LIVE STREAM | 2021 NATIONAL VILLAGE CUP FINAL | LORD'S - YouTube

Calmore Sports lost two early wickets in their quest to score a rain adjusted 112 off 20 overs to beat Alvanley and win the Venous Village Cup after heavy rain hit today's final at Lord's. 
Will Brewster and Shawn Johnson were re both back in the pavilion to leave Calmore 10-2. 
It's left a massive responsibility on the shoulders of left-hander Ben Johns, who lost third-wicket partner Matt Taylor at 45-3, stumped off a leg-side wide.  James Manning was later stumped to leave Calmore 55-4 with six overs left.
Cheshire side Alvanley had their innings closed at 150-7 when heavy rain stopped play after 36 overs.  DLS has left Calmore's run chase in a perfect T20 environment.
Bowling from the Nursery End, left-armer seamer Steve Wright initially produced a near immaculate spell of 2-5 off his eight overs after Calmore Sports won the toss and put Alvanley into bat this morning.
His figures were rewarded with the scalps of both Alvanley openers Alex Reid (16) and Mike Rowlands (18), the wickets falling in the ninth and 13th overs at 30 and 37-2, respectively.
Evergreen Mike West pouched two catches as Alvanley made steady progression but lost wickets at regular intervals, two of them to Mark Lavelle, who has two of Calmore's remaining four overs to bowl. Ben Perry struggled with his line, bowling eight wides in a 1-35 return off eight overs, while the inexperienced Liam Carty (0-35) was hit for three sixes. James Manning's solitary over was hit for 12. 

Tunbridge Wells arguably extended more nervous energy in an early August wet weather ‘bowl out’ victory over Alton than they did in eventually winning the ECB T20 Vitality Club Cup competition itself at Northampton in mid-September.
The Kent champions were due to have played Alton in the south-east regional final at the Jubilee Ground on August 1. TWCC had beaten Reigate Priory by four wickets soon after Alton had squeezed past Eastbourne (they won a tied match by virtue of losing fewer wickets) – but shortly before play was due to begin the JCG was struck by a Biblical storm.
With the whole ground under water, arranging a ‘bowl out’ in the nets was out of the question, so back Tunbridge Wells came seven days later.  Cue more rain and no regional final. Into the nets and TWCC won the ‘bowl out’ by three hits to one, Mike Salmon bowling Alton’s solitary straight delivery.
Tunbridge Wells returned to Hampshire again on August 15 for the ECB national quarter-finals, thrashing Slough by 232-5 to 110 at May‘s Bounty before comprehensively beating Brentwood by nine wickets, chasing down 140-8 to win with 20 balls to spare.   Brentwood’s ranks included Chris Green, the Sydney Thunder Big Bash and Kolkata Knight Riders IPL specialist (in a UK based competition for recreational weekend cricketers).
The slick Kent side went on to beat Barnard Castle (made famous by Dominic Cummings) by five wickets in the final, with star of the show Alex Williams (who made over 1,000 competitive runs this summer) raising his T20 aggregate to 298 runs.  Ironically, Tunbridge Wells were earlier knocked out of the 2022 Kent T20 by Bexley, so may be unable to defend their national crown next season !

Hampshire are planning to utilise Winchester College, one of the most famous schools in the country, as an out-ground in preference to returning to venues such as Basingstoke, Portsmouth or Arundel in Sussex, where the club played last year. 
The college have provided hybrid pitches for the square on the main ground and Hampshire have been impressed with the facilities in the pavilion and the amount of space for car parking and seating.
An out-ground is needed as the expectation is that international matches will continue to be staged at Ageas Bowl, Hampshire’s headquarters, which is also used as a venue for Southern Brave, Southern Vipers and for pop concerts in addition to the club’s matches. 
It is hoped the club will play again at Newclose on the Isle of Wight, where a championship match against Nottinghamshire was held in 2019, but any fixture there involves additional transportation and hotel costs.
Winchester College, founded in 1382, has staged one first-class match. In 1875 Hampshire were bowled out for 34 and 82 by Kent, losing by an innings and 217 runs, which perhaps explains why it has taken a long while for the club to return.
I hope the pitches have improved since then,” quipped Giles White, the director of cricket. Given that two batsmen who went on to captain their countries, Douglas Jardine (England) and the Nawab of Pataudi (India) were nurtured there in the 20th century, that should have occurred.
“The pitches are a little slow and of low bounce, so we are looking to inject some pace in partnership with the college,” White said. 
Simon Lee, head groundsman at Ageas Bowl, has inspected the square and the club has offered to second one of his staff to the college. 
Hampshire hope to play at Winchester again in two years’ time, starting with a limited-overs match and progressing to first-class level. Some of the club’s junior age group and women’s sides have already used the ground and the nets. The Academy may use the College for some ECB Southern Premier Division matches in 2022.
There is a view of the cathedral from the pavilion and the River Itchen flows at the bottom of the ground, which is centrally located and within walking distance of the train station, shops, pubs, hotels and restaurants.
“Winchester has everything,” David Mann, Hampshire’s chief executive, said. “We have not given up on Basingstoke, but the facilities and boundary lengths do not quite meet ECB’s standards and they know that. If we use an outground next year, it will be Newclose.”
Matches at Winchester would be staged in the summer holidays, as is the case at Cheltenham College, a popular outground which has survived a general culling of festival cricket in recent years. It is believed that cricket has been played at Winchester College since the 17th century and the present headmaster, Tim Hands, is keen on the game and on furthering links with Hampshire.    Ivo Tennant, The Times.

