There are large gaps in the history of the Club but it is reasonable to assume that cricket has been played in the village, as in other Oxfordshire villages, for a considerable time. This assumption is based on the fact that Oxfordshire CCC is far and away the oldest of the Minor Counties sides and had a County side playing in 1779. The Oxfordshire Cricket Association (now the Oxfordshire Cricket Board) is probably the oldest County Association, pre-dating all the major Counties.

Research by Phil Brown has established that that the Club was originally formed in 1848 but it is doubtful whether cricket has been played continuously in the village since that time. What is certain is that a cricket Club was re-formed in the village in about 1919 following the Great War mainly by troops returning from the front – this information was given to John Dennis by George Pimm Senior (now deceased). Although the Club was probably active between 1920 and 1940 there is little evidence to support this although OCA records show that Combe beat Eynsham by 28 runs in the play-off for the Division 2 Championship in 1935. At that time the cricket field was on the Lichfield in Station Road and it wasn’t until the 1950s that the Club transferred its activities to the Oxford Road Playing Fields.

There is anecdotal evidence, given to John Dennis by Charlie Pimm (now deceased), a former Club wicket – keeper and Keith Green, that there was a cricket club active in the village in the 1940s; in fact Charlie Pimm had in his possession team photographs from that period. It was also known that the old scorebooks from this time were in the possession of Frank Harris (now deceased), landlord of the Red Lion where the Club had its headquarters.

It was during the 1950s that a proper square was laid on the Playing Fields largely paid for by Bill Green, then the landlord of the Swan Hotel and a keen member of Worcester County Cricket Club. The square is clearly visible on the 1961 Aerial Survey of Oxfordshire (John Dennis has a copy of the photographs) indicating that the ground was being used to play cricket on at that time. From all accounts the Club ceased to function sometime around 1960 although it is known that Bill Green occasionally got together an invitation team to play friendly fixtures. To all intents and purposes the Club had ceased to function by the early 1960s. The Club property was dispersed among the various members; however the financial assets were invested in a deposit account at a Woodstock Bank in the trust of John Thornton, landlord of the Queen’s Head.

In about 1971, John Dennis who had moved to Eynsham in 1970, discussed the possibility of re-forming the Cricket Club with John Thornton. Jimmy Smith, at that time a resident of the village and Secretary of the County Cricket Club, was invited to become involved and was only too pleased to accept. It was agreed to enlist the help of the Playing Field Managers Committee (PFMC) and consequently Aubrey Clifton and Alan Burden joined the Group which then began the planning for the re-forming of the Club. A proposal was put to the PFMC for support and permission for the use and preparation of the Oxford Road field. This permission was eventually granted and included consent for a section of the field to be set aside specifically for the creation of a square; some assistance was also offered in the rolling and cutting of an outfield area. By the Summer of 1973 the Group felt that it was in a position to attempt to re-launch the Club. A handbill was distributed to all houses in the village asking those who were interested to attend a meeting at the Eynsham Institute  (now the Sports and Social Club) in early November 1973. The attendance at the meeting was disappointing and included Peter Ackling, Alan Burden, Aubrey Clifton, John Dennis, Nigel Dugdale, Tony Humphries, Keith Green, Mike Rattenbury, Jimmy Smith, John Thornton and Doug Wixey. A resolution was put to the meeting that “Eynsham Cricket Club be re-formed” which was passed unanimously.The meeting then elected a Committee as follows: President and Treasurer - John Thornton, Chairman – Jimmy Smith, Secretary – John Dennis together with Peter Ackling, Nigel Dugdale, Keith Green, Tony Humphries, Mike Rattenbury and Doug Wixey as Committee Members. It was agreed that the Club Headquarters should be the Queens Head, where with the exception of a few years during the 1980s, it has remained ever since. The Annual Subscription was set at £1. The Club’s assets at that time, inherited from the invested capital in the Bank at Woodstock, amounted to about £102.  

The Committee now started work in earnest in order to try to get the Club active in time for the Summer of 1974. This involved raising money, tracking down players, locating and preparing a square and outfield, locating/obtaining ground maintenance equipment, investigating the provision of accommodation, organising a programme of friendly fixtures and providing playing equipment. All in the space of four months!   The first item in the list to be addressed was the location of the original square, which had by this time reverted to rough grass. The views of former members of the Club were solicited and with their help the approximate position of the eight-strip square was established. (Unfortunately the Aerial Survey photograph had not yet been acquired but it was later found that the square had been established only one strip away from the original).  The Club was fortunate at this stage in obtaining the services and advice of George Balmer who was then head groundsman at RAF Brize Norton; George produced a programme for the refurbishment of the square and provided fertilisers and dressings together with mechanical aids. The PFMC groundsman (Mons Perkins) increased the frequency of cutting and rolling the outfield but not entirely to the Club’s satisfaction; there was some concern by the PFMC over the increasing costs of this extra work. Cutting of the square was carried out using members’ domestic garden mowers and rolling was done using the former Club’s concrete roller, which had been rescued from a ditch by the old railway line. Fortunately all the effort paid off and the square and ground were ready for use by April 1974.  

Having a ground to play on was of no consequence without players to form a team and an initiative was launched to trace former and current players (now with other Clubs) within and outside the village. Among those joining the growing band were Sam Timms (village postman), Bob Talbot and Pete Wilsdon (ex East Oxford CC), Dave Booker, Bernard Smith, Jim Watts of City Farm, Donald Wood and Colin Watts (ex Sutton CC), Jim Brackley (RAF Brize Norton CC), Andrew Martin-Smith (Oxford University Authentics and Free Foresters), George Leigh, John Chesman, Desmond Pimm (ex former Eynsham CC) and many others.   By the time April 1974 arrived there were enough members to form two teams to take part in a practice match after which John Dennis was appointed as the Club Captain for the season.  

A modest list of friendly matches had been arranged, including fixtures with College sides, local Clubs and perhaps most notably with RAF Brize Norton where Andrew Martin-Smith scored the new Club’s first century. Eynsham won this game in a high scoring match in which each side scored over 200 runs. As the weeks passed in the Winter months of 1974, the search continued for a shed which could be used as a pavilion. In March of that year it became known that the cricket pavilion at RAF Weald (Bampton) was surplus to requirements and the PFMC agreed to buy it for £50. A group of volunteers from the Club and the Railway Inn FC went to Bampton, dismantled the pavilion and with the aid of a borrowed tractor and flat truck, brought the building to Eynsham where it was re-erected under the tree adjacent to Park Cottage garden wall. It was a building of some size being 36 feet in length (split into 3 bays) and 12 feet deep and served the Club well for many seasons until the new pavilion was erected. Cricket teas, made by partners of members, were provided in the pavilion at a nominal charge and a match fee was introduced to cover purchase of equipment.  

This first season was a great success with a good record of wins and several new and able players joined the ranks of the stalwarts; such was the success that it was agreed to submit an application to join the Oxfordshire Cricket Association League in 1975.At last the Club was up and running with almost enough playing members to provide two teams.   > Playing equipment was purchased from a local supplier, Gordon Clack of Ducklington, who kindly came to the Queens Head early in 1974, with a range of bats, pads, balls and other essential items. The Club purchased basic kit items to a total value in excess of £80 which severely depleted the meagre resources available.However many people in the village were very supportive and willingly paid a £1 subscription (50p in the case of ladies and senior citizens); at the end of the playing season there were about 80 paid-up members which is probably a Club record. In addition several money raising ventures were launched including social gatherings and raffles. The money thus raised substantially improved the Club’s financial position.  

Other milestones:

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