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| Adrian Manger and Robin Pykett in the slips at Lord's during the 1995 National Village Cup final with a strong Horspath contingent watching on from the stands |
The evergreen duo have been teammates for many of those years, firstly at Tiddington and more recently at Horspath as well as playing alongside each other for Oxfordshire Over 50s and 60s. The game, which will see an Adrian Manger XI take on a Robin Pykett XI, is set to be a family affair.
Pykett, 62, who first played for Ickford at the age of 11, will be joined by sons Nick, Ian and Philip in his side, while Manger, 64, whose first game was for Tiddington aged 15, will have brothers, Phil and Robert, in his line-up.
Pykett captained Tiddington, with Manger in his side, to the National Village Cup final at Lord's in 1995 when they lost by 14 runs to Woodhouse Grange in a low-scoring encounter. Reunited in Pykett's team next week from that day are due to be Richard Anderson and Neil Smith, while Jeff Higgs, who played in the run to Lord's but missed out on the final due to injury, is also included.
All-rounder Manger took 3-34 and left-arm spinner Pykett 1-16 from his nine overs as Tiddington held Woodhouse Grange to 151-9 off 40 overs, before falling short on 137-8. Pykett, who as last man didn't bat, said: "Being on the balcony and changing in the same rooms as the England team and walking across that pitch was unbelievable."
For opening batsman Manger it was a game of highs and lows as he recalled: "I was on a hat-trick and then I got a duck," However, he set the record straight 13 years later when he was a member of the Oxfordshire Over 50s side, which reached the ECB 50+ County Championship final against Lancashire played on the Nursery Ground at Lord's.
"I didn't stay at the hotel with the team," he said. "I went on a mission and it worked in terms of motivation." He played a man-of-the-match innings with a run-a-ball 75 to take Oxon to 186-8, before Lancashire were bowled out for 183 off the last delivery.
Manger added: "The Village Cup final was my greatest cricket moment other than winning the game against Lancashire on the Nursery Ground. I felt then I was putting to rights getting a duck in the 1995 final."
Representing more recent Tiddington teams Pykett played in are Jack Brooks, who has gone on to star for Northants, Yorkshire and England Lions, before joining Somerset this season, and his brother, Nathan, while Manger has a strong Horspath contingent in his line-up.
Adrian Manger XI: A Manger (capt), P Manger, R Manger, J Winfield, W Eason, R Eason, S Green, C Jones, A Cummings, R Willis, D Heritage, J Whittenbury.
Robin Pykett XI: R Pykett (capt), N Pykett, I Pykett, P Pykett, J Higgs, R Anderson, R Manning, N Smith, J Brooks, N Brooks, C Ricks, S Kulkarni.
Posted by: Russ