21/7/99 -Preston Bissett (h)

With Ricky Martin back from top of the pops and Bucks still injured things looked good from the off. On another hot summers day the opposition put themselves in. Undetered, Skip and Keith opened with the Bissett batsmen liking the dobby stuff they got off to a good start. After a few overs Barl entered the attack from the village end and soon broke up the partnership with a very dodgy caught behind. This started the silly season as then the other 3 of the top 4 ran each other out. With big Keith suffering in the sun, and the sun getting to skips head Dave Allen (9-0-51-1) came on at the cow end. Quickly knotching up a wicket to add to his 2 run outs. Pinhead, yes I know Pinhead (3-1-14-1) then replaced Barl (12-3-29-1) who was again proving more than enough for the batsmen. Pinhead was also soon in the wickets. At this point the opposition were reeling at 130 for 6. Some big hitting from the No. 8 made their target more respectable but still a good 60 runs short as Sid (3-0-15-1), Keith (12-1-44-1) and Skip (6-0-24-1) finished off.

Chasing just 183 Sid and Peter laid the foundations of a very professional reply. Peter retiring on 24 with a dodgy hammy left the way open for man of the moment Dave who struggled at first. Sid departed for a very sound 32 and Pinhead joined Dave. The Bodicote faithful poured the Pimms and settled back to watch the show. Accumulation was the name of the game rather than fireworks. Dave counting at one end, Pinhead left to watch at the other. Pinhead was first to fall for just 12 and Woody joined Dave. This seemed to have an effect and Dave then picked up the tenko, before falling in the home straight for 62. Simon Pollard then carried on his run of form hitting the winning runs. A very solid performance winning by 7 wickets.

24/7/99 - Charlton (a) - Skips Out

With the shock resignation of skip on the eve of the big game crisis club Bodicote had to call up Kilvo and nick another player from the stiffs. With Dave out (getting browny points before touring) and Bucks (winjured) not the start we wanted. However, new skip Sid one the toss and on a hot and sweaty day (what must Balti's face have been like) we had a bat. Mike and Peter opened the batting as we sat expectant, we did not have to wait long as Mike was out without scoring. Roger poked about before falling and at 6 for 2 things did not look good. Both Sid and Peter got into the teens, then enter the powerful Watty (28) and the (f**king steaky w**ker - according to the Charlton bowler) Simon Pollard (38*) who smote the ball all around the ground playing cricket shots with real names. Just as a good target was going to be set the tail collapsed with only Barl getting into double figures. All out for 123.

Charlton openers made slow but steady

17/7/99 - Marston

awaiting report

10/7/99 - Wroxton (a) - Bucks Out for the Lads

Top of the table clash, hot summers day again in the field. Anybody who has been around Bodicote cricket over the last 15 years will know how difficult this is to say, but .... Bucks bowled bloody well... On a small pitch with a quick outfield and some of the best batsmen in the league he bowled 12 overs for 10 runs and picked up 2 wickets. Keith got an early break through, caught behind but not out again, but this time didn't completely screw up. The batsmen had just started to get hold of Keith and was replaced by Eric, who after some early sloggin came back well to end with 12-1-52-2. Showing off after a good catch in front of the Banbury Gaurdian photographer proved useless for Keith as they showed a picture of Peter looking like a gargoyle. For once Barl got some stick this year (9-0-57-1) but rememberd to bring his pebble and hit it once. Keith mopped up the tail making his figures flattering (12-1-58-3), but the early afternoon belonged to Bucks with his fine display of bowling.

Chasing just over 170 to win Slogger and Peter (4) opened up but Dave soon had to replace Peter. Slogger and Dave looked set for a long afternoon smoting. Elegance and poise were words used to describe Olga Korbet sadly not Slogger and Dave, although to be fair they both look good in a leotard. Although Slogger thought he was out on 46 the umpire corrected his score to 50 (beer). Pinhead then wasted his afternoon getting out for a duck. With Mike (28*) and Dave(74*) coming together their was still plenty to do, although by the time they had finished it was time for bed. Some superb individual performances in another good team display.

3/7/99 - Fenny (h)

The wizened senior pros of Bodicote felt that this game was one of the tensest ever experienced at Kings Field.