Havant chase a sixth T20 title when they defend their Southern Premier League Cup crown against Hook & Newnham Basics under the Ageas Bowl floodlights on Sunday evening, 7pm.
Winners of the first T20 knockout back in 2003, Havant have found Hampshire’s headquarters a happy hunting ground, having lifted the trophy there on four occasions.
Their only defeats came in 2012 when Bashley (Rydal) beat them off the last ball of a super over and again three years later when South Wilts chased down 157-5 to win by five wickets.
Havant easily beat a weak Hampshire Academy side by eight wickets in last year’s final, which was held at Totton & Eling’s Southern Gardens ground.
Hook are in third second final, having stunned South Wilts in 2018 by knocking off 187 to win by four wickets.
Havant: Ben Walker, Harry Gadd, Pete Hopson, Richard Hindley, Chris Morgan, Jez Bulled, Ollie Jones, Simon Loat, Pete Hayward, Fred Gadd, Alfie Taw.  12th man Charlie Whitfield.
Waterlooville last won a T20 back in 1984 when they stunned Jon Hardy’s Lymington. They face Basingstoke & North Hants in the Plate final at 3pm.
Waterlooville: A Reynolds, C Jackson, A Shephard, J Hudson, S Reynolds, D Birch, T Jackson, A Silva, H Knight, S Robinson, S Hillman. 
Admission to the Ageas Bowl for Sunday’s two finals is free of charge and ample public car parking is available.

Calmore Sports bid to become only the third Hampshire club to win the Voneus Village Cup when they face Alvanley, from the Cheshire County League, in the 50th anniversary final at Lord’s on Sunday, 11am.
Of the seven previously finalists, only Longparish and Hursley Park, in 1987 and 1992, respectively, have held the trophy aloft on the steps of the historic pavilion.
Longparish became the first local winners by beating Treeton, from South Yorkshire, by 76 runs, Hursley Park emulating their feat five years later when Clive Surry hit an unbeaten 76 to steer a six-wicket victory over another Tyke team, Methley, Chris Westbrook having taken 4-40 with his left-arm spin.
Both clubs tried and failed before that, as did Rowledge in 1985 when they lost to the Scottish champions Freuchie by losing fewer wickets in a tied match, 134 runs apiece.
Hambledon suffered a double disappointment in 1989. Not only did they lose by six wickets to Toft, but their big day out at Lord’s was washed out and the final replayed in the slightly less historic surroundings of the Midland Bank Sports Ground in Beckenham.
More recently, of course, Liphook & Ripsley walked proudly through the Grace Gates, only to be well beaten by 2018 winners Folkton & Flixton, from Scarborough, whom Alvanley put out in this year’s quarter-finals.
Can Calmore Sports become the first club in 30 years to win the Village Cup ?

​Alvanley, Calmore Sports’ opponents in Sunday’s Voneus Village Cup final at Lord’s, finished runners-up in the Cheshire County League Division 1and, after winning their final matches last weekend, will join champions Lindlow in the second tier of the county’s pyramid in 2022.
At the start of the season, Alvanley Voneus Village Cup ambitions were simple: reach the national round.
Fast forward five months and the Cheshire & Clwyd champions, who only progressed to the national draw for the first time in 2020, are heading to Lord’s with just one team, Calmore Sports Club, standing between them and Village Cup glory – something captain, Michael Rowlands and leading 462 run scorer, is struggling to wrap his head around.
“I think just to win an actual game in the national rounds felt like quite an achievement,” confesses Rowlands. “Last year was the first time the club reached the national stage. We had a home tie against a local team we’ve played against a number of times and finally got through. Then we played Carlton Towers, came up against the leading run-scorer, didn’t put runs on the board ourselves, but had a really good weekend. It was a bit of a learning curve.
“We all agreed that we wanted to do it again and have a good crack at it. The aim was to get to the area final and having seen the draw, we felt pretty confident we’d get to the national stage and then just see who we’d draw. But to get to the final, it’s a bit hard to put into words.”
One paper, Alvanley had a tough draw, encountering four former champions – Caldy, Woodhouses, Folkton & Flixton, and Houghton Main – en route to Lord’s. They’ve also played every fixture away from home since round three, including a 350-mile round trip to South Wales in the semi-finals, and had several matches disrupted or rearranged by the rain and Covid-19. However, in reality, the Cheshire outfit have made light work of their seven challengers.
Alongside Rowlands, two players to look out for in the Alvanley side are all-rounder Stephen Charles and brother Chris, who have taken 66 wickets between them this season, and top order batsman Simon Gee (328 runs), who made fifties against Folkton & Flixton and Neyland.
 
