Basingstoke sport will be saying its sad farewells to veteran Hampshire FA legend and staunch May’s Bounty cricket supporter Pete Raynbird on Friday (March 12) lunchtime at 12.30pm.
To allow friends of Peter the opportunity to pay their respects, albeit virtually, the service will be shared via webcast hosted on www.obitus.com.
To login, the username is Xicu7332 and password is 930663.
Donations in Peter’s memory will go to Basingstoke Town Community Football Club, where he was President and a lifelong supporter.
​Cheques can be made out to the football club and sent to Spencer and Peyton, Funeral Directors, 380 Worting Road, Basingstoke RG22 5DZ, or go onto the Just Giving page which is www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/peterraynbird
A Memorial Service to celebrate Peter's life will take place at St Michaels Church, Basingstoke when it is safe to do so, where all will be very welcome.

​The ECB has been pleased with the recent Government announcements highlighting a return to cricket in England from 29 March and will continue to work closely with DCMS  to ensure cricket plays it’s part in ensuring the safe opening up of society and that we continue to be highly respected thanks to the efforts of club volunteers up and down the country.  
As the ECB finalises its guidance (which will be shared with you all shortly) they understand that some of you have asked questions on what activity is permissible at the moment.

Q. Can I deliver 1:1 coaching sessions?

A. Not at this time. Sports venues (including cricket facilities) must remain closed as instructed by the government until at least 29/3/21 (subject to review) and you may currently only exercise in a public outdoor space with one other person.  ECB is clear that the definition of exercise in a public space is not intended to include cricket activity.  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home#exercising

Q. Can I meet with other club committee members to get the ground ready for the start of the season?
​
A.  Not at this time. ‘Stay at Home where possible’ is still in force, so grounds maintenance should be limited to essential preparation tasks with essential staff only.  Large working parties are not appropriate at this stage.  Clubs should risk assess any lifting or lone working that would be a health and safety risk, and delay that until Step 1b (29/3/21) when the Rule of Six will apply and ‘Stay at Home’ will be replaced with ‘Stay Local’, then sub-grouped (max 6) working parties would be more appropriate.  For more information please see the latest Sport England Guidance

Calmore Sports will make their Voneus Village Cup bow with an away tie at Langley Manor, barely a ten minute drive, at Knellers Lane on Sunday April 25.
It’s the first time Calmore have entered the national competition, which as attracted entries from 23 local Southern Premier and Hampshire League clubs.
The stand out first round tie is Rowledge’s visit to Surrey Championship club Valley End, while Sparsholt host Hook & Newnham Basics, who will field their second team in the competition.
Voneus Village Cup draw includes:
Preliminary round (April 11): Paultons v Overton.
First round (April 25): Paultons or Overton v Oakley, Langley Manor v Calmore Sports, Sarisbury Athletic v Easton & Martyr Worthy, Hambledon v Ventnor, Amport v Sway, Bramshaw v Longparish, Hursley Park v Tichborne Park, Sparsholt v Hook & Newnham Basics, Valley End v Rowledge, Emsworth v Bedhampton Mariners, Shrewton v Lacock, Liphook & Ripsley v Balcolme, Charlton Down v Redlynch & Hale.
A total of 34 clubs have entered the Voneus Village Cup, the final of which is at Lord’s on Sunday September 19.

Fareham & Crofton are keen to host pre-season friendlies for their Hampshire League Division 1 and combined second/third teams at Bath Lane on Saturday 1 May 2021, the weekend before the league season gets under way.
Ideally, they would like to host Division 1 standard opposition for the first team.
Mike Townson is the man to contact : mjtownson@msn.com - 01329 231 945 or 07753 444 057.

Hampshire have signed Pakistan pace bowler, Mohammad Abbas(30) on a deal to become the Club’s overseas player for the start of this year’s County Championship campaign, putting pen-to-paper on a two-month red-ball contract for 2021.
Abbas has quickly become one of the world’s best Test bowlers since making his international debut in 2017, with 84 wickets to his name at an exceptional average of 22.80 in just 23 appearances. He currently holds the third best bowling average of all active international bowlers, behind only Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins, and sits 12th in the ICC Test Bowling Rankings.
After impressing Pakistan’s national selectors through sustained domestic success in 2015 and 2016, Abbas burst onto the international scene four years ago, claiming his maiden Test wicket two deliveries into his debut against West Indies, before going on to record his first five-wicket haul in just his third Test appearance.
                                                                                         Showcased
An incredible 2018 saw right-armer continue his meteoric rise, claiming 50 Test wickets in his first 10 Tests – becoming the fastest pace bowler to reach 50 Test wickets for Pakistan – as he was named PCB Test Player of the Year.
Further success followed in 2019 with Abbas continuing to be an integral part of Pakistan’s attack during series against South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka, before featuring in all three behind-closed-doors Tests during last summer’s tour of England.
Abbas is no stranger to English domestic cricket too having showcased his ability throughout two seasons at Leicestershire in 2018 and 2019. Leading the Foxes’ attack, he returned 79 wickets at an average of just 20.67 – including five five-wicket hauls – in 19 County Championship fixtures with the side.
He joins Kyle Abbott as Hampshire’s second overseas signing and should form a formidable pairing in early season conditions.   Hampshire’s opening CC match is at Leicester on April 8.

