CCS Home Counties League: Oxford have suffered a severe blow ahead of tomorrow's Division 1 home clash with High Wycombe after all-rounder Shamilal Mendis was ruled out for the season.

Mendis broke his thumb when fielding against North Mymms and captain Pat Jobson admitted his injury had come at a bad time.

He said: "It is bad news because he has been playing reaslly well for us recently."

The other change sees Ali Shah drop down to the seconds with Philip Evans and Johnny Nambiar coming in.

All-rounder Paul Taylor and opening batsman Chris Smith return to the Banbury side for their trip to Falkand.

They replace Ian Tew and Andrew Sabin, and Smith should now be a mainstay for the summer after completing his Cardiff UCCE fixtures.

Skipper Richard Kaufman has a full squad to select from, but has kept faith with Calum Taylor, who scored 39 not out in the win over Basingstoke.

Kaufman said: "He didn't do anything wrong so it would be harsh to leave him out."

He added: "We'll try and be positive. If we bat first we'll try and declare early and go all out for the victory.

"We don't mind losing points to Falkland because we don't see them being on top of the league at the end. The main thing is to win."

John Wolstenholme returns after a back injury and replaces Paul Hill while Luke Ryan must be content with a place in the seconds.

Fourth-placed Henley host third-placed Slough and will be looking to build on their five-wicket win over Finch- ampstead.

TOMORROW'S TEAMS

Banbury (v Falkland, away): Taylor, Smith, Haupt, Kaufman (capt), Harding, Taylor, Beck, Wolstenholme, Murrey, Launder, Phillips.

Oxford (v High Wycombe, home): Cook, Jobson (capt), Laudat, P Evans , Mendis, I Evans, Williams, J Evans, Nambiar, Angove, R Evans.

Thame Town captain Rob Brooks believes tomorrow's clash with Tring Park will have a big bearing on the Division 2 West title.

And he is hoping his second-placed side can put last week's shock loss behind them against the leaders.

Brooks said: "It should be quite a good game. It will set out the second half of the season for both teams.

"It's not until you play the top sides that you get an accurate reflection of where you are in the league.

"We'll be going for a win, but we'll accept a winning draw and hope we can pick up the points later."

All-rounder Luke Merry returns in place of Rob Layton for the only change.

Bicester & North Oxford skipper Ian Bryan returns to the side in place of the unavailable Graham Savin as the only change for the trip to seventh-placed North Maidenhead.

Bryan, who is looking to extend their seven game unbeaten run, said: "We are doing better than I thought we would do.

"I was satisfied with a draw (last week) because Burnham are a decent side."

Speaking of Alex Jewell's Oxfordshire call up, he said: "He deserves it. He's been fantastic for us.

"Alex is seeing the ball so easily. He's the best batsman I have seen this season.

"It's handy that the tournament is on Sunday, because it means that we've got Alex and Ian Hawtin available."

Paul Humphreys returns to Aston Rowant's attack as they travel to fifth-placed Burnham in search of a much-needed win.

Captain Chris Eaton said: "We just need to bowl well. It was a bit disappointing last week because we got a good score and then bowled poorly.

"We are looking to pick up as many points as we can and put some pressure on them."

TOMORROW'S TEAMS

Aston Rowant (v Burnham, away): Morgan, Eaton, Bant, Brown, Watling, Plumridge, Tremlin, Lewis, Humphreys, Foster, Needham.

Bicester & North Oxford (v North Maidenhead, away): Woods, Sansome, Jewell, Lyon, Williams, Hussain, Hawtin, Bryan (capt), Holton, Mason, Jeacock.

Thame Town (v Tring Park, away): Cook, Parmar, Krol, A Wynd, Brooks (capt), C Wynd, Mehta, Lachlan, Sellwood, L Merry, S Merry.