Tiddington's old guard get them over the line against Minster Lovell

Colin Bird and Neil Smith put on a crucial 40 for the 10th wicket as Tiddington record a nine-run victory over Minster Lovell

With players as young as 15 taking five-fors, The Cricketer Village Cup is enjoyed by each end of the age spectrum. But as Tiddington’s Colin Bird and Neil Smith showed at the weekend, you can’t beat a bit of experience.

The duo put on 40 for the 10th wicket – a partnership that proved crucial when they bowled Minister Lovell out 10 runs short of the target.

The match started poorly for Tiddington as they were reduced to 33 for 5, and although they recovered through Nick Pykett (29) and Ben Smith (31), they soon found themselves on 120 for 9.

However, an excellent batting display from the final pair got them up to a competitive total of 160.

“To start with, the idea was to bat the overs out – like it always is – to see what we can manage to get too,” says Bird. “Strangely enough, they tried to put a bit of strangle on us.

“They brought the field up, which enabled us to put it over the top and find the gaps. We’re both quite experienced because I’m 48 and Neil is 44 and the rest of the team is quite a young side.

“To be fair to him [Neil], he moved the strike round quite nicely and we didn’t really take any risks. I don’t think we gave them a chance. We carried it to 160, which we thought was quite a competitive score, especially with our bowling. We’ve got really good spinners.”

But with Minster Lovell 130 for 5 in response, it seemed as if 160 would not be enough.

“We thought they were going to get it,” says Bird. “To be fair, I thought they panicked a little bit. The difference was their tail was quite young.

“I thought they could have knocked the total off quite easily by taking singles and working the field, but they did try and attack it, which I thought was a big mistake.

“We came off for rain and when we came back on, I think Joe Elliott went for about nine [in an over]; got reverse swept and I think they got an edge for four and you start to think ‘oh my God’. With them chasing down a run rate of four or five, we feared the worst.”

But the worst didn’t arrive, and Bird claimed the last two wickets to end Minister Lovell’s tournament.

“The first wicket was a bit nervy because I bowled quite flat,” Bird explains. “The guy managed to get underneath it and it was caught probably two yards from the boundary. I then thought, ‘we’re home and dry’, but while it was in the air it was a very nervous moment.

“The final wicket was a stumping. We were appealing for an LBW that looked close, but it wasn’t given, and the guy was stood outside his crease and got stumped. And that was the end of it.”

Smith’s son, Ben – an allrounder who bowls right-arm off-break – also starred towards the end of the innings. “Ben was bowling very well,” adds Bird. “They were struggling to get the ball off the square.”

And it’s not just Neil’s son that’s part of the team. Bird’s sons, Archie and Jordon Davis, also appeared for Tiddington on Sunday.

“Archie is my son,” says Colin. “My other son [Jordon], is captain of the second team and I only got brought into the first team in the last two or three weeks, really as a bowler. Quite rare to get a call up at my age – you normally go down the leagues!”

With cricketing talent running through both families, Bird is hopeful Tiddington can make it all the way to Lord’s.

“I think we’ve got a great chance. We’ve got a massive depth of squad to call upon, which is our strength, and I feel we can defend any reasonable score, which is good. We don’t have to score big. Our strength is our bowling.

“We’ve got Cumnor in the final, which will be another tough game because they are in Division One. I think they’re top at the moment and we’re fourth, but we’ve got home advantage.

“The Oxfordshire group is one of the hardest to get out of – the competition is really high – so if we get through that, we’ve got a good chance of progressing in the tournament.”

Smith will be particularly keen to reach the final. He is seeking a second chance at glory as he was part of the Tiddington side that lost the 1995 final to four-time champions Woodhouse Grange.

“I’ve had the experience of being at the grand stage,” adds Smith. “Unfortunately, we failed on that day 24 years ago, but I’m still struggling on!

“We’ve got a very strong side; we’ve got a lot of allrounders – we can bat down to 11 – as you saw on the score sheet. With a bit of luck, we can go a long way. Fingers crossed we can go to Lord’s and win it this time rather than come off second best like in ’95.”

And if Tiddington were to reach Lord’s, there will surely be no better feeling for Bird and Smith to walk out on to the hallowed turf alongside their lads. A victory over Cunmor on June 9 would see them move one step closer to that dream.