Alvanley’s Road to Lord’s
Round 1: Bye
Round 2: Alvanley (224/7) bt Halkyn (131/9) by 93 runs
Round 3: Northop Hall (152/8) lost to Alvanley (202/8) by 50 runs
Round 4: Caldy (198/9) lost to Alvanley (243/8) by 45 runs
Round 5: Woodhouses (148) lost to Alvanley (179) by 31 runs
Round 6: Alvanley (274/9) bt Folkton & Flixton (149) by 125 runs
Quarter-final: Houghton Main (100) lost to Alvanley (128) by 28 runs
Semi-final: Neyland (102) lost to Alvanley (188/9) by 86 runs
 
Kicking off their tournament with a first round bye, the Alv cruised into the regional final with comfortable victories over Haklyn (93 runs) and Northop Hall (50 runs) before brushing aside Caldy to successfully defend their Cheshire crown.
Up next was a trip to 2011 champions Woodhouses where despite being restricted to 179 with the bat, Alvanley remained in control of a tight encounter and wrapped up a 31-run victory with two overs to spare.
Rain disrupted their home tie against 2018 winners Folkton & Flixton (beat Liphook & Ripsley in the Lord's final) in the last 16, resulting in a rearranged trip to Scarborough. However, unfazed by the unfamiliar conditions, Alvanley battered their way to 274 for 9 before putting in a clinical performance with the ball to pull off a shock 125-run win.
A low-scoring affair against Houghton Main followed, with Alvanley successfully defending 128 to win by 28 runs, before an emphatic 86-run victory over Neyland, memorable for Ste Charles’ 23rd-over hat-trick, secured their day out at Lord’s.
“Winning at Woodhouses in the national round gave us the belief we could go far; a lot of the lads feel Woodhouses were the strong team [we’ve faced],” says Rowlands. “And then to beat Folkton & Flixton, who were the most recent previous we’ve come up against, that when I knew we had every chance of going all the way.
“You could tell they were very confident and had their eyes on winning it again, and when we played them at home it was clear in the way they went about their fielding, it was a step up and one we had to make. But what’s been really good is after each win, the opposition and supporters have complimented how good of a team we’ve been and given us a lot of belief that we belong [here].”
                                                                                        Bat first and win 
Interestingly, Alvanley have batted first in all seven matches and with their smallest winning margin standing at a fairly comfortable 28 runs, it’s a strategy which appears to be working.
“It’s a funny one,” reveals Rowlands. “In the league this year we’ve decided we’ll chase predominantly, but on Sunday’s [in the Village Cup] we just want to bat first, put runs on the board and look to apply as much pressure as possible. I’ve won five tosses and the two I’ve lost we’ve been put in to bat, which is exactly what I would have done if I’d won.”
Discussing the secret to his side’s success, he continues: “I think the one thing opposition teams have been expecting is that our change bowlers aren’t going to be quite as good. They’ve waited for [them], trying to get a few easy runs, and it hasn’t happened. We’ve been able to keep applying the pressure and strangle teams.”
Alvanley have also, somewhat unusually, had very few standout individual performances. Several players are in contention for the golden bat and golden ball – Rowlands, himself, is third in the batting standing with 282 runs while Ste Charles, winner of the Theakston Player of the Round award in the semi-finals, and Lee Ainsworth are among the top five wicket-takers – but no one in the team has scored a century or taken a five-for in the competition to date.
“It’s really been an effort from one to 11; everyone’s contributed at crucial times,” says Rowlands, crediting his side’s all-round ability. “There’s been a core group of players who’ve done the bulk of the work and then those who’ve tipped the game in our favour with a bowling spell or a crucial knock. I can think back to Folkton & Flixton when Charlie Fletcher came in at five down and hit a 19-ball 39 which deflated the opposition. We did the same at Neyland, putting on 30 or 40 towards the end.
“In terms of batting, Si Gee has been our rock in the middle order, he’s played some really important innings, especially in the national stages. In terms of bowling, Jimmy Ecclestone has bowled some really economical spells and been key to our success.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s final, Alvanley’s opponents are Village Cup debutants Calmore Sports Club who have come through a competitive Hampshire group, two final-over victories and a tied match with Goatacre to reach Lord’s. However, Rowlands is not planning on over-analysing the Hampshire side.
 
