Ventnor have optimistically penciled in home matches against the Hampshire Academy and Lymington on April 6 and 13 ahead of an end-April visit to Amport in the National Village Cup.
Ben Attrill led the way in his Sunday best as Ventnor's players set off on a 10-mile Easter fund raising walk from Newport to their Steephill headquarters - complete in cricket fit, wearing lids, pads, gloves and wearing coloured clothing - to raise much needed funds, particularly to continue weekly expensive cross-Solent trips for Southern Premier and Hampshire League matches on the mainland.
Ventnor have optimistically penciled in home matches against the Hampshire Academy and Lymington on April 6 and 13 ahead of an end-April visit to Amport in the National Village Cup.
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St Cross Symondians have signed South African strike bowler Kyle Pluke as their overseas player for the ECB Southern Premier Division season, which is scheduled to start on May 4 2024.
Pluke is one of the lead bowlers in the Western Province CA Premier competition and took 38 wickets for fourth-placed Claremont this past Cape Town season. His wicket tally was second only to Hambledon leg-spin all-rounder Justin Behrens, who took 44 poles for WPCC. Rondebosch were WPCA winners. Pluke, who moves the ball both ways, plays in the same Claremont side as 2022 Hambledon run gun Matt De Villiers and Derbyshire's Harry Came, recently of St Cross. He will be heavily involved in coaching at the Green Jackets Ground. Stalwart opener Pete Hopson has been left to pick up the pieces with Havant sent reeling by the loss of a staggering SIX front line ECB Southern Premier Division players.
With the start of the competitive summer season only six weeks away, Hopson [above] has found himself catapulted into the captain's hot seat - something he didn't anticipate when Harry Gadd reportedly accepted an invitation to skipper the first team team at last November's annual meeting. But in a surprise move, Gadd has decided to drop down a tier and play Division 1 cricket for Portsmouth and take in the fresh air on Southsea seafront. Gadd isn't the only top order batsman to leave Havant - last year's captain Ben Walker has rejoined Bashley (Rydal), where he won a 2019 Premier championship medal, and wicketkeeper George Metzger has returned to his home town club, Basingstoke & North Hants after two short spells at the Park. Basingstoke have been promoted back in to the Premier Division this season after a seven-year absence. Havant's seam bowling has also been hit, with Sonny Reynolds returning to Waterlooville to play under the captaincy of his elder sibling Archie for last year's Division 2 winners. Fellow seamer Richard Jerry, who battled against injury last summer, isn't expected to play and Portsmouth university student Kai Ziemkendorf has done his time in the city. It's left Hopson, a first team regular since 2010 and accumulator of over 5000 Southern Premier Division runs, with only a handful of experienced team-mates. The ageless Richard Hindley remains alongside Chris Morgan and Chris Stone, with teenager Ben Feeney an ideal fit behind the stumps. The player exodus does mean talented youngsters like Charlie Whitfield, spin pair Freddie Gadd and Matty Hayward will get more opportunities, along with Harrison Barnard. Havant are reportedly in talks with a West Australia Grade club about an overseas player for the upcoming season. A team of Hursley Park cricketers got in a spot of pre-season fitness training and at the same time boosted club coffers to the tune of almost £1,300 by participating in the Eastleigh 10k. The money raised goes to pay for essential works needed to maintain The Quarters as one of the nicest grounds on the circuit.
