Mark Vincent – During the first few years of my career at the Astons’, the team was almost completely reliant on Vinny and if he fell for a low score the game was as good as over. Mark was a really good batsman to watch, an encouraging captain and played the game in the very best spirit.
Rolf Smith – During the middle years of my career at the Astons’, the team was almost completely reliant on Ralph and if he fell for a low score the game was as good as over. While Ralph may never match the languid style that characterised Vinny’s batting, he has the skill of grinding down bowlers with his flamboyant power-leave and solid defence, before going on to accumulate more heavily as the openers tire and the change bowlers come on. Ralph is also, hands down, the best fielder the club has ever had.
Nick Clark – Rolf’s method of pushing singles into the infield and leaving the ball outside off-stump is all well-and-good and lots of people will say that getting your eye-in properly before pushing on for a big total is sensible. Clarky could block it as well as the next bloke - sure he could - but no one really remembers a blocker, certainly not as much as they remember watching the ball sail over into Tim Henman’s house or fly into the fields surrounding the rec. Nick would usually have had a skinfull the night before, he never woke up more than half-an-hour before the start of play and always had a full roast dinner before weaving his way down Aston Street in his beloved Golf, but he could still hit it a mile and the fans in the pavilion ate it up.
Trev Dew © – Bradman, Sobers, Richards, Napper (more on him later) and Dew; Trevor is truly one of the game’s greats. Trev could do it all: he could turn the ball square with his insanely lofted leg-spin; he could swing the ball around a corner with his medium pace; he could take amazing catches at slip; and was very capable of scoring a ton. Off the field Trev is brilliant to be around, his jokes are amazing, his booming laugh brings a smile to your face, he knows almost everything and his flatulence is really quite awe-inspiring. Now into his second retirement, Trev has become our best scorer, remains our premier tourist and still cracks me up every week. All hail Trev.
John Shea – John’s interest has waned slightly over the last few seasons, which is a real shame as he’s a really good cricketer and a nice guy too. When John was younger he could hit the ball a mile with very little effort; these days John has to give it his all, mentally and physically, to get the ball off the cut strip. John’s a great fielder and a very useful wicketkeeper and the game is always more enjoyable when he’s in the side.
Jeremy Imbush (wk) – He’s not the best batsman, he’s not the best bowler, he’s not the best at reversing minibuses and he’s certainly not DBS approved. Jez is great company though, particularly on tour, and things are always more exciting when he’s around.
Andy Napper – The GOAT. People often say that you should never meet your heroes, but with Andy it was different. Andy is the club’s greatest ever wicket taker; he had the club’s longest ever run-up; when batting he judged a run better than anyone; and he owned the oldest cricket bat in Oxfordshire. I’ve picked Andy in this side to bowl unchanged from the Napper End throughout the innings (regardless of format).
Martin West – I only played with Martin for a few seasons but I remember him as a true stylist with the willow and a tricky left arm bowler. He usually opened the batting, but I’m picking him down here as I think the fans would want to see him bat with this explosive tail.
Keith Edgington – A wonderful spinner, with great flight and guile and a really kind and friendly man who always made the younger members of the club feel welcome. One of the game’s greatest blockers, when required to, Keith was capable of stopping any delivery stone-dead in front of him.
Steve Smith – Does Steve turn the ball, I’ve never worked it out? What I am certain of is that he’s a wicket-taker and can bamboozle even the best batsman with his flight and nagging round-the-wicket angles. Steve is an excellent tourist and was one of the happy few band of brothers who embarked upon a journey-of-discovery up the steps of the Shanklin Chine.
Jim Dean – While Jim only played for the Astons for a few seasons, he quickly made an impression and remains a cricketing hero to many. Jim turned the ball quite sharply and was an intelligent bowler who, in the right conditions, was very hard to play. The flexibility of his wrists, which made his bowling so dangerous, also helped with Jim’s batting and he could pull and hook the ball along the ground with consummate skill.

Umpires
Steve Morrant – I think it’s fair to say that the Astons are pretty good at doing village cricket: we have a good pub, we have a lovely ground, we don’t care too much who wins, we have good teas and we even supply our own umpire. Steve is a knowledgeable umpire and generally makes good decisions (unless I’m batting); he’s also great company and a really nice bloke.
Mike Wigg – Most batsmen feel that they should get a huge benefit of the doubt on every umpire call – Ralph, for instance, will always claim a Yorker could maybe have gone over the top or a ball that would crash into middle stump may have swung so unexpectedly and so late that it would miss… Mike gives them if they’re out and that makes him a great umpire. Not just a great umpire, but a really truly great boke too.
Scorer
Rob Eaglestone – Rob makes every game he plays more enjoyable with his enthusiasm and encouragement on the pitch and his good humour and social nature in the pavilion and the pub. Rob helped bring back an attention to detail in the Astons scoring and when he’s in charge the scorebook always looks great.

Teas
Ben Ray – can’t get enough of the egg mayo.