Alvanley’s leading run-scorers
Michael Rowlands – 283 runs @ 35.37
Simon Gee – 235 runs @ 39.16
Ste Charles – 157 runs @ 19.62
Alvanley’s leading wicket-takers
Ste Charles – 15 wickets @ 14.13
Lee Ainsworth – 13 wickets @ 9.00
Ben Tumilty – 10 wickets @ 13.90
 
“We know one or two people who’ve played against them, so we’ll do a little bit of research, get a feel for their bowlers and which batsmen have done well,” says Rowlands. “But on the day, we’ll just react to the players we come up against and stick to our own game plan. Most of the teams we were up against we knew very little about and the lads have enjoyed that. There’s less to worry about then.”
And as for the final itself, Rowlands is looking forward to sharing the moment not just with the 11 players in the Alvanley squad, but everyone involved with the club.
“We’re going there to win and I’m sure Calmore are the same, and we’re elated to have the opportunity to play at Lord’s,” he says. “But for me, what I’ll probably be most happy about is the chance for our members and supporters to come down and enjoy the weekend.
“We have a number of lads whose dads have played for the club. They’ll have played in the competition and were unfortunate not to get to the national rounds, so to be able to give them the chance to enjoy a day out at Lord’s and see their lads play, I think that’s something I will look back on quite fondly. It’s an achievement in itself, seeing how many people outside of the players will enjoy and cherish the day.”

The Hampshire Cricket Society has announced four top speakers for its Autumn programme, with meetings being held at the Romsey Golf Club and the Test Valley GC on Wednesday afternoons.
Play gets under way on 6 October with a visit by former Middlesex & England off-spinner John Emburey, who will do a Q & A session.
On 27 October, Richard Ellison will talk about his career with Kent and England, while on 17 November the venue switches to the Test Valley Golf Club for retired ICC Elite Panel umpire, Ian Gould, whose career embraced Middlesex and Sussex.  
Mike Selvey will give a talk after the Christmas lunch on 8 December, back at Romsey.
Further details of the HCS can be found on www.HantsCricSoc.org.uk
Membership is open £10pa and new members are most welcome.

Lifelong Bemerton cricket stalwarts Peter Russell and Brian White have been conferred as South Wilts’ first Honorary Life Members in recognition of their staggering contributions to the Wilton Road club, both on and off the field, stretching back to the 1950s.
The pair have been monumental servants to South Wilts – and Wiltshire – cricket, both starting their long careers as schoolboys to become respected club and later minor counties cricketers.
Once retired, they put back into cricket what they had taken out many times over, both spending hours on ground and pitch preparation at Bemerton.
Russell has been with South Wilts for 65 of his 82 years, opening the batting and scoring over 18,000 runs between 1955 and 1992, taking 150 wickets, mainly in his early days as a left-left slow bowler. He made 19 Minor Counties appearances for Wiltshire.  
He was an all round sportsman, playing in a successful Bemerton Athletic football team in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Peter Russell was a great influence off the field and enjoyed an incredible 19 year stint as South Wilts’ secretary between 1990 and 2009. He has also spent many seasons helping on the ground. 
Brian White’s first involvement at South Wilts came in 1959 when he helped his late father Harry in the scorebox - the forerunners to a career in banking perhaps ?
A pint-sized left-hand opening batsman, BHW was a genuine all rounder scoring over 27,000 runs at an average of over 40 and taking 980 wickets with his off-spin.
He was South Wilts’ leading batsman for the club for 20 seasons and leading bowler for seven of them. Brian played over 200 times for Wiltshire, scoring almost 10,000 runs and cementing down the opener’s position in the Minor Counties (South) side that used to participate in the Benson & Hedges Cup.
He was equally adept with racket in hand during the winter months, winning the Wiltshire badminton county title 19 times and was at one time was ranked fourth in England. He went on to manage the England national team and in latter years became a very competent golfer.
A tremendous influence at Bemerton, Brian White has given a lifetime of service, fulfilling many roles. He had two spells as first team captain from 1971-1978 and then again in 1992, and also skippered on Sundays before going on to be team and general secretary.
He was Treasurer for an incredible 20 years from 1990-2010 and somehow also managed to find the time to undertake the role of Head Groundsman from 2002-2010. 

Peter Russell (right) and Brian White (left) are pictured with South Wilts president Trevor Hayward (centre) with colour paintings of the Bemerton ground which holds so many memories for them both.  Andy Cooke picture.

The Hampshire Association of Cricket Officials will be running a Stage One Umpiring course on Sunday October 17. The course will run all day and will cost £30, with the venue yet to be confirmed.
Anyone interested in attending the course or any other courses if they become available should make contact with the association at hacoeducation@gmail.com