Put into bat the 10 men of Bodicote got off to a poor start with Tubby run out by sleepy Sid. Dave and the welcomingly returned PT both flickered only briefly and with a seemingly drained Sid dropping anchor, closing up shop and digging in Bodicote raced to 33 off 20.
When Cracco was finally out for 15 in the 26th over Skip realised desparate measures were needed and for once heeded the call of Newman. He upped the tenko including a six that sent the spectators scattering. Slogger also batted well and Bodicote's hopes were further
boosted by an 11th player - Mark Rogers. Unfortunately the tail only wagged a little and after 45 overs we'd reached 119-9 to leave the huge Fenny entourage (is there nothing better to do in Fenny of a Saturday?) well pleased with their heroes efforts.

The general consensus was that we needed to get amougst the top oreder to give us any chance. Skip managed a huge two over spell before giving way to Barlow to bowl in tandem with Bucks. These two kept things tight with Bucks knocking over the Fenny number three, Darren Purse (ex Oxford Utd, now Birmingham City) for aduck. Obviously he doesn't face anything that quick in Division One. The Feny opener also had to retire after a blow in the cobs and by the time the dynamic duo had come the score was 46-5. Dangerman Darren Deeley was still in and tucked into some of Hubert's bowling but Skip produced his trump card, Sid the Dobber and between them they tied things up with Deeley falling to Paul, caught by PT for 36. This brought the recuperated Fenny opener back and from 40 off 11 with only two wickets left they quickly got to within 15. They were helped by an amazing umpiring
decision when Darren was penalised 4 overthrows for a return throw that clipped the tree - even Johnny Bull never did that! This sent Hubert into overdrive and he removed the opener with a classic yorker. No 11 was a lad with an immacualate defence and nothing else so some careful field placing saw 5 needed off the last over. Phil managed 4 dot balls, the 5th went for 2 and a sixth dot gave Bodicte the pints by 2 runs.

26/6/99 - Preston Bissett (a) - Blown Out

A lovely hot summers day, in fact just the sort of day you want to sit around the boundry watching the opposition melt in the sun as your batsmen go about setting a target. We one the toss at last and stuck them in, thanks Skip. The big left handed opener soon set about things as he meant to carry on. Keith (6-2-19-1) got his only contribution to the game over and done with bowling the other opener with a inswinging yorker and then wimped out with a neck strain. By this time Bucks had already been taken off and Barl was again weaving his magic (or hitting pebbles) with iron gloves slogger demolishing the stumps for a stumping. Hubert replaced Keith but 16 from his second over and he was off. Bucks then had a go and was worse then before, Eric then got 22 smashed from 2 overs and things started looking bad. A stand of over one hundred as Skip tried juggling the bowling. Bucks (12-0-57-1) comes back on for a third time and is twatted for 12 from his first over but then settles down and breaks the partnership with Hubert taking a fine catch. They could not get Barl away for the second week running until right at the end of his spell, spoiling the figures (12-1-58-1). Hubert (8.4-0-55-2) then has a go from Barls end and after a bit of hitting removes the opener for 107. The rest of the wickets fall steadily as no other batsmen reach double figures. Eric comes back on and picks up three wickets cheaply despite stopping the ball with his leg and it swelling up.

Chasing 241 Bodicote race to 3 from 3 overs. Slogger not happy being lbw outside the line of the stumps, Sid and Dave all go for less than 10. 37 for 3 from 10 overs looks like an early start to the Barbie at TVR's. Mike (34) and Skip (49) however put us right back in it with Mike feeding the strike to Skip and Skip playing some shots. Barl the destroyer (29) wades in with a very large 6 as we need only 64 from the last 10 with 5 wickets in hand. Enter Inziman, exit Inziman. Enter Hubert all fired up, exit Hubert mumbling. It was all over 10 runs later.

Champagne moments

The ball flying over Sids head when fielding after it bounced 3m in front of him. Prestons scorer who kept us entertained throughout - Stoke on Trent. Eric's Arse.

19/6/99 - Culworth (h) - Inside Out

Due to a caravan convention on our pitch this home fixture was played away. Pre game excitement for Keith as both Culworth and Bodicote prepare teas. The excitement soon disappeared as Bucks showed off his Kalvin Clein jock strap, did he need to put it on first before showing everybody. Just to cap it off Sid then pulls out of his kit bag a truss and puts it on (see competition). It was a very strange day indeed.