There's a real pre-season buzz at Old Tauntonians & Romsey following last season's promotion as Southern Premier Division 2 runners-up. Hampshire's Chris Wood [left] has been appointed coach, with opener Charlie King stepping down as captain and top order batsman and spin bowler Rob Newman taking the armband. Wood's coaching role as already impacted pre-season training, with healthy attendances at midweek Embley Park school sessions, where the pair have run the sessions. Chris has been gaining his coaching badges and is studying a degree in Leadership in Sport. Wood, who has a white ball Hampshire contract and initially expects to play in the Vitality T20 Blast, has been with OTs & Romsey for the past ten years. He celebrated his debut with a half-century against Bashley (Rydal) seconds back in May 2015, but as a full-time county cricketer has been a key player in Hampshire's T20 Blast successes, featuring in ten Finals Days and lifting the trophy three times. Wood said: "This appointment comes as the latest step in a relationship between myself and the club that has strengthened over a number of years. "As my playing career comes towards it back end, I’m passionate about strengthening my skills and experience as a coach and Romsey has provided a great environment and opportunity for that to happen. "I want to help us cement our place in SPL1 and hopefully beyond in the future, and I know this only happens by working with the whole club and playing group at OTR’s. "We’ll work to make the environment competitive with every player having the opportunity to push for a first team place. OTs & Romsey chairman Stuart Tulk added: "Chris is a terrific addition to our coaching ranks and will add valuable experience and knowledge to our preparations for the season ahead as we look to maintain our position in Premier Division 1, which is exclusively 50-over white ball cricket. Formats "With his extensive experience of white ball cricket having excelled for both Hampshire and London Spirit in various formats we are hopeful of building on the solid foundations built by Charlie King and the previous coaching team” "We will have to adapt to the new challenges white ball cricket will provide and hope my experience from the professional game, especially in white ball formats will be a help” Chris Wood will be present every Saturday where his Hampshire playing schedule allows and on occasions still play. Newly promoted OTs launch their SPL1 challenge against Portsmouth at St Helen's, Southsea on May 4, prior to which they are scheduled to host Gosport Borough in an ECB national club championship preliminary round tie on Sunday April 14. The square at the Romsey Sports Centre had extensive end of season work carried out under a process called 'koroin' - Hampshire assistant groundsman Tom Cowley and Southern Ground Care undertaking the operation with the support of the Test Valley district council. "The top 20mm of the entire square was removed, the table reseeded and top dressed in preparation for the coming season,"Tulk explained. Ferndown Wayfarers' fairy tale run in the ECB national indoor sixes championships ended with a 49-run defeat by Broadstairs - but reaching the final itself was a fantastic achievement by the Dorset side, the third Hurn Bridge team to reach Lord's after Poole Town in 2010 and winners Bashley (Rydal) two years ago.
Denied a place on ground accreditation grounds in this summer's Southern Premier League after winning the Hampshire League at the first attempt last year, Ferndown had beaten Ventnor, won the Taunton regional finals with victories over 2023 ECB finalists Neyland and OTs & Romsey, before knocking out Birmingham Premier Leaguers Halesowen in the semi-final. But drained from pulling off a thrilling last-ball win to beat Halesowen, Ferndown found the Lord's national final a step too far and were soundly beaten by Broadstairs, who had twice finished runners-up in the past, most recently against Sarisbury Athletic. Wayfarers were in the game with Broadstairs 71-3, but Nathan Fox (34*) and Jake Benfield (32*) took the game away from them. It all went disastrously wrong for Ferndown with the bat as they lost openers Alex Sansom and Eric Linge on 10 and then Freddie Pittaway for a second ball duck. They fell to 41-5 before Will Sansom made 38 to lift their final total to 77. It's "Get Set" weekend - this Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 March - from 10am onwards. It's stopped raining and the weather is set fair (albeit a tad chilly), so please if you can volunteer a few hours of your time to help set up your club ground ready for another brilliant summer.
The Get Set Weekend has for many years been a pre-season focal point for clubs up and down the country. The weekend is a fantastic opportunity to inspire new and existing volunteers to spend time at their local club, helping it to ‘get set’ for the upcoming season. The Get Set Weekend is powered by The Cricket Collective; the volunteers who drive and deliver all areas of the sport. In 2022, over 20,000 people got involved across England and Wales, supporting their clubs and local communities. Bashley (Rydal) left-armer Bradley Currie was named Player of the Match after helping Scotland to a 32-run win over the UAE in the series decider T20 international in Dubai.