Two teenage Basingstoke & North Hants cricketers are among eight players to have been suspended - with the May’s Bounty club itself severely disciplined by the Southern Premier League - following on-field disciplinary breaches in last month’s 17-run Division 1 win at Rowledge.
The youngsters are batsman/wicketkeeper George Metzger, who was banned for five matches by the club following an internal inquiry held several days after the game, and opening bowler Tyler Bradley (left), subsequently suspended for six games by the Premier League itself.
The 19-year olds were both charged with a ‘threat of assault or physical interference’ on a Rowledge batsman under the SPL’s Disciplinary Charter.
Basingstoke captain Dan Belcher received (and has served) a two-match internal suspension for failing to control his players, while five other members of the side that beat Rowledge each picked up a one-match ban ruling them out of the subsequent SPL match against Andover at May’s Bounty on August 21.
A seriously weakened Basingstoke side lost that game by a colossal 184-runs to Andover, the heaviest defeat in the club’s history.
The Premier League has charged Basingstoke & North Hants with bringing the league into disrepute and found the behaviour of the bulk of their players at Rowledge “unbecoming of a member club of the SPL.”
Basingstoke have been fined £100, with 41 points deducted from their playing record, which equates to the 21 they received for winning the Rowledge match and a further 20-point deduction from their season’s tally, which has dropped them to a final seventh place in the table.
                                                                                          Sentence
The club has been warned by the SPL that any further breaches of discipline will result in a review of their divisional standing.
Metzger, whose five-match ban included one suspended from his short time at Havant earlier this season, will have completed his sentence in time for the start of the 2022 season.
But, like Bradley, will not be eligible to play in Sunday’s Southern Premier League Plate final against Waterlooville at the Ageas Bowl, 3pm.
It is unlikely Bradley, who won the Division 1 bowling award this season with 29 wickets, will play any competitive cricket for Basingstoke or elsewhere until next June when his ban will have been served.
Bringing matters to a close, ECB Southern Premier League chairman Steve Vear MBE reflected: “Outside of one nasty spitting incident, this was one of the worse displays of behaviour at a league game for some time and we certainly have never had the need for a club or the league itself to ban so many players at once.
“We are thankful to the umpires for decisive action and look forward to all parties being able to move on from this sorry affair.”

​South African Brad Porteous, who played Southern Premier League cricket for Basingstoke & North Hants several seasons ago, finished as the leading aggregate run scorer in the ECB Royal London Club Championship, helping Bath become national champions in the process.
​He twice made 70-plus scores in the lead-up to Sunday's final at the superb John Paul Getty complex at Wormsley, where he made 34 to help Bath post a match winning 220-8 against Derbyshire's Sandiacre Town, who rolled over for 139.  
Ironically, Bath's man of the match was Millfield product Sam Young, who made 78, a few days after being released by Somerset.    Bath knocked out Bashley (Rydal) in a high scoring second round tie.  

The National Sixties Championship finals, due to have been played at Great & Little Thew in Oxfordshire  today/Tuesday, were called off ahead of an inclement weather forecast and (spot on) the rain that duly followed..
Kent were due to have been playing Warwickshire in the main final, with Neil Trestrail's Hampshire athletes pitched against Cornwall in the Vase final.  The finals will now take place at the same venue next Tuesday, September 21.  
The cancellation could help Hampshire, who had key top order batsman Chris Wheeler (hamstring) and Rowledge left-arm spinner Chris Yates missing today, but potentially available next week.

England Test legend Jimmy Anderson is coming to the Portsmouth Guildhall on Monday evening October 4 (6.30pm) with the award winning BBC radio Tailenders cricket show and will be accompanied on stage by Radio 1 breakfast time presenter Greg James.
Tickets for the stage show are on sale at £42.15 from the Guildhall box office.

Bath face Derbyshire Premier League title contenders Sandiacre Town in the ECB Royal London national club championship final at Wormsley on Sunday, 1030.
South African Brad Porteous, who played for Basingstoke & North Hants three seasons ago, is having a fine season for Bath, having made scores of 75 in each of the last two rounds.   The WEPL club knocked out Bashley (Rydal) in round two and have subsequently brushed aside Weybridge, whose earlier victims included Havant and Burridge.
It's a huge weekend for Sandiacre Town, whose final league match of the season against Ockbrook & Borrowash on Saturday is a winner take all showdown for the DPL title.

Under-17 pair Mark Butcher and Jonty Oliver had cause for special celebration when Hambledon finally clinched the Southern Premier Division 3 championship with a crushing 130-run win over Basingstoke & North Hants seconds at May’s Bounty.
Elevated to open the innings, Butcher scored his maiden SPL half-century and later found out that, although he hadn’t taken any catches or stumpings, his 16 previous dismissals behind the stumps for the Dons had confirm him as Division 3’s leading gloveman.
Oliver enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame after Butcher and Henry Glanfield had made 60-plus scores in Hambledon’s powerful 265-8.
Bowling his leg spin from the pavilion/Castle Field end of the ground, Oliver claimed a best yet 5-29, which included a hat-trick.
Hambledon’s batsmen cashed in on a top Bounty surface, with Dan McGovern (36) prominent before Butcher (63) and Glanfield (63) thrived in a century stand.  Chris Pratt weighed in with 40 off 19 balls and, like Glanfield, hit five sixes.
Hampshire 50-plus spin all-rounder Mat Thankachan (4-41) and Cian Smith (3-28) took seven of the eight Hambledon wickets to fall before Joshua Coombs (45) gave Basingstoke a sound start.
But when teenager left-armer Shahryar Khan (3-28) triggered a collapse which saw four wickets fall for 11 runs, the writing was on the wall.
Ankit Naik (21) helped Coombs take Basingstoke to 100-5 when Oliver unleashed his three-in-three and the Bountymen collapsed to 135-9.

