One day in 1886 the landlord of The Fox, Mr Alexander Steele, gathered together a few of his cronies to drink beer out of blue quart mugs. He then dispatched one of their number, a Mr Cook Green to London to learn all about the game of cricket. Mr Cook Green travelled by donkey cart and the journey took him about two months, but he returned bringing cricket to Tiddington.

So the story goes. We cannot vouch for its authenticity, but certainly the club's origins lie in a team formed by regulars at The Fox and the pub remained our headquarters until the building of our pavilion in 1982.

The first captain was a Mr Charles Bull, using (legend has it) a willow shaped by the local hurdle-maker. The first ground was the "Winnals", a field with alarming slopes beside the Thame road.

Charles Bull seems to have made more impression with the ball than the bat. In 1887, to celebrate Queen Victoria's Jubilee, a match was played between the married and the single men of the parish and it is recorded that the bachelors won "in spite of the bowling of Messrs. Chapman and Bull and Mr Beckett's fielding."

A successful batsman in those early days was a fellow named Smith from Haseley, who made his living by poaching. On one occasion in 1890 he refused to leave the wicket when given out, in deference to his well known shooting ability ,he was allowed to remain in as long as he liked.

In 1897 the club moved to its present ground. It belonged to a Mr Bennet, the owner of Tiddington House, and for the next fifty years successive owners of this fine old Queen Anne property had an active role in the club, as players, captains, presidents, chairman and benefactors.

The link between the club and The Fox remained as strong as ever, of course. Alexander Steele was succeeded as landlord by "stumper Bill" Steele who, like his predecessor, was a man of ample proportions. In 1910 Henry John "Harry" Maule took over the pub, and from that time the Maule family has been prominent in the club's history. Hardly a year has gone by without several Maules playing for the club and the family has filled many of our administrative posts over the generations.

Like most clubs, Tiddington ceased its activities during the Great War, but was soon going strong again when peace returned. 1928 saw our first recorded hat trick by Fred Brazell, and in 1933 Jack Maule scored our first recorded century. Now, it may seem odd that it took nearly 50 years for a century to be produced but we must remember what playing conditions were like in those days, with long grass in the outfield and pitches that might be highly unpredictable. Indeed, the club's annual batting award was often with an average of less than 20. And even scoring a few runs was not without hazard; for example in 1935 the Committee agreed to pay one of the star batsman, Bill Slater, ten shillings, "in recompense for having both his teeth broken in a match against Slough" (to their credit, Slough also sent ten shillings!)

For much of the interwar period, the post of Club Secretary was held by Reg Steele, the grandson of the founder Alexander Steele. He was well-known and much respected in local circles and after the war he went on to become the founder-secretary of the Oxfordshire Cricket Umpires association (a tradition we still maintain today!) Sadly, he died in a road accident in 1956 but he is still remembered today with the presentation of the R.E. Steele Cup for the season's best performance.

The outbreak of war in 1939 once again put a stop to club activities. The Second World War had a more profound effect than first, for the ground was commandeered by the army for training manoeuvres. They did so much damage that the entire field had to be re-levelled when the war was over.

The post war years were a time of steady progress and expansion under the guiding hand of secretary H.F. (Bert) Maule. Bert a club member since 1918, held office from 1946 to 1962.

1946 saw the beginning (after negotiations with the vicar) of Sunday cricket. In 1955 a Second X1 was started. So things progressed, with an average of some three dozen games a season being played – double the number of the pre-war years.

The 1960's was when youth started to take a hand in the club. A number of promising youngsters appeared, like Roger White, who won his first county colts honours in 1964. A couple of years later, the club took a decision which was to have far reaching consequences. This resulted in the arrival of yet more promising youngsters who have made it the highly successful outfit it is today. It had long been the rule that you could only play for Tiddington if you actually lived in the village. In 1966, this rule was rescinded. The door was opened to allow lean and hungry heathens from foreign parts such as Wheatley, Thame and even Ickford play for the club.