, we never got going, losing wickets regularly we limped to a total of 106. Many of us batted for the first time this season and it looked like it too. The Banbury pitch played well and we were undone by consistently good bowling that saw 7 of us clean bowled. The only player to look comfortable was The Judge who drove imperiously on his way to 30 odd before running himself out. I think I will gloss over the rest of the innings.

Defending 106 is never going to be easy and requires self belief as well as great bowling and fielding. We created intense pressure throughout the Banbarians innings; fielders round the bat with plenty of chirp from the new "Most annoying player in the Cherwell League". Cookie talked himself hoarse with some of the most banal yet entertaining drivel heard for a long time. The 40 minute spell before tea had them two down with a wicket each for Stimpo and Cookie.

We attacked with the spinners straight after the break taking another 6 wickets before they reached the victory target.

A quality performance in the field part compensated for the disappointment, in reality we were at least 50 runs short and didn't deserve to win a game batting like that. A more positive approach would have won have got us the runs we needed and the tentative, defensive approach was old Didcot from two years ago.

We must, and will respond for the visit of table topping Shipton next weekend.

I hate losing.

That Smell

What is your favourite James Bond film? If it is Moonraker or The Living Daylights, leave now. You disgust me.

I have a soft spot for Live and Let Die. Roger Moore and Jane Seymour have a certain chemistry; there is the New Orleans Jazz vibe; the spitting law enforcement officer and of course the sinister top hat wearing bald voodoo witch doctor rising out of the grave.

Some voodoo magic was visited on the Field of Dreams yesterday (possibly).

The scent of victory was in everyones nostrils before the match started yesterday for the visit of basement side, Nondescripts. They had lost all their matches and we expected to win.

Having won the toss we invited Nondies to have a bat on a wicket that looked full of runs. They never broke free of the shackles as we took wickets regularly and kept things tight in the field. Northern Gravy bowled with no luck again but should have had at least 3 wickets. Laurel and Hardy mixed containment and attack in the middle of the innings and took 4 wickets between them; 2 smart catches for the boyman Perera, a great tumbling catch from Tee Kay and a smart run out from The Caretaker being the highlights. Stimpo was the pick of the bowling, ending up with 4 for 26, including the top three. I can smell a fivfer is on the way as Jack improves every week. He out thought every batsman yesterday.

Some particularly good cheese and onion sandwiches were eaten as part of a fine tea in the oppressive heat before we set about chasing a target 100 short of what was needed.

It was during tea that the voodoo curse struck. Was it revenge for last seasons humane dispatch of a a rabbit by Skipper Gates coming back to haunt him? I don't know. What I do know is that I have spent a few hours this morning washing and disinfecting all my kit and I have had to buy a new cap.

We set about the chase with a real purpose as The Judge and Jimmy Perera put on 40 odd for the first wicket at 5 an over. Vish was joined by Matt as they took the score to 119. Vish again batted beautifully scoring his 70 from only 88 balls, including 14 boundaries. The rest was a formality as Cookie and Matt saw us home in a little over 30 overs and we were done and dusted by 6pm.

Results elsewhere mean that we are top with 10 points more than at this stage last year. The next four weeks are critical for us, and nothing less than 100 points from these games is acceptable.

News from elsewhere: The seconds had a bad day (more below), the thirds had a good day(see earlier blog) and the fourths recorded their first victory to leave them mid table.

The challenge for all three sides seems to be finding consistency and a run of three victories for any of them will see them challenging at the top of their respective divisions

Disappointing outing for the 2nds!

Seconds were out at Great Tew and were beaten convincingly by 6 wickets. Didcot didn’t have a good day defending their total of 202 for 6.

Didcot batted first and scored 202 for 6 in their 45 overs. Great Tew bowling attack was accurate and Didcot lost both the openers when the total was 32. Then came a 102 partnership between Brad Lynch (61) and Chris Parsons 33. Both batted very sensibly and should have gone to score much more; Chris playing a ‘lazy’ shot was caught at square leg and Brad got himself run out. Andy Griffiths chipped in with 16 and Ross Fryatt was not out on 22. With wickets in hand we could have pushed it a bit further, may be!

There wasn’t anything in the wicket but accurate bowling was required as Great Tew did.