Steve Harris and James Purnell hit their highest individual scores of the season has Langley Manor recovered from a worrying 29-3 to post a winning 219-4 which set up a 42-run victory to deny Portsmouth & Southsea a third place Southern Premier Division 3 victory.
This summer’s leading SPL run scorer Jack Budd (21) and little Tommy Spencer were among the three wickets to fall at 29, but Harris, with five sixes and four boundaries in his 88, and Purnell, with a league best 84, loosened Portsmouth & Southsea’s grip on the game.
But the visitors, who had seven games called off due to the weather this season, made a positive start with Shaun Briggs (58) and Matt Benfield (35) sharing a 74-run start, but having reached 122, the innings lost momentum and Todd Garner took 3-15 as they closed 177 all out.
The three wickets Hook & Newnham Basics’ Liam Shore took as Trojans were dismissed for 88 means the tall left-arm paceman has won a share of the Division 3 bowling prize.
Shore, along with evergreen Basingstoke & North Hants stalwart Keith Harris, has taken 23 wickets this term.  Harris might be able to give Liam a lift to the presentation dinner !
Hook rallied from 38-4 to post 166 against Trojans at Stoneham Lane, where Tom May (66) held things together after Jacob Chance (5-38) had driven through the middle-order. He added an important 71 with Charlie Neville (21) before a quick-fire 22 by Shane Brewer lifted the total on to 166.
Shore’s new ball spell of 3-17 reduced Trojans to 38-4 and later to 82 all out, Oli May enjoying a late bunny hunt to finish with 3-3.

The final tables show Purbrook avoiding relegation to the Hampshire League by what, on the face of it, was a comfortable ten points from Hythe & Dibden.
Yet had it not been for Brad Mengham, Purbrook would in all probability been demoted alongside season long Southern Premier Division 3 cellar dwellers Tichborne Park.
Shortly after the innings break in their respective last matches, Hythe were odds-on to avoid the drop.  They had rattled up a handsome 258-5 at Jones Lane and were on course to inflict Tichborne’s 11th defeat of the summer.
At Privett Park, meanwhile, the outlook wasn’t promising at all for Purbrook, who had dropped to 20-5 in response to Gosport Borough’s paltry 99 all out.  Defeat was unthinkable.
Enter Brad Mengham to turn the match on its head with an unbeaten 64 and win the last of this season’s Cricketer of the Week awards, promoted by this website.
Mengham, with ten fours, and sixth-wicket partner James Barber (whose 16 all came in fours) added an unbroken a math winning 83 – and Purbrook were home and dry.
Spinner Ollie Creal (4-28) did the damage with the ball for Gosport, who earlier lurched to 9-3 (Tom Amis 2-14) and later lost three wickets at 43 before evergreen former Royal Navy cricketer Mark Toogood (30) hauled them out of the mire before Mengham (2-4) took two of the last three wickets to fall with the score at 90.
Thanks to the excellent live score ‘play cricket’ network, Hythe & Dibden were fully aware of the events that unfolded at Gosport, but it didn’t deter them from completing a 98-run win over Tichborne Park.
Given a sound start by Tom Gates (57) and Matt Young (20), Hythe posted a formidable total, with Will McKay (68) scoring his second recent fifty and Jono Stovell clouting a quick-fire 46.
Four of the five wickets Tichborne took were down to catches by Ed Berry, who has been with the Alresford club since his teenage days.  Sadly, few of the guys he’s played with over the years – and Tichborne enjoyed some significant successes before falling on hard times – still turn out in their idyllic Watership Down location a mile or so away from the preserved Watercress steam railway. 
Toby Barnett (73) went down fighting with a flurry of sixes and fours, but only Jacob Bristow (45) gave him much support.  Barnett’s dismissal at 148 sparked a calamitous collapse with Tichborne losing their last seven wickets for 12 runs.  They were 160 all out, with young spinner Ben Holbrook taking 3-42 to finish the season with 12 wickets.
It is believed Tichborne Park have asked Hampshire League to allow them to play in Division 2 in 2022 as they may not be of sufficient strength to play any higher.   