The Poole Town raised cricketer wrecked the Emirates top order with a spell of three wickets for seven runs as the UAE lurched to 14-5 - and later 62 all out -in response to Scotland's total of 94. Currie earlier made a handy contribution with the bat, featuring in a vital 21-run ninth wicket stand which raised the Scots' score from 73-8. But the Dorset and Sussex seamer now has a double problem to resolve. Firstly he must find a bank in Poole where he can deposit his 1500/-AED winnings and also get mother Helen's approval to hanging his match winning cheque in his bedroom ! Former Sussex captain and recent MCC President John Barclay brings the curtain comes down on a memorable Dorset Cricket Society winter speaker season at the Hurn Bridge Social Club (aka Christchurch FC) on Thursday afternoon, starting at 1.45pm. It will be his seventh DCS visit and another wonderful afternoon’s entertainment from one of the country's top speakers is guaranteed. Why not pop along ? This winter the DCS has attracted a glittering array of speakers, headed up by Kumar Sangakkara, and also including Bill Athey, Paul Farbrace, Angus Fraser and Dean Headley. Attendances at meetings are steadily growing, so pop in - you won't be disappointed " Ferndown Wayfarers are through to the ECB national indoor sixes championship final at Lord's after a dramatic semi-final victory over Halesowen - last year's Hampshire League champions winning by virtue of losing fewer wickets in tied match. They made 137-2, Halesowen 135-5 after a near remarkable comeback. The Dorset champions are rubbing shoulders with serious ECB Premier Division at NW8, Halesowen being a prominent Birmingham & District side. Recent indoor finalists Broadstairs and Ockbrook & Borrowash ply their respective grades in the Kent and Derbyshire Premier Leagues. Underdogs they may have been, but Wayfarers posted a healthy 137-2 with teenager Freddie Pittaway (27) and James Raftery (25) building on the positive start by openers Eric Linge (32*) and Alex Sansom (36*). Halesown plunged to 74-5 in reply, but stayed in the game through one-time Worcestershire left-hand opener Matthew Pardoe, who struck an unbeaten 85. He needed 16 off the final over, but could only manage to tie the scores at 137-5 - much to Wayfarers' relief ! ECB Indoor Six-a-side Championship final photographs by Sarah Williams.
Waterlogged Ventnor have called in their sponsors Red Funnel to provide transport to and from Steephill pavilion for this weekend's matches. The vessels Red Falcon, Red Osprey and Red Jet 7 are all on call for Lymington's double banker there this weekend.
Poole Town, Dorset Premier League champions in 2022 and runners-up to Wimborne last season, are on the lookout for a pre-season friendly on Saturday April 27, preferably on opposition soil and within reasonable travelling distance.
Any club able to offer them a fixture should contact Joe Wilson on 07927 296 424 or via [email protected] Former England Test cricketers Derek Pringle (left above) and Angus Fraser (right) will be speaking at two separate local cricket society meetings this week.
Essex and England all-rounder Pringle is the Hampshire Cricket Society's guest at the Romsey Golf Club on Wednesday (2pm), with Fraser addressing the Dorset CS at Hurn Bridge/Christchurch FC on Thursday, 1.45pm. Why not pop along ? Ventnor and Sparsholt gained top ground marks in Southern Premier Leagues Divisions 1 and 2, respectively, in 2023, both clubs hitting 50-points allocated by visiting captains and panel umpires. Pitches at Steephill got 33.83, with Andover close behind, while Sparsholt received 31.80. Division 1 ground marks - Ventnor 51 [33.83/17.7]; Andover 50.3 [33/17.3]; Hook & Newnham Basics 49.25 [31.5/17.75]; Portsmouth 46.92 [29.42/17.5]; Basingstoke & North Hants 46.43 [28.5/17.93]; Rowledge 46.38 [30.56/15.81]; Sarisbury Athletic 45.8 [29.5/16.3]; Hambledon 45.56 [30.13/15.44]; Calmore Sports 45.56 [27.8/16.4]; New Milton 41.29 [25.07/16.21]. Division 2 ground marks - Sparsholt 50 [31.6/18.4]; Hook & Newnham Basics II 47.86 [30.07/17.70]; Liphook & Ripsley 46.9 [31.1/15.8]; St Cross Symondians II 46.42 [29/17.42]; Hartley Wintney 45.5 [29.6/15.9]; Fair Oak 45.52 [29.6/15.25]; Portsmouth & Southsea 43.7 [27.3/16.4]; Old Tauntonians & Romsey 43.7 [27.14/14.57]; Waterlooville 39.57 [25.43/14.14]; Langley Manor 38.17 [23.42/14.75]. Division 3 ground marks -
Bashley (Rydal) II 52.83 [33.75/19.08]; Fawley 48.70 [30.1/18.6]; Parley 48.07 [30.71/17.35]; Fareham & Crofton 47.33 [30.58/16.75]; Sway 46.25 [29.5/16.75]; Trojans 46.17 [29.42/16.75]; South Wilts II 46.08 [28.33/17.75]; Paultons 45.88 [31/14.88]; Havant II 45.17 [29.17/16]; Gosport Borough 44.7 [28.3/16.4]. South Wilts opening seam bowler Matt Burton has left the Bemerton club to join West of England Premier League powermen Bridgwater.