Hampshire Academy opener Tom Prest was the leading run scorer and New Milton skipper George Watts the most successful bowler in last summer’s Southern League Cup.
Prest tallied 412 runs, including 129 against Sparsholt at May’s Bounty – one of 18 centuries scored in the successful 40-over competition introduced in July when the Government gave the go-ahead for cricket to recommence after the first pandemic lockdown.
George Watts led from the front for New Milton, his 20 scalps including a 5-14 return in the derby win over arch rivals Lymington.
Fourteen year old leg spinner Ethan Baker produced the best bowling figures, a remarkable 8-15 return against Hythe & Dibden.
St Cross Symondians beat Bournemouth in the Premier/Division 1 final, with Bashley (Rydal) II defeating Portsmouth & Southsea in the Division 2/3 final, thanks to the heroics of George Wilson.
League Cup statistics - 
Batting: Tom Prest (Academy) 412, Matt Benfield (Portsmouth & Southsea) 365, Ben Johns (Calmore Sports) 320, Bothwell Chapungu (OTs & Romsey) 314, Jonty Sebborn (Rowledge) 292, Charlie Gwynn (Fair Oak) 276, Fletcha Middleton (Alton) 269, Pete Hopson (Havant) 259, Henry Glanfield (Hambledon) 248, Josh Hill (Sarisbury Athletic) 244, Ed Ellis (St Cross Symondians) 229.
Centurions: Charlie Gwynn (Fair Oak) 157, Nathan Feltham (Paultons) 137, Matt Benfield (P & S) 136, Tom Prest (Academy) 129, Harrison Clarke (Totton & Eling) 126, Ben Johns (Calmore Sports) 115*, Will Harries (South Wilts II) 112*, Josh Hill (Sarisbury Athletic) 112, Henry Glanfield (Hambledon) 112, Brighton Mugochi (Totton & Eling) 111, James Mulvey (Hartley Wintney) 110, Fletcha Middleton (Academy) 108*, Jack Davies (P & S) 103*, Tom Foyle (St Cross Symondians) 103, Jordan Wright (Sarisbury Athletic) 102*, Harry Trussler (St Cross Symondians) 102, Tom Gates (Hythe & Dibden) 101, Boswell Chapungu (OTs & Romsey) 100.
Bowling: George Watts (New Milton) 20, Chris Morgan (Havant) 17, Dave Orchard (St Cross Symondians) 17, Nick Partridge (South Wilts II) 17, Matt Hooper (Andover) 17, 
Best performances: Ethan Baker (Bashley Rydal II) 8-15, Ollie Breckon (Bournemouth) 6-16.
Wicketkeeping: Ben Wish (Rowledge) 15, Mark Heffernan (Alton) 13, Jez Bulled (Havant) 12, Oli Thomas (Totton & Eling) 12, George Metzger (Academy) 11.

​Sean Read will hope to emulate his father’s bowling feats when he takes charge of the successful Bashley (Rydal) second team in the Southern Premier League this coming season.
Read’s father Don was a prominent wicket taker in Bashley’s Hampshire League County Division 1 and 2 championship winning sides in the late Eighties.
Both father (now retired) and son are seam bowlers, Sean taking 22 wickets in Bashley IIs Premier Division 3 title triumph in 2019.
Reed (25), who has been at Bashley for ten years and emerged from the club’s flourishing youth set up,  takes over the captain’s armband from batsman/wicketkeeper Patrick Lewis, who will be away at Nottingham University until mid-June.
“Patrick is going to be a difficult act to follow, having led the seconds to the Division 3 championship two summers ago and the League Cup last year,” Reed said.
“But there’s an exciting crop of young cricketers at Bashley and I’m really looking forward to hopefully getting a full season in.  Aren’t we all ?”
Read was due to have skippered Chichester University in last summer's abandoned BUCS Championships, but emerged with an Honours degree, again ready to follow father Don ... into teaching !