​Liphook & Ripsley won the Southern Premier Division 2 championship – their title clinching 95-run win at Bashley (Rydal) II coming exactly ten years after they last won it back in 2012.
They travelled to the New Forest requiring a solitary point to clinch promotion back into SPL1, from which they were relegated in 2018, and a win to ensure Ventnor, the eventual runners-up, couldn’t pip them.
Liphook achieved both objectives and, to put icing on the cake, had their principal batsman Royan Covey (back from Alton) topping the Division 2 charts with 476 runs (Ventnor’s West Indian all-rounder Anthony Alleyne is not eligible to receive SPL annual awards).
Liphook thrived on the 59-run start by Covey and Chris Martin (16) and continued to prosper as Suman Ganguly made a quick-fire 26, only to be bowled with Liphook four runs short of the 100 promotion clinching target. 
Harry Munt (39) joined Covey for an 85-run partnership which pointed Liphook towards their eventual 224-5, Covey eventually holing out in the deep for a season’s best 86 and Adam Rouse making a forceful 23 not out. 
Bashley made a promising start through Sean Mulley (28) and teenager Josh Parsons before 44-0 became 69-4, Charles Janczur taking 2-21. Teenager left-arm spinner Oscar Amis took 3-33 as Bashley lost three wickets at 99 before closing at 129-9, Sam Stroud (17) and Thom Reid (18) staging a mini-fightback. 

Ventnor clinched the Southern Premier Division 2 promotion spot behind champions Liphook & Ripsley – but had to fight tooth and nail before beating already relegated South Wilts’ seconds by four wickets in front of Steephill’s biggest crowd for some time.
Ventnor knew they had to win too because at tea-time OTs & Romsey were second in the log having thrashed Paultons, the other relegated club, by nine wickets.
In a contest that ebbed and flowed, Ventnor were not in the best shape at 154-6 chasing the visitors’ 222-9 and knew that anything less than a victory would hand promotion to the Romsey club.  But a tremendous batting partnership between Chris Russell and Martin Blackman for the seventh wicket swept Ventnor to victory with 2.3 overs left.
South Wilts arrived on the island with little save pride to play for. After three straight wins and a tie in July they looked set for a mid-table finish, but four successive defeats, coupled with a points deduction for inadvertently fielding an unregistered school against Liphook on July 31, sent them sliding into the relegation zone.
But they made Ventnor work hard for their spoils, with Joe Cranch (37 and Jack Stearman (28) starting confidently, with Rob Pittman (26) and the emerging James Falconer (30) helping put a tidy 222-9 on the board.
Jim Pidgeon roused the Steephill crowd with his stunning renderings of Jerusalem and Play up Pompey, but Blue Army fan Rob Snell and Mark Fletcher both went for ten.
                                                                                             Stunning
West Indian Anthony Alleyne and Ben Woodhouse (41) eased Ventnor to 129-2, but the Barbados left-hander departed to a stunning catch at backward point by Stearman off schoolboy James Brewer for 70. 
Bowling his left-arm floaters, Stearman (with a tidy 3-25 off eight overs) then removed Woodhouse, Zeph Wells and Charlie Calloway to leave Ventnor’s innings at 154-6 and a potential crossroads.
When Russell joined Blackman, only ten overs remained and needing 70 runs to win — but the experienced pair set about their task superbly. 
Former Worcestershire man, Russell, upped the tempo with a succession of enormous maximums, finishing on a quickfire 45 not out, while Blackman’s disciplined, unbeaten 24 laid the foundation for the match-winning finale.  Ventnor had got home with 15 balls to spare, but it had been far from straightforward.
West Indian Anthony Alleyne predictably finished as the leading batsman in Southern Premier League cricket after hitting his eighth fifty-plus score and clinching the Division 2 runners-up spot for Ventnor.
He made 70 to advance his season’s league aggregate to 696 as Ventnor chased down South Wilts’ 222-9 to win by four wickets with 15 balls to spare.
Bringing Alleyne across from Barbados for the summer certainly paid off for Ventnor, who were a shambles in 2019 losing all 17 Division 1 matches.  
The big question facing the Steephill club is what to do next as they’ll need a similar player of Alleyne’s class and status to make a fist of it back in second tier cricket in 2022.  
Having played 47 times for Barbados and scored close on 1,800 in Caribbean inter-island cricket, Alleyne was always likely to be a Ventnor winner playing several tiers beneath his level. 
Only twice early on did he not make a significant contribution, rattling off seven successive half-centuries or more after making 101 at South Wilts in late June.  He was definitely a good signing !

Andy Steggall hit his third unbeaten century of the competition as Hampshire Seniors powered into next Tuesday's National Sixties Vase final against Cornwall at Oxfordshire's Great & Little Few with a crushing nine-wicket win over Sussex at Sparsholt.
Hampshire were grilled into the early autumn heat for three hours as Sussex piled up 240-8 off 45 overs.
But Hampshire made short work of the target - with former television sports presenter Steggall in screen the whole time as the cup final place was clinched with 11 overs to spare.
Steggall, pictured, shared an opening stand of 79 with Lymington's Neil Trestrail (43) and then an an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 165 with Chris Wheeler (74). 
Playing on his own Locks Lane ground, Steggall hit a six and 13 fours in his 104 not out.  His previous hundreds came against Kent and Bedfordshire.
Cornwall posted 232-8 before restricting Worcestershire to 194-9 in the other semi-final at Stourport.