The 26-year old, who has taken close on 150 first team wickets for South Wilts and has been a key player in the club's recent successes, admitted "it was obviously an extremely difficult decision to make but I want to test myself in another league and see how I get on. "I’m joining a good squad and a great club at Bridgwater, who are one of the lead WEPL clubs." Swapping South Wilts for Bridgwater will mean a 130-mile round trip for home matches, in addition to away games in Bath, Bristol and Taunton. "It's definitely a few more miles in the car but that doesn’t bother me. I'm just looking forward to getting going and challenging for the WEPL title, which Bath have won for the past two seasons. "I'm not getting paid," emphasised Burton, who played county Second XI cricket for Hampshire and Worcestershire last season. Sparsholt have signed exciting Australian teenage prospect Joe Merlino as their overseas player for the upcoming Southern Premier League Division 3 season.
The 18-year old top order batsman and wicketkeeper plays for Cardiff Boolaroo in the Newcastle & District premier competition in Northern New South Wales, where he has achieved representative honours this winter. The Winchester village club will be looking to Merlino to buck a losing trend after back-to-back relegation has seen them drop into the fourth tier of Southern Premier League cricket and lose players in the process. They have been pro-active on the recruitment front with several youngsters joining the Locks Lane outfit. Sparsholt open their SPL3 programme at Parley on May 4, prior to which they host Hambledon in Village Cup first round. Hursley Park legend Chris Westbrook is stepping down after 40 years of largely voluntary service as Hampshire cricket pitch advisor, during which time he has helped clubs overcome issues and improve ground standards. A hugely respected left-arm spinner, Westbrook (a qualified structural engineer) spent virtually all of his cricketing career playing and tending to pitches at The Quarters, winning numerous awards. On the field, Westbrook captained Hursley Park to glory in the 1992 Village Cup final, taking 4-40 in the Clive Surry inspired cup final win over Methley, beside lifting the Hampshire and Southern League titles. He began supporting club cricket grounds across the county in 1981, before the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) formally introduced the role of county pitch advisor in 2022. Westbrook also facilitated the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) training courses and informal workshops, providing hands on practical training for many club volunteers. He provided invaluable pre and post season renovation guidance and in many cases, detailed written reports to help clubs implement long term ground improvements. Announcing his retirement, Westbrook said: "It has been an honour and pleasure to serve. It has been made even more rewarding by the number of clubs who have appreciated a conversation either over the phone or at their grounds in an effort to overcome some issues. “Being a pitch advisor has given me many opportunities to meet and gain knowledge from many renowned individuals in the turf industry. This would not have been possible without being given the chance to undertake the role.” As a very well-respected figure on the pitch advisor circuit around the country, Westbrook was involved in establishing the ECB’s national performance quality standard scheme. That allowed him the opportunity to work with, and learn, from experts at the top of the turf industry profession. HCB cricket development director, Ben Thompson added: “The Hampshire Cricket Board (HCB) has been extremely lucky to have Chris as pitch advisor for so long. He has been an invaluable source of advice and guidance for HCB, clubs, leagues and local authorities, which will be difficult to replace. "It is very rare someone fulfils a largely voluntary role not directly linked with a club, with the same commitment and enthusiasm for such a long period.” Nigel Gray (retired head groundsman at the Utilita Bowl) and Lee Padwick, who have both worked alongside Westbrook for the last couple of seasons, will continue to carry out the role following Chris’ retirement. As the man who boasts a higher batting average than Virat Kohli walked into a packed Dorset Cricket Society at Hurn Bridge on Thursday, a nervy excitement filled the room. Everyone in the sell-out audience anticipated the upcoming two-hour interview with the cricket icon and legend Kumar Sangakkara..