​Cricket is in line to receive a significant chunk of a £300million summer sports recovery package that the Chancellor is expected to announce at tomorrow’s Budget.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which revealed last September that the pandemic had already cost the sport more than £100m, with the overall financial impact likely to be double that amount, welcomed the support, describing it as ‘a lifeline for parts of the game’.
The LV= Insurance County Championship gets under way in April, more than a month before the earliest date limited numbers of fans might be able to return to sporting venues under the Government’s easing of coronavirus restrictions.
Hampshire’s first six Championship games will be played behind closed doors.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who played at Winchester when he was head boy at the College, said: ‘As a huge cricket fan I know there’s nothing that says summer more than watching your favourite team.  I can’t wait for sports grounds to be filled with fans with atmosphere again – this £300m cash boost will help make that a reality.’
                                                                                           Safety net
Other support sports like tennis and horse racing are also set to benefit from the recovery package.
Details on how the money will be distributed, how organisations can apply and timeframes are set to be announced in the coming weeks.  The Government originally announced a £300m sport winter survival package in November last year, covering 11 sports.  It has already proved highly controversial in football - the National League South and North divisions were declared null and void last month after the Government said clubs would have to apply for loans from the Winter Package rather than receive grants.
An ECB spokesperson said: ‘We welcome the Government’s intention to extend the support given to winter sports so that cricket and other summer sports are given a financial safety net and are able to bid as well.
‘Playing behind closed doors for all of last season has already had a severe financial impact on cricket and that will continue this year until full crowds are able to return, while the recreational game has also suffered financially.
‘This support could be a lifeline for parts of the game and we look forward to seeing the full details of how this funding will be distributed and how organisations can apply.’

​

​​There’s no stopping South Wilts teenage left-arm speedster Josh Croom as he continues to grab the headlines for his adopted South Australia club Glenelg in Adelaide.
The previous week’s career-best figures of 7-23 against West End Second Grade opponents Sturt catapulted the 18-year old from Stratford-Sub-Castle into Glenelg’s first team – a most unusual pick for an English cricketer.
But he rose to the occasion perfectly, taking 4-19 off ten tidy overs as Port Adelaide slumped from 90-2 to 149 all out – Croom removing three of the visitors’ top six.  Glenelg strengthened their grip on the two-day match by reaching 121-2 by stumps.

​“We are in a great position and will look for a 100 or so run lead and try and bowl Port Adelaide out again for an outright win,” Croom said.
The teenager’s bowling brought glowing praise from Glenelg coach Grant Foster, who revealed: 
“Josh bowled like he has all season.  He has had to bide his time in the 2nd Grade and he deserved to be selected in the 1st Grade after some strong performances.
“As a coaching group we have always discussed that he would play 1st Grade at some point throughout the season, and he went up in form so we are not surprised that he did so well.”
Spending the winter at the Adelaide-based Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy, Croom gets to work with both Mark Harrity and Peter Muggleton, both experienced and well-respected coaches, who not only work on the technical aspects of his bowling but also game skills and craft.
Foster continued: “Josh’s economy rate is so good because he keeps a lot of pressure on the batsmen by consistently bowling in the right areas and lengths, asks a lot of questions of them. 
“His fitness has also improved allowing him to bowl long spells.
                                                                                        Great attitude
“He is really coachable, takes on board advice and, when you have a conversation with him during a break in play, is he able to articulate how he is going to get the batsmen out or alternatively execute the plans you have come up with.
“We have a fantastic culture within our playing which Josh has brought into. 
“He has a great attitude, trains hard every training and is really invested in what we are wanting to achieve as a club. He is well regarded not just by the players and coaches but also the volunteers.”
Foster confirmed that even through Glenelg had three players away in Perth on South Australia duty at the WACA, Croom would have made his First Grade debut.
“Alex Carey, Chadd Sayers and Liam Scott were all playing in the Sheffield Shield, but Josh would have been selected to make his 1st Grade debut even with those players in the side,” he explained. 
• Croom has subsequently revealed that he received a congratulatory text message from Australia’s Kane Richardson, who is playing in the short-form series against the Black Caps in New Zealand.  
• “Perhaps he’s after a pair of quality Oakley sun glasses,” he chuckled. "I think I know a bloke ..."

South Wilts have enhanced the potential pitch quality at Bemerton ground by acquiring an additional set of covers which they plan to use on the main square at Wilton Road, particularly at peak times of the season.
Assuming the Government gives the nod for competitive cricket to resume next month, South Wilts anticipate a busy summer, with the club hosting Wiltshire Minor Counties cricket in addition to running four of their own Saturday league teams, alongside a welter of boys and girls junior matches.
“We anticipate a terrific take-up of people wanting to play cricket. There’s been little sport for people to participate in for months on end now and I really think that when we move into British summer time on March 29, there will be a clamour to play at all age groups,” said South Wilts all-rounder James Hayward.
“We’ve always said that if we want to develop the ground to its full potential – and its pretty good now – we would need to get an additional set of covers so we can protect two strips and the bowler run-ups, especially when it gets busy.”
                                                                                          Surplus
The covers South Wilts acquired came from the Ageas Bowl and were surplus to Hampshire Cricket requirements.
But transporting them 30 miles from Hedge End to Bemerton was far from straightforward.
“They were in pretty good condition, as you would expect, but too delicate to try and take apart, so we had to hire two telescopic lorries with built in cranes to load the covers on and off,” Hayward explained.
“That wasn’t all because we had two get an escort vehicle and send all the directional plans and route to the highway agency before we could start the operation.
“It wasn’t a simple operation but the local haulage company we engaged, Mackenzie Haulage, were superb and everything went off like clockwork.
“The journey took about 75 minutes – so apologies for anyone who got stuck behind the convoy on the A36 !”