Didcot didn’t have a good day in the bowling and fielding department. However there were some positives; we did take 4 catches, Jose Taboada at slip in the third (4^th?) attempt, Rob Keat at covers, Andy Griffiths at covers a diving catch woken up by his team mates shouting ‘catch’, and an excellent diving catch by Ross Fryatt behind the stumps. If we did take the other catches as well things might have been different. The batsmen who was 55 not out was dropped twice!

Bowling wasn’t as accurate as Great Tew. Although we took a couple of wickets early on they came at a price.

Andy Griffiths took two wickets but at a cost. Rob Keat took 2 wickets not cheap either but he created the chances that we missed.

Sam Smith and Carl Hancock bowled well but were unlucky not to pick-up any wickets, especially Carl’s 6 over spell was fiery and accurate missed the edge 90% of the time.

Disappointing day out, only collecting 8 points for the day’s work. Hopefully lessons learnt and better things will follow soon!

It's raining, men.

Yesterday was one of those days when you really learn a lot about your team; their attitude and will to win are tested. As is patience and ability to conjure up some fun out of a frustrating afternoon.

The firsts travelled to Bledlow Ridge, perhaps some more in hope than anticipation. New ground for all of us, I think. Perched on top of a ridge (unsurprisingly), and above Bledlow too. Amazing!!

It really is a picture; tree lined and with views all around over beautiful countryside. On a sunny Saturday it would be one of the best places to play cricket anywhere. Sadly we arrived in a cloak of drizzle that only permitted occasional views and showed little sign of lifting.

Luckily 12 people wanted to play a game of cricket, fortunately one of them was Ridge Captain, John Rolfe.

Diddymen will always make the best out of any situation so the playfair cricket quiz book came out as Simon (I'll have a P Bob) Pritchard did his best to confuse with a quiz that seemed to be themed on providing the answer to a question slightly different to the one asked. We had a session of beat the intro on iphones that provided further proof of the gulf in taste and class between todays callow youth and us veterans who were around when they made proper music. (Note to said callow youth: try listening to music where a) guitars feature prominently, b) Someone in the band wrote the music and words, c) they use a drum and a bass, not drum n' bass.)

The oppo. were locked in their changing room to stop them all going home; they made occasional appearances to moan about the rain and complain that we should all have gone home hours ago.

Skipper Gates remained ruthlessly positive throughout, insisting that it would brighten up and that we would go on to record a famous victory.

A rather splendid tea was taken at twenty past three, Sir Mel of Cookshire attempting to beat the record for the tallest pile of sandwiches record set by Brockett at Sandford last year. Forget it Mel, that record will stand for ever.

Anyway, we finally got some cricket started at ten to four, Gates calling correctly and inviting Ridge to have a bat for up to 40 overs, leaving us with 20 to try and beat their total. Incidentally can anyone else imagine a more ridiculous way to split 60 overs?

I felt that restricting them to 150 would be a par score and anything less was very gettable. We were still full of energy and raring to go. Ridge started positively before the Caretaker took a smart catch at square leg from the bowling of Morne, who again looked threatening and kept things very tight. Northern Gravy flew down the hill, the wind at his back. I lost count of the number of times he was edged over the slips or beat the outside edge. Matt accounted for numbers 3 and 4 to leave Ridge on 66 for 3. Top bowling Bongo.

Cookie replaced Morne and took the edge 3 times in his first over, meanwhile Ridge opener Brooks had scored a neat half century and was looking like he might go on to make things difficult for us. We needn't have worried as Cookie threw down his deadly half volley again and it was spooned weakly to Morne at mid off.

Ridge were looking less and less up for it with every passing moment, searching the heavens for divine intervention is a risky strategy for winning games of cricket, much better to stay positive and focus in my book. Sure enough our strategy seemed to work as Cookie took another 3 wickets in 6 balls with two exceptional catches from Bris whilst standing up. Even better when you factor in a painful and stiff knee. Well done Brockett, I love the commitment you showed yesterday. Cookie finished with 4 for 13 from his 7 overs, another top spell from the 'Westlife fan of the year (2008)'.

We had enough time for one over from the caretaker, who turned one through the gate to leave Ridge on 103 for 8 from 31 overs. The heavens opened at this point and we trudged off knowing that was it for the day. The naysayers and doom mongers were, I suppose proved right. We could have gone home at 1pm and achieved the same 6 points.