Sangakkara retired from international cricket in 2015 as the second-highest run scorer in all formats. He also captained his national team to not only one, but two World Cup finals! A recent past MCC President and now chairman of the MCC's World Cricket Committee, he moved to live in rural Dorset two years ago and has already engaged with the Dorset 50s and the local cricket scene at Shillingstone. In a detailed response to one of the first questions posed to him, he explained that in his childhood he also was proficient in tennis, swimming and badminton alongside cricket. He further stated that it was the team nature of cricket that made him prefer it over tennis. Despite his retirement, his passion for the game was clear and his enthusiasm in asking further thought-provoking questions back to the audience was heavily appreciated by all. One memorable response was to a question about the popularity of different formats of cricket. He replied that cricket, like all other sports, must be allowed to develop. He queried whether it would be better to maintain the more traditional parts of the game and slowly but surely lose the large audience cricket has, or to allow more radical formats (e.g. T20) to be showcased to win favour with the younger generation of fans. Sangakkara spoke at length about his career on the international stage, playing in four World Cup finals and facing some of the finest bowlers of his era, Glenn McGrath, Jimmy Anderson, Shane Warne, but mention but a few. He gave the DCS audience a demonstration of how Muttiah Muralitharan bowled his doostra delivery and how he learned to read him from behind the stumps. Lahore attack The atmosphere darkened as Sangakkara spoke at length about the devastation of the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami which cost 46,000 lives in Sri Lanka and the impact it had on the cricket team. The most dangerous moment of his career was the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team whilst on their tour of Pakistan. He briefly joked that whilst the bus’ wheels were shot, time didn’t in fact move in slow motion but that everything seemed to occur at hyper speed. He mentioned that in that moment of panic, his life really did flash in front of his eyes. As the gunmen shot at the bus, a bullet hit his teammate behind him. When he turned to see the source of the cry of pain, a bullet flew millimetres past his ear. He recalled he could see the dent in the seat beside him. Sangakkara noted that although he was in shock, he tried to accept this incident and move on. He commented that things in life could end at any moment, and therefore you should enjoy every second. Since retirement, he has worked as a commentator for Sky Sports - with everyone enjoying his eloquence, deep understanding of the game, and ability to articulate insights which have made him a natural fit for the role. Two years ago, Sanga served as President of the MCC and had some interesting views on the on-going Eton v Harrow saga. Next weekend he flies to the Pink city of Jaipur as coach of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. From beginning to end the Dorset Cricket Society audience was spellbound. Whilst asking for autographs and pictures at the end of the afternoon, all attendees felt very lucky to have witnessed a very special talk from one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Ferndown Wayfarers are through to the Lord's final of the ECB national six-a-side cricket championships on Sunday week, March 17.
