WILL Eason has praised the impact of overseas player Darryl Brown ahead of Horspath’s derby clash at home to Banbury.

The South African all-rounder has made quite an impression at the Division 1 club.

And he played a starring role, taking 2-36 and hitting an unbeaten 64 off 37 balls, as the side beat Finchampstead for their first victory of the Home Counties Premier League season last week.

Skipper Eason, who hands the captaincy to Brown due to being unavailable tomorrow, has been impressed.

He said: “Darryl’s been fantastic.

“He’s fitted in really well with the social and playing members.

“He’s brought a new dimension to training sessions, bowled consistently, and on Saturday he just manipulated the field really well.”

James Fitzjohn is also unavailable for Horspath, with Jimmy Phillips and Will Robertson returning.

Banbury head into the clash full of confidence on the back of a seven-wicket win over Tring Park.

The victory lifted Lloyd Sabin’s side up to fourth in the table.

They head into the fixture at Horspath Recreation Ground in an upbeat mood and with the luxury of naming an unchanged side.

Skipper Sabin said: “It’s especially tricky playing at Horspath.

“It will be a tough game, but we’re full of confidence and playing well.”

Chris Watling is backing Aston Rowant to bounce back against Slough.

The side suffered their first defeat at leaders High Wycombe after an impressive start to the campaign.

Rowant, who have added Andrew Tolson and Gordon Harris to their squad, are upbeat about returning to winning ways.

Batsman Watling said: “We’re happy with our start.

“We feel we have a good group of players we’ve built over the last few seasons and we can compete with anyone on our day.

“We’re not too down about last week, obviously disappointed to lose, but we feel like we can bounce back and put in a performance against Slough.”

Jamie Perkin is calling on Oxford to build on their first victory.

But after beating champions Henley, they face another tough challenge when they travel to High Wycombe.

Perkin had called for a better batting performance from his side and they delivered to secure a three-wicket win.

The captain, who has selected David Murphy in place of the unavailable Freddie Simon, is challenging his players to build on the display.

He said: “It was a really good win and exactly what I asked for.

“We outplayed them in every aspect, hopefully that sets the standard.

“People naturally raise their game for the bigger sides, Henley and High Wycombe are probably the two biggest teams in the league.

“It’s a good challenge.”

Thame Town bid to arrest a two-match winless run when they travel to fifth-placed Tring Park.

Anupam Sanklecha knows one victory would go a long way to boosting his struggling Shipton-under-Wychwood side.

The west Oxfordshire club fell to a fourth successive defeat in Division 2 as they were beaten by 98 runs at Burnham.

It leaves Shipton already ten points adrift at the bottom of the table.

But captain Sanklecha remains optimistic his side can find some form and is hopeful of a change in fortunes when they host sixth-placed Harefield tomorrow.

He said: “We’ve lost four games and we’re struggling for players as well.

“But we need one win and the momentum will change, you never know after that.”

Sanklecha’s side produced an opening stand of 45 when chasing Burnham’s 248, but they were unable to put together a match-changing partnership.

The all-rounder said: “ It was looking good.

“The only problem was when we were chasing, our run rate was too slow and we started looking for runs.”

Shipton make three changes, with Scott Harris, Steve Bates and Lewis Marstin replacing Joe Cockroft, Luke Champion and Ian Harris.

In-form Great & Little Tew bid to continue their fine start when they host Dinton at the Gordon Taylor Oval.

A seven-wicket victory at Datchet saw the side move up to second in the table with three wins from four matches.

Tew’s bowlers proved the difference, dismissing the hosts for 126, before they chased down the total inside 43 overs.

Captain Harry Smith had said victory over Datchet would send out a message to their rivals and he was impressed with his side’s performance in Berkshire.

He said: “It was a good win.

“We just destroyed them with the ball.

“Robbie Shurmer and Lawrence Brock blew them away.

“Confidence is high and we’re playing well.

“Everyone has been chipping in with the bat as well which is good.”

Tew make one change this weekend, with Ian Bryan returning in place of Ollie Price.

TOMORROW’S TEAMS

Horspath (v Banbury, home): Coleman, R Eason, Skelton, Brown, Green, Cosford, Faruk, Belcher, Manley, Phillips, Robertson.

Banbury (v Horspath, away): Sabin, Haupt, Hill, Adams, West, Clarke, Rana, Beer, Green, Wright, Taylor.

Aston Rowant (v Slough, away): from Reid, Condon, Watling, Smith, Moriarty, Morrick, Bethell, Muttitt, Whatman, Chapman, Harris.

Oxford (v High Wycombe, away): Tong-Jones, Eltham, Dickinson, Ayub, Perkin, Nutt, Kilpatrick, Mendis, Keat, Humphreys, Murphy.

Shipton-under-Wychwood (v Harefield, home): Wood, Norgrove, Cross, Sanklecha, Newhook, Lewis, Rehman, S Miller, S Harris, Bates, Marstin.

Great & Little Tew (v Dinton, home): Smith, Catling, Woodward, White, Lloyd Brock, Slatter, Wyatt, Shurmer, Thomas, Lawrence Brock, Bryan.