We were born and raised to play cricket however, and that is what we will do until the great man in the sky (Sir Viv), prises the ball from our bony lifeless hands many years from now.

Until next week, Cricket fans

Young Guns

Hey sucker what the hells got into you?

I wonder what contorted thoughts were whirling around George's mind as he wrote these lines back before most of you were born. George was an icon to an impressionable teenager; the big hair, sports wear and matey heterosexuality were an intoxicating mixture for someone brought up in Devizes.

I couldn't have guessed what the deeper meaning of 'I'm Your Man' was at the time. Where did it all go wrong George? You could have had your pick of either Pepsi or Shirlie and instead went down an altogether different path.

Summer arrived yesterday and hopefully it is here to stay, most things are better with the sun on your back, cricket is most definitely one of them.

The men of Tiddington were welcomed to the Field of Dreams in what promised to be our first real test of the season. Tiddy are a decent side but ending up being out played and outfought by Diddy.

Putting them in to bat on a hot, sticky afternoon can make you unpopular as a Captain, nobody enjoys running around when they could be sat in the cool of the changing room. The bowlers responded without complaint and we had them at 64 for 5 with two wickets for Stimpo and The Judge with one for Crabby. The next 16 overs yielded a mere 37 runs with no wickets. It was a little dull to be honest; Tiddy just shut up shop and seemed to be batting for an imaginary draw before they realised that they were batting first and finally woke up. The next 10 overs was a calypso carnival of wild, reckless shots played with a gay abandon. 23 runs were scored.

We did take 4 wickets though, The Caretaker serving up an irresistible mixture of cleverly flighted stuff with late dip and drift thrown into the mix. He threw down the odd pie as well to keep them honest. They didn't have the stomach for the pies and managed to hit them tamely straight to us. I was tempted to call one of them back after he hit his first ball (a slow long hop) limply to square leg. It didn't seem fair that someone get out that way. I didn't of course.

A flurry at the end would set us a target of 157 to win before Stimpo finished off the tail.

After a superb tea taken picnic style of the grass we were ready to set about the chase. Tiddy's opening bowler had a rear end that would have made Fred Trueman proud and George Michael's heart race. He blustered in, huffed and puffed and generated good pace and accuracy with movement as well. Pritch was the only one to stay with Vish for any sort of a partnership, hitting a couple of lusty maximums on the way to a quick fire 23. We found ourselves at 58 for 5 and in a spot of bother. I can truly say that I wasn't worried though, I never doubted we would come through.

Vishane hadn't looked troubled at all, his will to keep on going, never altering his processes and always having the toughness of mind to wear his opponents down. He was like a gladiator, repelling everything thrown at him, he couldn't be tempted to throw it away. He was an inspiration to the rest of us.

He was joined by Broughtie who did what he does best, he nurdled, cajoled and coaxed the ball. Is he the Collingwood of Didcot? It was certainly a nuggety performance.

We beat them by 5 wickets. Didcot's Young Guns had done the business for us. Step up Jack Stimpson - 3 for 29; Jordan Morrison - 4 for 27 and most impressively Vishane Perera with 76 not out.

Please spare a thought for Lord Brockett who has been next man in in all three games so far and has cumulatively spent 65 overs padded up. Your time will come next week - I promise!

No report from the 2nds and 4ths yet, I can report that Viraj's Army is still top after taking 16 points from a game they dominated. Birkinshaws Brigade are improving week on week and are mid table despite losing a close game yesterday

Witney Mills 2nds scored the winning runs with 2 balls to go to beat the 3rds. Batting first, Didcot scored 194 for 8 in their 45 overs. Haydn found his 2009 form and top scored with 41, although lucky to be dropped in the slips when still on 0. Sam C proved once again that he is a genuine all rounder with a classy 33 and Jose and Santosh both scored 28. Jose decided to score most of his runs through extra cover, they finally caught him after the sixth lofted drive and Santosh was so upset at being caught off their dibbly dobbly 60 year old bowler, his bat was flung to the floor in disgust before the ball had even been caught.