They stormed through the west regional play-offs in Somerset's indoor centre at Taunton, sweeping aside Welsh champions Neyland and then Southern Premier League side, Old Tauntonians & Romsey in ruthless fashion. They thrashed Pembrokeshire-based Neyland, last winter's beaten Lord's finalists, by six wickets and then, with 17-year old Freddie Pittaway leading the way, went on to skittle OTs & Romsey for a meagre 38 to win the regional final by a thumping 95-run margin. Ferndown's reward is a national semi-final meet-up with powerful ECB Birmingham & District Premier League outfit Halesowen, who won the Midlands group. Winners of the Dorset Indoor League last month, Ferndown went into the Taunton play-offs as underdogs - but they soon shrugged off that tag with a commanding performance against Neyland. The Welshmen, beaten of the last ball in the 2023 final, lost two early wickets to Pittaway and Miles Lewis and, save middle-order pair Nick Koomen (28) and Sean Hannon (27), made little impression. Their well below par 73-4 was greedily polished off by Alex Sansom (26) and Eric Linge (25), who both retired as Ferndown cruised home without loss with 15 balls to spare. Ferndown were arguably again second favourites to win the regional final against OTs & Romsey, who defended 117-5 to beat much fancied West of England Premier League side Bridgwater by ten runs in the second semi-final (see separate report). But once again Wayfarers rose to the occasion, none more so than teenager Freddie Pittaway, who destroyed OTs with a sensational four-wicket new-ball spell. Opener Alex Sansom (33 not out) top scored as Ferndown, with everyone chipping in with key runs, posted 122-3, the highest total of the day. Pittaway, who rushed back to Sparsholt Agricultural College near Winchester after the finals to prepare for an important Monday morning examination, simply blew OTs away with a phenomenal spell of 4-21 - all four dismissals hitting the stumps, one even breaking them ! The right-arm paceman even had a hand in Miles Lewis's 2-17 return, catching Harry Tulk (17) on the back boundary wall. OTs were all out for 38 in 4.4 overs ! Old Tauntonians & Romsey pulled out all the stops to beat highly fancied Bridgwater in the ECB national indoor sixes west regional semi-final, but with a trip to Lord's awaiting the winners were ruthlessly thrashed by Ferndown Wayfarers. They were skittled for a meagre 38 by last season's outdoor Hampshire League champions, who earlier posted 122-5 and won by a massive 94 runs. But OTs shone against ECB West of England powermen Bridgwater, with Harry Tulk (47) and Joe Vaughan (26) scoring at ten runs an over and pointing their side to an eventual 117-5. Bridgwater lost two early wickets to Matt Bampton (3-36) and Hakim Peruzi (1-19), but left-hand spin all-rounder Tom Bellinger (37) and Bristol University skipper Matt Toohey (31) rallied to put them back in the contest. Both batsmen retired and returned to the crease with Bridgwater's score at 91, but scoring 27 off the final two overs proved too many and the WEPL giants were dismissed for 107. But it all went terribly wrong for OTs in the regional final, where 17-year old Sparsholt College student Freddie Pittaway stole the show for the Dorset champions. Opener Alex Sansom (33 not out) top scored as Ferndown, with everyone chipping in with key runs, posted 122-3, the highest total of the day. Pittaway, above, who rushed back to Sparsholt Agricultural College near Winchester after the finals to prepare for an important examination the following morning, simply blew OTs away with a phenomenal spell of 4-21 - all four dismissals hitting the stumps, one even breaking them ! The right-arm paceman even had a hand in Miles Lewis's 2-17 return, catching Harry Tulk (17) on the back boundary wall. OTs were all out for 38 in 4.4 overs ! It's several weeks behind schedule due to the bad weather, but Paultons are optimistic their new pavilion at Whitemoor Lane will be completed by the start of the new cricket season in early May.
New Forest based contractors, Blaydons Developments have successfully battled the elements and are close to completing the construction of the new pavilion and clubhouse, a replace for the original building wrecked by fire in a suspected arson attack in January 2022. "We're doing really well, although about three to four weeks behind schedule because of the weather. The outside is nearly complete and we are just waiting for it to dry out and complete some landscaping around the pavilion," explained Paultons chairman Mark Lamb. "We are doing the inside work ourselves. Its just been plastered and second fix is starting to happen now, with showers for the two changing rooms and umpires quarters being installed, alongside all the plumbing. "The flooring should be happening in the next week or so, doors hung and a bar installed. Once that's done we can get the brewery in to fit out the bar, the very important part of the project ! " Over 400 people supported a £20,000 Go Fund Me fund raising initiative - which comfortably achieved its goal - while the New Forest District Council provided £40,000 towards the overall cost of the project which will be in the region of £550,000. Bashley (Rydal) won the ECB Southern Premier League Ground of the Year award in 2023 a sixth time the George Winkles Memorial Trophy has gone of the New Forest club, with Geoff Plummer having been involved in all their previous successes in 2001, 2002, 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Bashley achieved top marks in both the ECB Premier Division and Division last season. ECB Southern Premier Division ground marks - Hampshire Academy 54.40 [34.6/19.8]; Bashley (Rydal) 52.1 (30.71/17.07); Totton & Eling 48.9 [31.1/17.8); Bournemouth 46.88 [29.88/17]; Havant 47.5 [30.5/17]; Burridge 46.88 [29.88/17]; Alton 46.88 [28.75/18.9]; St Cross Symondians 46.70 [28.8/17.9]; South Wilts 46.5 [29.1/17.4]; Lymington 46.5 [29.6/16.5]. A proud moment for the Currie family of Poole as Bradley (left) and Scott made their ODI debuts for Scotland against Canada in the ICC World League Division 2 in Dubai.