The ECB welcomes the Government’s decision to permit outdoor grassroots cricket to return in time for the start of the 2021 season from 29th March. Cricket plays an important role in many people’s lives and helps to maintain positive mental and physical wellbeing.
We are working with Sport England and the Government on each step of the Government’s Roadmap. We will issue further guidance shortly on what each step of the roadmap means for the game to support players, teams, clubs, coaches and umpires to prepare in time for 29th March. 
The Government’s roadmap also confirmed that school sport and after-school clubs can resume from 8th March. As part of this, activities such as cricket that can help pupils to be physically active while encouraging physical distancing are encouraged.
                                                                                      Schools
The Department for Education has published guidance to support the resumption of physical activity in schools, and coaches, teachers and venues should be aware of the following points: 
Each school has the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport and physical activity will be provided
Pupils should be kept in consistent groups, with equipment cleaned between use by individual groups
Outdoor sports should be prioritised where possible, and large indoor spaces used where it is not
External facilities can be used
Competition between different schools should not take place until wider grassroots sport for under 18s is permitted
Schools can work with external coaches, clubs and organisations for curricular and extra-curricular activities, but must be satisfied that it is safe to do so
Further details on the guidelines around provision of activity for after-school clubs will be provided shortly 
"Cricket has a huge part to play in helping the country back on its feet and we will work in partnership with the Government to achieve that.”

What better way than to while away a bit of Lockdown boredom by browsing through some old cricket team photographs from the 70s and the Eighties ?
We're gradually building a nostaglic library of old team pictures in the Gallery/Golden Oldies section of this website, but there's room for plenty more photos yet !
If you have a 70s or 80s (90s even) black/while team photograph you'd like posted please scan it and jpeg email it across to vimpscricket@gmail.com 
Once you've read this, hit the Gallery toolbar at the top of this page and see how many former cricketing rivals you recognise ...

​Recreational cricket has received a major boost as the 2021 outdoor season got the green light from the UK Government.
From 29 March, organised team sports can be played again outdoors, which means club cricket should be able to start in April, assuming the ECB’s guidance is circulated in time. 
It also opens up the possibility of the first cricket net of the year being around Easter which would be strange, were it not for what we’ve already experienced.
At the time of writing, the advice for recreational cricket is yet to be released from the game’s governing body but we have already gone through a season of adapted gameplay and know what’s achievable.
After months in national lockdown and only half a cricket season last year, it comes as a massive relief to all of us.  And then there's an oasis in the desert. A pint after the game !
To get a full six months of cricket in will be a huge lift and clubs and leagues in Hampshire are well prepared.
If a full and normal split programme of 50-over and all-day ‘time’ cricket is possible, the Southern Premier League will start on Saturday 1 May, with Hook & Newnham Basics making their long awaited ECB Premier Division debut at Havant. 
The stand-out opening day fixture is South Wilts v 2019 champions Bashley (Rydal) at Bemerton.
If we’re to learn from last year, those volunteers running recreational cricket on the ground need as much time as possible to get ready. Prepping a club to be Covid-safe takes a lot to understand and action, if you’re doing it properly.
Clarity on points around spectators attending club cricket as well as what’s permitted in terms of offering cricket teas will be watched closely.
A season without cricket teas stirred up a hornet’s nest in club cricket. Clubs who resent the cost and effort of making them saw a chance to ditch them, having gone without due to Covid.  Others, who think it’s an integral part of the day and pride themselves on teas, are hoping to get back to wedges of cake and massive sausage rolls.  Oh and a pint after the game …
Watch this space ...