In reply Witney got off to a flyer with the 50 coming up in the 9th over. Robbie bowled with great pace and hostility but the faster it came at them, the faster it was going to the boundary. Les bowled excellently in his 3rd team debut before an injury forced him out of the attack after 3 overs. DP helped slow down the run rate and then the introduction of Mike brought immediate rewards with the opener caught behind with his third ball. This brought out their star batsman, Richard Tilly who took a fancy to the bowling and continued to keep the score board ticking over. Sam Couldrick picked up the other opener in his first over, stumped by Elvis, and with Witney 116 for 2 we were into the tail! Robbie came back into the attack and clean bowled the next two to finish with 2-58 and Mick picked up another, 2-44. The star of the bowlers was Sam who collected another three wickets including Tilly when he was on 89. Sam finished with figures of 4 for 33 from 12 overs, an outstanding display. However Didcot could not pick up the final 2 wickets and lost in the final over.

Witney's top three batsman scored, 17, 53 and 89. The highest score from the next seven was 6 and had we only been able to hold onto some of the chances that they gave early on, it could have been a completely different result. The ground fielding was much better than last week and the batting and bowling was much improved as well. Catches win matches the saying goes....yesterday we confirmed it is correct!!

Tame

Yesterday's tea at the field of dreams was influenced by Jimi Hendrix and the Pixies, more on this later.

Didcot's premier side returned to winning ways with a thumping victory over the auld enemy of Thame.

Skipper Gates made his only telling contribution of the day by calling correctly after flipping his lucky coin, and invited the oppo. to have a bat on what looked like a belter of a track. The Field of Dreams looked a picture yesterday, flag flying proudly in the sunshine. It almost brought a lump to my throat as I strode back towards the pavilion.

Early strikes from Matt and Stimpo had Thame at 6 for 2, great start. A mini revival saw Thame limp to 45 for 2 when something remarkable happened. Cookie threw down a slow-medium paced half volley, conveniently outside off stump, nothing remarkable so far. The batsman absolutely creamed it through extra cover, as it deserved. He hadn't expected Naughty Broughty to even see it let alone pluck it out of the air and hang on. Catch!!

That catch changed the game as Cookie, now with his tail up bowled beautifully in his 7 over spell to finish with 5 for 22. His best senior figures, so far. Matt provided fantastic support to finish with 3 for 23 from 16 magnificent overs.

Diddy needed 69 to win and it was only ten to three!

We knocked the runs off in around an hour for the loss of a couple, Matt and Cookie finishing with 27 not out each. Far sterner tests lie ahead I am sure.

Tea was taken at 4pm with the match over. As we sat eating our rolls and water melon, one of us was blissfully unaware that one of the Tesco mini pasties had been laced with LSD (A psychoactive, mind bending drug, credited with influencing many of the great creative minds of the sixties and seventies). This drug tricks the mind into conjuring up strange hallucinatory experiences. How else can you explain watching the Champions League semi final in the back of a car with an olympic medal winner then coining the now immortal line " My taxidermist is a part time cage fighter". This is what happens when you finish at 4pm and then start drinking. It is perhaps just as well we had left by the time the thirds returned.

Didcot 2nds won the toss and invited Kimble to bat first. Openers Les Addison and Carl Hancock started off well with tight and accurate bowling, Carl taking 3 wickets in his spell of 7 overs. Rob Keat and Sam Smith took over next. Both bowled well and Rob was unlucky not to take more than the two wickets he took. The best bowling performance came from Sam coming in from the 3^rd eleven in the 11^th hour on Saturday morning to cover for Henry Latimer called up to the 1^st. Sam was consistent, pitching the ball in the right spot to take his first ever five wicket haul- well done Sam.

Kimble were all out for 77 in the 26^th over. Too early for tea so straight back on the field with Prasad and Viraj opening the innings for Didcot.

Didcot lost Prasad Kankadandi when total was 19. Connor Morrison joined Viraj Perera and saw it through to tea at the 15th over with the total at 29 for one. After tea Viraj 40 not out and Connor 22 not out, hit the winning four to pass the home team total of 77 in the sixth over after tea to win the match in the 21^st over;

3rd Team match report.