Culworth decide to bat with Keith and Bucks keeping them down to 23 off 10 overs. Keith then makes his second mistake of the day (forgeting the score book for the second time in three weeks) and bowls the opener only to get smacked for a quick fire 20 from the Culworth number 3. Bucks was of course taken off as the acceleration starts. Enter Barl, I will type this slowly as I know you wont believe what I have typed. Barl bowled a quicker one and it turned and it beat the bat and it hit the wicket, no honest, I'm not kidding. Just as strange was skip, only mildly injured (strange enough) stops the ball with his right hand throws it in over the stumps and we have a run out. With the big hitters out of the way and the Culworth Under 13's at the crease Bucks makes a quick recovery and is back on, whats more he hits the stumps, twice, yeah I know I told you it was a strange day. Reality bit back quickly as his hat trick ball was a wide. Barl still bowling well switches ends and takes a couple more as Culworth are in the middle of a Bodicote style calapse. Hubert makes up for his 4 wides in his first over to mop up the tail. Sids catch was interesting needing 5 bites at the cherry. Barl even got in the swing of it with a sliding stop at the boundary. Extras joint top score with 30. Culworth all out for nelson in 37 overs.

Sid (14) and Tubby (19) have a steady start and 50 comes up in the 16th over (despite 6 maidens). Tubby streaked a couple of his fours behind the keeper, but to be fair the other two were good shots and was caught by a beaty, sod this being fair. Sid was bowled cross twatting a full toss. Dave (38 not out) is set for the game as a couple of quick wickets go down at the other end (Mike 2 and Slogger 0). Woody (28 not out) comes in a steers us home with overs and wickets to spare.

15/6/99 - Chipping Warden (h) - Knock em Out

16 eight ball overs in this cup competition and a strong team out. A good start with the ball as Chippies wickets fall. Keith (5-2-15-2) and Hubert (5-0-38-2) with some steady stuff. Keith has already bored half of Oxfordshire with 'I broke a stump last night'. Most common responses so far include 'did you sit on it?' and 'were you batting?'. The real star of the show was Balti (5-0-42-4), all of his wickets being bowled, lbw or stumped (albeit of a wide).

Chasing 107 Pinhead and Mike open the slog, what a combination. Pinhead suffered a hangover from last weeks Mid Week bash was LBW for 4. Slogger (25) failed to live up to his name poncing around with 1's, 2's and 3's. Inziman's brand new bat proved as good as his previous one, out for a duck. Mike was finally out for 38 again and Hubert cross batted a quick fire 20 (ask him how many balls, sorry you wont need to he will tell you soon enough). Watty (10 not out) and Skip (1 not out) saw us home with over 3 overs to spare.

12/6/99 - Preston Capes (a) - Bowled Out

What a day, Bucks got no wickets, actually he did not play (repatriation in Kosova) which meant we batted down to 11 and no rain. Shock horror we won the toss and stuck them in. The start was delayed and reduced to a 40 over game. Keith (12-1-39-3) and Barl (12-3-31-1) trundled and dobbed respectively and kept them down to 50 for 1 after 20 overs. Keith getting the hang of the opening bowling lark started to look tired and got taken off, recovering in time for the rabbits. With wickets in hand they started to go for it with Hubert (12-0-50-1) and Sid (4-0-23-0) taking the flack. Dave caught what may well be the catch of the season off Barl on the boundary, ending up with three catches.

Sid (45) was the backbone of a good batting performance as we chased 149. After a good start (Dave 16 from 17 balls) we slowed up and only managed 54 after 20 overs. This seemed to get the Capes Skipper over excited. Enter Mike on his debut for the firsts with a superb 38 off 38 balls ending any chance of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. While this was going on Hubert was bugging the hell out of everyone trying to get promoted up the order. Slogger and Skip saw off the remaining runs without a hitch.

5/6/99 - Kings Sutton (h) - Not Again Rained Out

Despite the changing room view that Skip is the quintessential tosser, we lost the toss and then things went downhill from there. On a wet pitch we were put in. Sid stoged out 26 and Ossie (30) battled well whilst looking very ill. When calling for water he got stick and asked whether he would like a sandwich as well. Hubert (16) and the amazing Inzaman ul Smith (23) offered some defense. Two points of note from Inzaman despite being banned from reverse sweeps in the stiffs he attempted one and getting run out because he did not ground his bat (we think he was knackered). Six batsmen tried their best to get down the pub early, Dave (1), Barl (1), Balti (0), Keith (0), Skip (1 not out) and Bucks (1). The on/off nature of the game did not help when we finished on 124 off 40 overs. We only managed 8 overs before the rains came again and this time they set in.