South Wilts’ teenage left-arm quick Josh Croom has soared to the top of the South Australia CA Second Grade bowling charts after celebrating career-best figures of 7-23 for his adopted Adelaide club Glenelg.
It took his overall match return to 10-53 off 31 overs as Glenelg crushed Sturt by an innings and 71 runs in the two-day West End Grade fixture.  
It took his winter’s haul to 23 wickets – the highest in the Second Grade competition – his reward, a coveted First Grade debut call up against Port Adelaide this weekend.
“For an 18-year old English cricketer to be picked for an Aussie First Grade side is a fantastic achievement,” praised South Wilts’ head coach Tom Morton.
“To give you some idea of the standard of that cricket, Australia ODI batsman/wicketkeeper Alex Carey plays for Glenelg, as does Chad Sayers, who opened the bowling for Australia in South Africa a few winters ago.”
To underline Croom’s achievement, the last English player to be selected for Glenelg’s First Grade side was former England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, back in 2005.
                                                                                             Meagre
Croom was understandably delighted with his ten-wicket match return which saw Sturt skittled for a 120 in their first dig, then a meagre 33 after Glenelg had posted 224-7.
He took 3-29 off 16 overs in Sturt’s first innings before routing the visitors almost single-handed in the second.
“It was a very special day for me,” beamed the Stratford-Sub-Castle teen, who is enjoying every minute of his winter stay at the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy.
Six of his seven second innings wickets were caught, five by the wicket-keeper and the other at first slip.
He explained: “It was very interesting. In the first six overs, the ball was swinging a massive amount, which was very surprising in Australian conditions. However, the wicket was very green with a fair bit of grass on it.  It looked similar an English surface. 
“I felt in great rhythm and everything just clicked throughout my whole 16-over spell. As the swing was fading away, I was still able to get movement off the pitch.
“I’ve been worked hard in the nets both at the DLCA and Glenelg, with a lot of analysis on my action, particularly on my front arm.”
                                                                                     Barossa Red 
Watching every ball of his son’s spells from 10,000 miles away was Josh’s father Nick, who was glued in front of his television in Salisbury from midnight to seven o’clock on consecutive Saturday mornings !
“They have a superb live stream from Glenelg, so opened a bottle of red wine, put a log or two on the fire and sat down and watched it.  I eventually went to bed a weary but very proud father,” he laughed.
Croom junior concluded: “It’s a great feeling to be leading wicket-taker in the Second Grade, especially considering I’ve played two less games than any other every other player, due to having to quarantine and miss the first couple of matches.
“Despite that being a big achievement so far for me, my main priority is to make sure no matter what Glenelg team I’m in, I keep giving 100 per cent and taking wickets for the team.
“I can’t wait for Saturday’s two-day match against Port Adelaide. There are some serious Sheffield Shield state cricketers here, so to play – and hopefully perform - alongside them promises to be very special.
“I’m really grateful to everyone at Glenelg who has given trust and faith in me to play at this level at such a crucial time in the season with Grand Finals approaching.”

Outdoor sports will be allowed to resume in England from 29 March, Prime minister Boris Johnson announced in Parliament yesterday during his four-part plan to lift the coronavirus lockdown.
The Government’s target of March 29 for grassroots sport to resume is good news for cricket at local level. 
An ECB statement read: "The ECB welcomes the Government's decision to permit grassroots cricket to return across England in time for the start of the 2021 season. 
“Having listened to the announcement yesterday, the ECB will be working on making a public statement once clarification on some key points has been provided by a variety of interested parties.”

​Roger Bosher lived and died for his beloved Dorset Over-50s cricket team.
He was secretary/manager of the county vets’ team for a decade or more after a major stroke in 2003 caused him to retire after a career as a 'hugely difficult to get away' seamer, a bowler a captain would always turn to if he needed to stem the flow of runs.
One of Dorset cricket’s real characters, Roger has bowled his final delivery, having died aged 79 after a long illness.
From the early 1970s onwards, he played his club cricket for over 20 years for West Moors, where he was also groundsman, before donning the white coat to become one of Dorset’s best known umpires.
Roger, who loved in Puddletown, certainly didn’t swap his cricket whites for his umpire’s coat as he turned out for Colehill and during the latter part of his career enjoyed turning out for the Bournemouth Wanderers’ vets side.
It was his involvement with the Wanderers that led to him playing for Dorset Over-50s from 1991 to 2003 when he suffered a major stroke the night after a match.
Undaunted and ably supported throughout that time by his wife Medina, Roger continued as Secretary/Manager of the Over 50’s until 2013, when his failing health made it too difficult for him to cope. 
“He was a man with a very sharp wit and was always laughing and joking,” recalled Dorset county cricket scorer Chris Drew, a close personal friend.
“Roger would get very frustrated with the paralysis that stopped him performing some tasks but he never complained and never asked ‘why me ?’.  
Long-time team-mate Keith Balmer captained Roger Bosher on numerous occasions, tells an amusing tale of how his pal’s role in a cricket team would unfold. 
“He was my ‘turn to’ bowler when I wanted to stem the flow of runs, or more often than not, opening the bowling with him to halt run rates.
                                                                                       Self-critical
“However, this had its drawbacks was he would often bowl his eight overs for about 11 runs and then retreat to square-leg, talk to the umpire for remaining 32 overs in the field and then have big tea before sitting down with his pipe to watch the boys score the runs.
“He was the star of the game for 15 overs out of the 80 in the match.
“He didn’t run after ball in the field and didn’t bat but loved every minute of any game, particularly the initial 15 overs of the match if we were bowling first.
“Roger rarely conceded a boundary in his eight-over stints, and if by chance he did, he was mortified and hugely self-critical.”
Left-hand batsman Balmer, who played for Bournemouth for many years alongside skippering West Moors to numerous triumphs in the Wimborne & District Midweek League, paid tribute to Roger’s role in the team’s successes.
“He was a key part in an awesome four-man seam bowling attack, typically giving nothing away in his spells,” Balmer recalled.
“When he stopped playing, Roger devoted countless hours to his beloved Dorset Over-50s, relishing away trips to the Channel Islands and the West Country.
“I am not alone in thinking how privileged I was to be in his company on so many occasions. He didn’t deserve to be struck down so badly.
“He was a great guy, but above all one of cricket’s great characters and will be very sadly missed.”

