Tichborne Park's pleasant and rural ground on Alresford's outskirts.
An acute shortage of players has forced Tichborne Park to concede their penultimate Southern Premier League match against Division 3 champions designate Hambledon at Ridge Meadow.
Tichborne have finished bottom of the table and will be relegated after losing their last ten matches, ironically having won their opening game of the season against Trojans.
Former captain and lead all-rounder Will Allam explained: “It is pretty obvious that the 2021 season has been a difficult one for TPCC on the pitch.
“Pre-season we canvased for availability and were confident of fielding two strong league teams each week. We made the difficult decision to withdraw our 3rd XI (from HL Division 6) who had been struggling with players for a couple of years to take the pressure off and develop our older colts in Sunday friendly matches.
“However, the reality has been very different with a number of factors going against us. Covid has resulted in some people realising that their priorities lie elsewhere, others are keen to play but also making the most of the summer now they can go away. Others have had to prioritise work and family after a challenging year or so.
“While we are extremely disappointed to lose our premier league place after over 15 years and let our opponents (Hambledon) down this weekend, we explored all options and our two league sides are far apart in terms of standard and understandably some of them are just not ready or able to play premier league cricket.”
"However, there are many positives for TPCC. We have a thriving Colts set up at under 9 and under 11 and some positive young adults who have handled themselves well this year under challenging circumstances. "We are determined to regroup in the winter and tackle County One positively next year."
Tichborne Park are scheduled to play their final Division 3 match against fellow strugglers Hythe & Dibden next Saturday.
Tichborne have finished bottom of the table and will be relegated after losing their last ten matches, ironically having won their opening game of the season against Trojans.
Former captain and lead all-rounder Will Allam explained: “It is pretty obvious that the 2021 season has been a difficult one for TPCC on the pitch.
“Pre-season we canvased for availability and were confident of fielding two strong league teams each week. We made the difficult decision to withdraw our 3rd XI (from HL Division 6) who had been struggling with players for a couple of years to take the pressure off and develop our older colts in Sunday friendly matches.
“However, the reality has been very different with a number of factors going against us. Covid has resulted in some people realising that their priorities lie elsewhere, others are keen to play but also making the most of the summer now they can go away. Others have had to prioritise work and family after a challenging year or so.
“While we are extremely disappointed to lose our premier league place after over 15 years and let our opponents (Hambledon) down this weekend, we explored all options and our two league sides are far apart in terms of standard and understandably some of them are just not ready or able to play premier league cricket.”
"However, there are many positives for TPCC. We have a thriving Colts set up at under 9 and under 11 and some positive young adults who have handled themselves well this year under challenging circumstances. "We are determined to regroup in the winter and tackle County One positively next year."
Tichborne Park are scheduled to play their final Division 3 match against fellow strugglers Hythe & Dibden next Saturday.