They lost by seven wickets to the Canadians, but with Bashley (Rydal) left-armer Brad taking 3-21 - he was named Man of the Match - and younger sibling Scott 2-16, Scotland ripped out the UAE for 132 in their second match, which they won by eight wickets, Sussex and Horsham gloveman Charlie Tear making 54 not out. The Curie brothers hope to impress in the Emirates qualifiers (against Canada and the UAE) and earn selection for the ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean at the USA this summer. Fancy some midweek T20 cricket on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings in the Winchester area ?
If so, the Winchester & District CA has a vacancy, leaving it one side short of its 18 teams, split equally among three divisions. The season starts on 8 May, ends 1 August, involves 10 league games plus a minimum of two cup games. For further information, Martin Peters - [email protected] - 01256 398633 or 07769 908701. Two promising young Guernsey bowlers will be turning out for Hampshire under-17s this summer - and probably for the Academy side in the ECB Southern Premier League as well..
Harry Johnson (left) and Charlie Forshaw, pictured, have already made their mark in Channel Islands cricket, both featuring prominently in the top-flight of domestic cricket, and have caught the eye with their performances, including when the Hampshire Academy visited the island last spring at the invitation of Guernsey director of cricket Jeremy Frith, the Sparsholt spin all-rounder.. ‘We ended up doing a Hampshire Academy tour last spring and it was really good. We had a week here playing against the [Guernsey] men’s team,’ said Hampshire player development manager James Tomlinson. Frithy and Ben [Ferbrache] identified a couple of players who might benefit from training in our pathway because that’s what the players need on this island – they need that exposure to other players, other cricket to see what good looks like. Ultimately, that’s my job – to try to show and demonstrate what good looks like in a pathway. ‘Both Charlie and Harry came over last summer, played a couple of games (against Somerset and Sussex), did well in our U16s and Guernsey's got two players now who I think are county age-group under-17 players. ‘They’re good and it’s been nice to see them develop. They’ve popped over a couple of times this winter, and I’ve come over in this gap to do a bit of work with them as well, to try and keep the continuation.’ Tomlinson added that he can see the confidence gained by the two youngsters in their sessions with the Island men’s squad and the involvement with a Guernsey national side playing on the international stage in ICC competition will be beneficial to them as well. Get ahead of the curve ‘We have links with loads of other counties – Berkshire, Dorset – and it’s the same analogy there,’ he said. "Those top-end Berkshire and Dorset players do suddenly have that advantage because they can play a high up in their minor counties in a national tournament in that get ahead of the curve and then they get identified by us, so they then get into our pathway. So having those two pathways is a real advantage. ‘Jersey have used that really well. They’ve done it really well recently and I think they’ve got a few players who have really pushed their first team, and they’ve had a lot of success, who are now actually trying to break in or have a genuine chance of breaking into county cricket, which is a pretty impressive.’ So what potentially awaits Forshaw and Johnson this summer? ‘We have an academy side and we have an ECB under-18s competition. What we also have is an under 17 team. I’ve actually this year provided more fixtures for that group because every year is different and we’ve actually got quite a strong group of 17s. So I’ve gone out of my way to speak to the counties and organise some friendlies. ‘Because of the travelling element to it, it would be wrong of me to say [to the Guernsey players], “right, you’ve got to play in the 18 ECB games”. 'What are we going to look at is as many of these U17 games as realistic and try to get them over, hopefully for a little period of time, and get some two-day cricket into them, some one day games into them and see how they go. ‘Every individual is different and we’ve got to do what’s right for both Harry and Charlie for the season, but essentially I think they would add to a Hampshire U17 side. ‘That’s a really good gauge of where they are at at the moment and that’s a real compliment. ‘They would very much get into a Hampshire U17 squad and I’ve got to try and get them as much exposure as possible.’ |
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