There will be an all too familiar and popular face missing alongside the boundary rope when (hopefully) cricket resumes at May's Bounty this summer following the sad passing of Basingstoke sporting stalwart Peter Raynbird (pictured left) this week, aged 95.
Every weekend throughout the summer months and often in midweek for Guy Jewell Cup matches, his daughter Vanessa (so well known in Hampshire women's soccer circles) would take him to May's Bounty where he would sit with his chums by the boundary rope watching Basingstoke & North Hants play and reminisce about games of yesteryear, the days of Bernie and Clive Harrison et al. 
A scene from the BBC's hugely popular Last of the Summer Wine series springs to mind !
Peter was widely and rightly regarded as a local sporting legend and a great servant to football, in particular. A thoroughly popular man who dedicated a huge amount of his time, efforts and expertise to local football, he was president of Basingstoke Town FC and was registration secretary of the Basingstoke Football League for a staggering 60 years.
He loved his sports reporting too and well into his 90s he was still submitting match reports into the Basingstoke Gazette newspaper.
Retired Basingstoke Gazette sports editor Graham Merry commented: "We will greatly miss Peter's banter. He was a great servant to football and when I first started covering Town he was in the press box as he used to phone in copy for the Daily Echo Sports Pink.
"His face was always a picture when someone scored a late goal, which meant he had to re-write his report to get inside the word count.
"Even when he left the press box to sit in the directors box, he would still deliver biscuits or cake from the board room for the start of the second half."
The smiling face of Peter Raynbird will be sadly missed in Basingstoke sporting circles, none more so than at the Bounty ....

​Hook & Newnham Basics have boosted the net practice facilities at their King George V Ground by adding grass surfaces to the existing two-lane artificial facility alongside their clubhouse and pavilion. 
Preparatory work for the £5,000 project began in the early autumn with chairman Keith Lovelock hoping to give the new grass nets (situated alongside the tennis courts) their first cut shortly.  
“The new nets facilities will be an enormous boost as we can organise quality coaching sessions with our growing army of junior cricketers and, moreover, provide meaningful midweek practices for our Southern Premier and Hampshire League players,” Lovelock said.
Hook, who are due to play ECB Premier Division cricket for the first time this summer, are also enhancing shower and toilet facilities in their pavilion.
Below: Hook & Newnham Basics' volunteer head groundsman Dave Moore takes a well earned breather after toiling away - as he has for the past 15 years at the KGV - rolling in the seed for the club's new grass nets.  And hey presto, the grass has now grown !

Prime Minister Boris Johnson labelled cricket balls "a natural vector" of Covid-19 but research led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine concluded transmission was unlikely.

The risk of catching coronavirus from shared sports equipment, such as cricket gloves and balls, is unlikely, research suggests.
Last June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson labelled cricket balls “a natural vector” of Covid-19, but a study led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine concluded that sports equipment present a "low risk" of transmission.
Testing nine types of sports equipment (and one control material), the Strike study found that absorbent materials, like cricket gloves and tennis balls, were less likely to transfer the virus than non-porous equipment (racing saddles, rugby balls etc.).
The researchers concluded that, because of rapid viral decay, it is "very difficult" to transfer live virus off sports equipment whereas close contact between participants is a much more likely mode of transmission.
Speaking to the BBC, James Calder, from Imperial College and Fortius Clinic, said "The findings are important not only for elite athletes, but also for community sports and our schools.
"It shows that the risk of transmission when sharing sports equipment is lower than was once thought and it highlights the importance of promoting other infection control measures in sports, whilst urging equipment manufacturers to identify surfaces that may be less likely to retain viable virus."
                                                                                               Dose
The equipment – including a cricket glove, a red ball and white ball – had a low dose and high dose of live coronavirus applied to its surface before being tested at one minute, five minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 90 minutes to see whether the virus could be transferred.
Covid-19 was recoverable on seven of the 10 materials after one minute with a low dose, but that number fell to one in 10 after five minutes and zero after 15 minutes.
When the high dose was applied, the only item the virus wasn’t recoverable from after five minutes was the cricket glove. However, after 30 minutes it was only recoverable on six of the 10 materials and two in 10 (the rugby ball and saddle) after 90 minutes.
Interestingly, white and red cricket balls had different rates of viral recovery – with the red ball having the lower level of recovery – because of the different surface finishes applied to the bovine leather.
Commenting on the research (which is yet to undergo peer review), Dr Emily Adams, a senior lecturer at LSTM, said: "Anything that is slightly absorbent like a tennis ball or some of the leathery cricket balls, it's very difficult to transfer any live virus off those. So we think that transmission from sports equipment is probably very low in these cases.
"Basically in many sports, like tennis, really the public health intervention should be focused on players and how players interact before a game, during a game and after a game and in transport rather than the sports equipment itself."

