OXFORDSHIRE veterans Adrian Manger and Robin Pykett will celebrate a combined 100 years in club cricket on Monday.

A special Centenary Match has been organised at Horspath CC (1.30), with the long-time teammates assembling XIs to play each other.

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.

Jack Brooks, who played for Tiddington before enjoying a professional career which now sees him at Somerset, is also in Pykett’s team.

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 side, which reached the ECB 50+ County Championship final against Lancashire played on the Nursery Ground at Lord’s.

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.”

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.