The most over optimistic opposition keep us from the pub as they make us wait before the end of the game. Studying the rule book (see news section) and ripping the Michael out of Bucks kept us going.

29/5/99 - Wroxton (h) - Wash Out

Wroxton choose to bat on what turned out to be the best track so far this year. Steady stuff to start with Bucks failing to get a wicket early doors and managing to look tired just as they started to go for it. Bucks was replaced by big Keith who had a cracking first over, in his second over the first ball went for 12 runs, (72 economy rate). By this time they were getting hold of Hubert as well and aiming it at old ladies in wheelchairs. Eric replaced Hubert at the village end and looked better than 50 of 6 overs. Bucks came back at the cow end and got a wicket (long hop again), then another and then one more for luck. Three wickets in one game for the one time KLA fighter. Sid trundled in and got a couple of wickets (still not sure who was most surprised) and then Hubert and Keith mopped up the tail.

At tea the heavens opened and all hope was lost of knocking off the 235 required. It did not just rain, it hammered down.

Champagne Moments - Slogger getting lip from the kids at the side of the pitch, Skipper pulling his groin again, Bucks taking a wicket, Sids Wickets, Keith's 6 wides in a row and Slogger leaving his car open during the thunder storm.

22/5/99 - Charlton (h) - Played Out

A text book performance of poor batting matched nicely with the good Charlton bowling resulted in a disappointing total to say the least. The dog did not bark at the front and with 4 ducks (Barl, Hubert, Keith and Bucks) the tail did not wag. The bowling was equally dire. Hubert was the only bowler who got wickets (3).

A big shock was that skip bowled, it was no shock however that he got injured or that Bucks got no wickets. Here's a picture just to remind him what one looks like (it's him batting).

15/5/99 Evenley (a) - Hit Out

Bucks got the ball rolling over in the lovely setting of Evenley village green with two long hops which were top edged and caught deep behind. Things were going reasonably well until Evenley's middle order went ballistic smacking sixes and fours around the ground. Hubert, Barl and especially Keith got plenty of stick (Bucks 'looked tired' just about the right time and was taken off). From a good position they quickly pushed up to the 200 mark after 45 overs. Thankfully the Banbury Guardian photographer came just after we went in for tea, other wise an embarrassing selection of shots could have been collected. Sid ended up fielding about 200 yards from the track and was still watching it sail over his head. An excellent tea down the pub and out we went, the atmosphere changed. The quick opening bowler was keeping runs down and wickets fell often. After 30 overs at 98 for 6, things did not look good. Enter Barl who twatted the ball like no other, abetted first by Slogger then Hubert and Keith. No surprise that skipper was injured and put himself down at 11. Then with an 9 balls to go, 9 wickets down and a few runs to get, in he goes and blocks back the rest of the over. 3 balls to go Barl skies one to mid on, mid on drops it and the scores are tied. Skip then twats the next ball for 4 and we have win from nowhere.

Champagne moments - Barl's batting, Dave getting caught by a spectator and stopping the ball going for 6, Skippers injury, Keith's 4's of the quickie.

8/5/99 Preston Capes (h) - Rained Out

Not much more to say really. Quiz questions kept us going until it was called off.

Barl's name the 4 race courses which do note contain the letter RACE and the 6 courses that contain all 4 letters.

Name the 3 England footballers that have 3 o's in their surname?

Name the only England cricketer to play in the first test match of the 80's and the first in the 90's?

So still no wicket for Bucks

1/5/99 - Fenny Compton (a) - Knock Out

First game of the new season and as expected no one is here on time. At least nearly everyone gets to the pitch on time (Buck's). Eric and Bucks open on a very wet pitch. Hubert gains 3 early wickets for sod all runs when Bucks is replaced at the shallow end. Keith has two dropped before setting about what remains of the Fenny batsmen, Hubert picks up a forth and ends up with 4-13 with Keith 6-23 as Fenny are all out for 60 odd.

A solid performance by with the bat and the runs are easily knocked off. A thankfully less solid performance by Eric, Tubbs and Hubert suffering from terminal flatulence causes concern for the square leg umpire.