* Article reproduced by kind permission of The Cricketer magazine.

​South Wilts teenage quick Josh Croom produced his best figures of the season when he bowled his adopted Adelaide club Glenelg to a 67-run win over South Australia West End Second Grade Premier League rivals Adelaide University.
Croom returned pleasing figures of 4-31 off 20 overs as Glenelg defended 194-9. They bowled the university students out for 134.
The 18-year old from Stratford-Under-Castle, who is spending the winter at Darren Lehmann’s Cricket Academy, removed one of the university openers before returning to the attack to nip out numbers seven eight and nine, and extinguish any hope for the under-graduates, who had rallied from 76-7.
The four-wicket haul took Croom’s tally to 13 in the past five matches and put him second in the West End bowling charts – his economy rate of 2.24 being the best in the Second Grade competition.
A week earlier, Croom swung the match Glenelg’s way after East Torrens at 180-8 looked set to overhaul a target of 194-9.
But Croom whipped out the last two batsmen in a quick-fire burst, which earned Glenelg a thrilling three-run win.  He finished with 2-12 off 9.3 overs.
With three rounds of matches remaining, Glenelg are already certain of a home draw in the play-off semi-finals.
Croom, who will rejoin the Hampshire Academy when he returns from Adelaide shortly before Easter, was coached at Millfield by the school’s Director of Cricket Mark Garaway, who lavished praise on the Salisbury teenager.
                                                                                 Opportunities
“It is so amazing yet not at all surprising to see Croomy doing so well out in Adelaide. He is certainly on an upward development curve and I am fascinated to see where he ends up,” he said.
“The stock price for left arm pace bowlers has never been higher and Josh is well positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities that he creates for himself over the next few years.” 
He continued: “Croomy is a fantastic lad. I first met him when he came on a coaching week that Andrew Strauss and myself did out in St Lucia. 
“His bowling action in that trip is pretty much the same as the one that we see today. 
“The things that Josh added to his armoury at Millfield were his physicality, his consistency and his cricket awareness. These all came on so much, particularly in the 6th form as his maturity levels developed. 
“Josh has always played cricket with a smile on his face and was a fantastic role model for the younger players at the school. 
“He joined our coaching groups, working with cricketers from local primary schools and acting as assistant coach within the Somerset Cricket Board’s Lord Taverners “Super 1’s” satellite centre.”

Like New Milton and Tichborne Park, Purbrook are keen to recruit a scorer for their Southern Premier League Division 3 matches this coming season.
Refreshments supplied and remuneration paid : bernard@bernardharding.com is the contact. 

​

​I’m not usually given to hyperbole, but there’s just a chance that cricket could this summer play a bigger part in restoring the mental health of the British population than at any time since the end of the Second World War.
Stick with me, please.
Back in 1947, the summer of Compton and Edrich, tens of thousands attended England and county games, and the game was up there with football in terms of national affection.
Now, as we know, the England cricket team are watched by less than a million people at any one time on Sky. But I’m not really talking about the national team, though a second successful running of a bio-secure England calendar will definitely help. I’m talking about the clubs in our local communities.
This may seem like reckless optimism in February, with daily deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test firmly above 1,000, vaccine supplies slowing, fear of the virus mutating and the country locked down at home. As I always make clear, this is small beer when set against that backdrop.
It certainly looks as though we need the vaccine rollout to continue to go smoothly if there’s a chance of the government relaxing its rules on outdoor team sports by the start of May, which is when cricket leagues across the country have traditionally begun.
                                                                                Friends and foes
After three, four or five months of national lockdown, whatever it will be, by the time spring comes along the British people will be yearning for open space and camaraderie like never before. The chance to interact in the warmer, open-air – probably at a distance of 1.5m apart – with friends and foes alike will be overwhelming. You might also believe, as I do, that the importance of community sport is more important than ever after decades of social atomisation.
Such is the cynicism around these days, even some of the people who love cricket the most are reticent to shout about how great it is. But, at the risk of coming over a bit Lord Harris – "God’s air and sunshine… Foster it, my brothers" – cricket really does have so much to recommend it. 
It would be even better if the vaccine rollout succeeds to the extent of spectators being allowed to come down and watch. Unless you play in the Lancashire Leagues, the chances are your club don’t get many fans in. But The Cricketer’s columnist Tanya Aldred has written evocatively of cricket grounds as “the green lungs of our community”; the simple pleasure of going for a walk around your local cricket club could be a delight when set against what we’ve been allowed to do so far this year.