The thirds hung on for a draw against Tiddington 3rds at Crowmarsh. Bowling first Didcot got off to a great start with Dan Stainthorpe picking up a wicket in his first over. Dan bowled beautifully, good length bowling with late in swing, and finished with excellent figures of 2-22. Mick at the other end took 6 overs to loosen up and picked up 2 wickets with excellent catches in the slips from Clive. 2-40 from 13 overs, another top performance from him. Narendra Mandadapu was making his 3rd team debut and toiled away for 16 straight overs, 1-63 not a fair reflection on how well he bowled. Sam Couldrick was not on as devastating form as last week but still showed excellent flight and turn but Boggy, promoted after last weeks display in the 4ths, bowled straight and took advantage of some indifferent bounce to take 3-20. Tiddington finished on 180 for 8 in their 45 overs, with their captain and opening batsman scoring 79 of them.

In reply, Didcot got off to a flyer with Elvis dispatching their opening bowler for 2 sixes in the first over. Unfortunately his stay at the crease was ended with the 9th ball of the innings. Sam, Boggy and Scanni all batted well but wickets fell regularly and Didcot were 55 for 5. This brought Clive and Mick together at the crease and they put on a stand of 60, with some text book shots and front foot slaps. You can work out who was playing each shot yourself! Clive was bowled for 34 by an excellent delivery and when Narendra got a ball that didn't bounce and hit middle stump, Didcot were 120 for 7 and looking to save the game. Jonny Meardon batted bravely and stuck with Mick, until Mick top edged an attempted pull (not sure why he was playing that shot with 5 overs to go!!) and was out for 36. Jonny departed in the next over, leaving Dan and DP to bat out 5 overs. DP batted sensibly to start, but when the bowler dropped it short he could not resist. His comment of 'I'll have a bit of that' left the fielders in stitches and the bowler not amused. 2 balls later he dropped it short again, and the ball got the same treatment. Rumour has it that DP was spotted at the Field of Dreams having a net on Saturday morning, somebody should tell him that you can't teach an old dog new tricks! Dan demonstrated a text book defence. He faced 20 balls from 2 hostile fast bowlers and did not give a chance. Didcot finished on 155 for 9. A better display in the field with regard to catching but we still need to improve our ground fielding.

Having secured the draw, the third team were disappointed to arrive back at the Field of Dream for a celebratory drink, only to find it all locked up. The second week running this has happened, some thirsty third team players suggested that maybe the thirds should play all the home games at the field of dreams as they seem to be the only side that can make a game of cricket last the distance and therefore maximise the bar profits!!

Didcot 4ths having had one drop out on Friday night and two more on Saturday it was therefore with some relief that we started the game with 11 players. To be fair we finished the game with 11 players, it is just that inbetween we only had 9. Oxford and Bletchingdon won the toss and put us in to bat. We moved to 19 for 2 before Biplob edged one onto his chin leaving a gaping gash from which the blood poured. Jonathan sacrificed himself and then drove Biplob to hospital to have the wound stitched up. The Didcot 4th IX struggled on, aided by extras, until the 34th over when we were all out for 159 (actually 159 for 8, but the hospital visitors had not returned). Some old geezer called Simon managed to carry his bat and score 63 not out with Alex Rodman scoring a useful 20. Biplob and Jonathan returned half way through tea, but too late to bat. Oxford and Bletchingdon crept towards their target losing the odd wicket on the way and finally passed the Didcot total in the 42nd over for the loss of six wickets. Four dropped catches did not help the Didcot cause. Chad took 3 for 20 in 8 overs.

A good all round performance, better than last week, but again we did not help our cause by dropping catches and not batting out our overs, even if we batted with 9 players.

Idiot Wind

So, fellow Diddymen, here we go again. How have the last 7 months treated you? What have you been up to? Me?........ extremely well thanks for asking; moved house, went to Thailand, assaulted a duck in Dubai. That sort of thing.

My Sunday evenings now have their structure back, open a decent bottle of wine and sit in front of the 'puter waiting for inspiration to strike having got all of the mundane stuff out of the way. Wonderful.

Come to think of it yesterday felt a bit different to the last few months, a nervous sense of anxiety permeates the first thoughts and then a leap out of bed to see what the weather was looking like, than pacing around waiting for the squeeze to get her act together so we can head to the Field of Dreams.

Rather surprisingly we played some cricket yesterday. The seconds had the first 'proper' cricket match of the season at the field of Dreams; it is best to gloss over the details to spare collective embarrassment. Plenty of room for improvement. A similar summary from the 4ths as well by all accounts.

