HAVING experienced an unexpected delay last week due to illness, this Thursday sees the start of league fixtures for the new winter quiz season.

With the withdrawal, hopefully temporary, of the Bell (Grove), and the transfer of the Hatchet (Childrey) to the Oxford Division, three teams only will contest the Premiership.

Defending champions the Plough (Wolvercote) will seek to repeat their success, especially following a miserable summer in which they failed to land a single item of silverware.

By contrast, stablemate the Ploughman’s Bunch!, with the ‘Round Britain’ Tabletop secured a fortnight ago, will be looking to add this Premier Section title to the one they bagged for the summer, particularly as Graham ‘the Pad’ will hang up his er... pad at the end of the season.

Out to thwart these behemoths of Quizland will be Far From The Madding Crowd ‘A’ (Oxford City). Inconsistency in availability has often been their curse, and if they fail to get the ‘Vicar’, in particular, to the table weekly, third place may be the best they can hope for.

A slight reshuffling of the entrants has resulted in the Seacourt Bridge (Botley) switching to the West, with the Hatchet taking their place in Oxford. The bookies have installed the new arrivals from Childrey as favourites to take top honours, but their performances last season against both the North Oxford Conservative Club (Summertown) and the Green Road Club (Kidlington) would indicate these latter two have decent chances to run them close.

Dark horses may be the Gardener’s Arms (North Parade), who have undergone a tremendous resurgence in the past 12 months.

The inclusion of the Seacourt Bridge has further beefed up what was already an extremely competitive West Section. The Windrush Club (Witney) sneaked home in the title race in April and are marginal favourites for a repeat.

However, the Royal Sun (Begbroke), fresh form taking the runners-up spot in Division One in the summer, the always dangerous White Hart (Eynsham), together with the Seacourt Bridge will ensure this one goes down to the wire.

In the East, in spite of losing a couple of key players, the Green Dragon (Haddenham) should once again prove unstoppable.

In an interesting move, the folk who previously turned out for the Crown (Church Enstone) have decamped to the Blue Boar (Chipping Norton), sharing this base with the defending North Section titleholders. Whether this change of environment can inspire the ‘Bees’, as they shall be known, to put one over their new bedmates remains to be seen.

Title predictions:

Premier – Ploughman’s Bunch!

Oxford – Hatchet

West – Royal Sun

North – Chipping Norton ‘A’

East – Green Dragon

James Carr’s Questions

1 Name the English architect best known for designing The Crystal Palace, a cast-iron and plate-glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851?

2 Which ancient poet is best known for his three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid? 3 Name the Denver Broncos quarterback who led his team to two Super Bowl wins in 1997 and 1999?

Answers: 1 Joseph Paxton; 2 Virgil; 3 John Elway

A full fixture list and details of the league can be found at http://www.oxfordshirequizleague.co.uk