Indeed, as Nick Howson has written recently, with cricket clubs across the land converting themselves into vaccine centres, people who have never stepped foot on a cricket ground before will now know where their local club is and might be tempted to pop down on a summer’s day – perhaps on their own, perhaps with their children or grandchildren, if all this is permitted again.
This is a hopeful analysis. But cricket adapted very well to the late start last summer, and the 6,000 or so clubs across the country should know how to prepare all the necessary precautions by May.
Netting – and there will be a clamour for this, as indoor netting and leagues haven’t been possible this winter – will surely have to be a case of using your own tatty old ball.
Clubhouses, when they are used, should easily be able to replicate socially-distanced single file queueing systems and provision of hand sanitiser.
                                                                                      Bars open
The stakes, though, will be high for smaller clubs with precarious finances. The ECB has stepped in with emergency funding and loan schemes for clubs and county boards, but even so, some clubs will be struggling unless, at the very least, subscriptions kick back in again and the bars open again as they did in 2020. You assume that after months of the pubs being closed, much of the cricketing community will be happy to oblige. But all those quiz nights, race nights and end of season awards look out of the question at the moment.
As for the playing side, although my personal experience in the half-season of 2020 was of higher turnout, of young and old players desperate to play after kicking their heels over the inactive spring, it seems that many other clubs reported a decline in participation.
Some would-be players quite rightly needed to work after months of financial uncertainty; some wavering players might decide that it’s simpler to go off and play golf or dig the bike out.
On the flip side, there’s been an awful lot of time spent inside, and mums and dads may find it easier to negotiate time outside playing cricket.
And what of all those twenty or thirty-something professionals – especially in London – who once were too busy to play because of work or family commitments, but have now moved home to live with mum and dad? They could be tempted to re-join their childhood club.

Clubs will be keen to get a whole season this year. And, though clearly, the matter of fixtures and formats seems trivial at the moment, clubs and leagues will be quietly mulling it over right now, and whatever is chosen will have a considerable impact on the scale of the season.
Players at the top end of clubs tend to be less disposed towards friendly cricket and will be keen to restore the carrot of promotion and relegation, which was put into abeyance in the 2020 half-season. The more weekends that are lost from the season, the chances reduce that leagues and clubs will want to toy with the risks of promotion and relegation at the end of it.
At the bigger clubs, the arrival of expensive overseas players – a debate in itself – will surely depend on the length and structure of the season. There will be some tricky club and league AGMs taking place to discuss these issues over Zoom in the next couple of months.
I’m one of the people who, once this has all passed, doesn’t want to lose the traditional provision of teas, although I recognise the effort involved these days, and the costs upwards of £75 a day.
I’m sure most players would readily accept a second season of bringing your own tea if the vaccine has not been safely rolled out among enough of the population.
Changing and showering at home wasn’t too arduous either, even after a particularly stinking hot day. These are relatively small sacrifices, if not ideal in normal times.
                                                                            Resounding success
And that’s before we even think about youth cricket. Last year the colts season – usually starting in April and finishing by the end of July – had to be delayed until restrictions were lifted, and instead ran through the school holidays. While some families did get away for a break, meaning there were some problems raising teams in August, for the most part where colts leagues were run it was a resounding success.
One club chairman told me: "So many parents came up to us and said they were so grateful that we managed to get the season on. Because most kids arrive with their parents, transport wasn’t an issue.
"More than anything though, some had their kids cooped up at home for weeks and weeks on end, and while it might have been a novelty at the start, they were experiencing problems getting their kids out of bed or getting them to do anything. And if they were an only child they might hardly have seen another young person in the flesh.
"That, and the exercise aspect, makes you think – before we even start to think about the cricket – that we’ve been part of a social good."
Think about that:  and then consider what position we could be in after months of children at home since December until the early spring, or even longer.
The plans are currently for both the ECB youth programmes – All Stars Cricket and Dynamos – to go ahead this year; so too, I understand, for Chance to Shine’s in-classroom activities.
We don’t yet know what kind of recreational cricket season we will get, but after the grim times we have endured, with a decent run of time and weather it could be remembered more fondly than any other. So let’s be ready.
This article was first published on The Cricketer website and is reproduced with their kind permission. To subscribe to The Cricketer magazine - which celebrates its 100th birthday in April - visit shop.thecricketer.com/subscriptions 

New Milton are keen recruit a scorer for their Southern Premier League Division 1 side for the coming season, which is scheduled to begin with a visit to Sarisbury Athletic on Saturday 1 May 2021.
​If you are interested, please contact Steve Watts 07710 668 581.

He hit three sixes and ten fours in his man-of-the-match knock. One time Burridge batsman Jordan Silk  made 17 not out to take his BBL aggregate to 382. Perth made 161-9 in reply.
Back to Vince, who cut his teeth in adult cricket playing Southern Premier League cricket for the Hampshire Academy.  He played three teenage seasons playing (for the most part) on the Ageas Bowl Nursery Ground.  How many SPL centuries did James Vince make ?  Answers to vimpscricket@gmail.com by Monday 7pm.