The 3rds tried to throw the game away but eventually beat Bicester & NO 3rds in a thrilling climax.

Didcot won the toss and skipper DP had no hesitation in putting Bicester in. Mike Slade bowled well and was unlucky not to pick up an early wicket. DP was not on his best form and took himself off after 3 overs although he did leave a lasting mark on the game, a giant dent on the edge of the pitch caused by him attempting a return catch and sprawling across the strip. The introduction of Raj into the attack had immediate results. Raj has obviously been perfecting his killer ball all winter, a leg side long hop which consecutive batsman managed to nick to Haydn. Haydn picked up his third catch soon after off Mike's bowling but not content with getting the batsman out once, decided to run him out as well! Raj (3-19) and Mike (4-33) picked up more wickets with straight bowling and the spin twins, Sam and Sam were soon introduced to the attack. Sam Smith bowled beautifully for no reward and Sam Couldrick (2- 31) showed great control and flight, dismissing the danger man when he tempted him down the track with Haydn completing the stumping. Bicester were bowled out for 124 inside 40 overs.

Raj and Elvis got the reply off to a steady start with an opening partnership of 25 before Raj was dismissed for 16. Elvis and Santosh took the score onto 50 before Elvis was out for 21. The score reached 72 when Santosh holed out. 53 needed and 7 wickets in hand, surely not a problem. However a mini collapse took the score to 86 for 7 and it looked as though Bicester might pull off an unlikely win. Sam Couldrick and Mike rescued the situation, Sam playing some classy shots and Mick bludgeoning any loose bowling. Sam (15) got a cracker and was out with Didcot still needing 20 runs. DP strode to the crease and having seen his batting in the past, things were not looking good. However DP showed great restraint and held up one end allowing Mick to continue to flay any wide balls to the point boundary. DP eventually succumbed to temptation and went to slog a short ball, only to get bowled round his legs. 1 wicket remaining, 5 runs needed and it was all down to Mike and Sam Smith. Sam played 2 shots excellent shots off his legs and the scores were tied. The pressure got to the bowler and a wide ball won the game for Didcot, Mike Slade the saviour of the innings with an unbeaten 21.

An excellent start to the third teams season, roll on next week!!

The 1sts travelled down the road to Challow, a side that 12 months ago was two seasons above us. There is a chance that a year from now the reverse will be true.

We outplayed them from ball one. They behaved like a side that didn't want to play cricket at all, and we performed like a side that hadn't missed a beat since last September's triumph at Wolverton. The banter started from the first minute, Jimmy Perera has grown taller and stronger, Matt has a new bionic ankle that means he can literally leap over buildings, Bernard has the knees of a roof tiler, The Judge hasn't changed at all, The caretaker seems strangely matured, like a good cheese. As for the Don? he looks much younger, now bowls right arm over and calls himself Juan Stimpy.

Our reputation now precedes us and We were invited to bat having lost the toss. The Judge and Jimmy opened up and were in complete control rattling up 89 for the first wicket before The Judge avoided a jug and got out for 49. Northern Gravy strode to the crease with a point to prove, not sure what it was but he looked like he meant business and was in good touch until he trapped a nerve in his shoulder. This brought Cookie to the crease and he and Jimmy were not parted before we declared on 252 after 43 overs. Cookie thrashed the ball pretty much wherever he liked and ended up on 63 not out from 49 balls. Jimmy carried his bat for what turned out to be a man of the match 80 not out.

We took to the field after a rather splendid tea in at least 5 layers of clothes. Challow never really looked up for it and we took wickets regularly to keep up the pressure. A fine debut for Juan Stimpy after he found his length, including prize scalp of Ian (div. 1) Demain. Matt decided that the best way to deal with a trapped nerve was to bowl, he looked like a stroke victim at one point but as ever gave 100% and dismissed both openers.

The Laurel and Hardy of spin were reunited and took 4 wickets between them in conditions that helped not one jot. The Judge taking 3 fer. Special mention to Brockett, taking 2 smart catches and an excellent stumping.

In the end we fell short by 1 wicket, catches win matches, and we dropped three important ones. Conditions for catching were poor........the ball was like a bar of soap. No excuses though, we should have won.

So, to next week, we host the Thame bunnies and will make sure that we improve and claim 25 points. I can't wait...........