Bat & Ball, Oxford

A country pub with a cricketing theme in a village in the wilderness between Wheatley and Oxford. There's plenty of exposed stone inside with the odd rendered-over bit with the odd bit of leather-on-willow paraphernalia as you'd expect. A rectangular room, a brick-built bar is eyes right on entry with a dining area off to the rear of the building with varied seating to the bar's left along with a slew of bar stools. This looks to have had a bit of a makeover since I last visited, which has lost it a bit of its lustre (the pub sign merely reads 'The Bat & Ball', the old-fashioned sign now having bit the dust. Three ale on were Doom Bar Amber, Adnam's Southwold Bitter and a Brakspear seasonal ale called Shires which was in great form (£3.90 a pint). There's a lean on food here and I was asked straight out if I was eating after ordering my pint, so don't be surprised to be asked.