​​Hook & Newnham Basics II, runners-up in Southern Premier Division 3
Standing (from left): Tom May, Lewis Watts, Shane Brewer, Liam Shore, Richard Wilcocks, Rupert Armstrong, Amy Tucker (scorer). Front: Charlie Neville, Joe Allnutt, Kev Light, Sam Bruin, Ollie May. 

Hook & Newnham Basics seconds are celebrating a second consecutive promotion and will play in Southern Premier Division 2 next season, alongside Andover and Hartley Wintney.
They finished runners-up in the Hampshire League in 2019 and, after winning ten of their 12 completed matches this summer, they’ve ended a comfortable second behind runaway champions Hambledon, one of the two sides to beat them.
Reflecting on the team’s achievement, skipper Kevin Light said: “We’ve had an amazing summer and the 2020 season break has not stopped the momentum from when we were promoted from County 1, two seasons ago. 
“In fact, it’s allowed our youngsters another season to grow and become more confident at this level. 
“The experience half the team got in the Premier Division has meant that when they have come back to the two’s they are stronger and don’t seem to be fazed by anything. 
“This has meant we’ve come out on top in close games against strong opposition such as Portsmouth & Southsea and Gosport Borough, which has been significant in a rain shortened season.”
Light picked out two youngsters for special praise, left-arm quick Liam Shore and batsman/wicketkeeper Tom May, a newcomer to the Hook Army brigade this season.
“At 20 years of age, Liam Shore is now starting to mature and fulfil his promise. He took 23 wickets in a 12-game season – including one 6-24 return - which is an outstanding achievement,” Light remarked.
“New recruit Tom May came in and scored 270 runs with 15 dismissals behind the stumps He’s added experience to this relatively young side.”
Light added that being a close kit unit, Hook seconds have created a real competitive edge on the field.
“Division 2 cricket will be a completely new challenge next summer, but for the meantime, we’ll reflect on what we’ve achieved with a great deal of satisfaction.”                                                                                                                                                       

​Fawley won their last three matches of the season to ensure Southern Premier Division 2 safety, their six-wicket win at Lapstone Park planting summer long promotion outsiders Fair Oak in an eventual fifth place.
The hugely influential Sufian Munir (2-19) was the main architect of Oaks’ defeat, bagging a couple of early wickets, as did Aqab Ahmed (5-35), to leave the home team reeling at 55 for 5 (Charlie Gwynn 19).  
Fair Oak did better in the second half of their innings, with Harry Reed making 25 and Monty McKenzie 22.  But Wayne Smith’s late 2-18 left Oaks to defend a distinctly under-par total of 112 all out.
The ever-reliable Gwynn took 3-20 to reduce Fawley from 52-1 to 76-4.  But Munir, left, who batted throughout the innings, hit a six and twelve fours to finish unbeaten on 72 from just 76 balls after getting good support from Callum Earl (21*).  Fawley reached 116-4 with 13 overs still unused to chalk up a convincing win, which guaranteed their own survival.
Hartley Wintney’s season has tailed off badly with the one-wicket defeat at Waterlooville being their sixth successive loss, a sequence of results which has left the one-time SPL2 leaders in fourth place.
Promotion prospects looked so bright when they beat Liphook & Ripsley, the eventual champions, in early July, but since then the side, with its ever-changing personnel, has lost direction.
They looked as though they had halted that losing trend when, defending 166-8 on a demanding Rowlands Avenue surface, they reduced the Ville to 94-7, Danny Nightingale taking 4-31.
But being the last game of the season and with no lingering fears of relegation, Waterlooville had rejigged their batting order, with Alex Shephard (normally number three) coming in late to hit a key 48.
Angus Brown (2-12) removed Shephard and one-time Basingstoke man Dan Birch (21) to give Hartley Wintney a sniff, but last pair Archie Reynolds and Jon Hudson – normally top four in the order – got Waterlooville home by one wicket with two balls to spare.
Earlier, Brown top scored with 43 to take his run aggregate for the season to 304 (from seven knocks) but Hartley’s hopes of a competitive total were dimmed when Roy Cockram, the season’s leading run scorer with 369, pulled up lame and had to retire hurt having only made ten. 
Old Tauntonians & Romsey secured a third-placed finish by inflicting a crushing nine-wicket defeat on Paultons, whose 106 was propped up by teenager Ben Rogers (43).  Spin pair Joe Vaughan and Matt Bampton shared six of the Paultons wickets before Bothwell Chapungu hit an unbeaten 49 to finish things off.

It's not long to wait now !  Calmore Sports' big day in the Voneus National Village Cup final at Lord's against Cheshire's Alvanley, from near Runcorn, is on Sunday week, September 19 2021, starting at 11am.
The Totton-based Southern Premier Division 1 club has already filled two 53-seater coaches and many other supporters are going to the final by train, with either the 0755 (eta 0941) or 0826 (eta 1007) SWR out of Southampton Central recommended.  
Upon arrival at London Waterloo, switch to the Jubilee Line and take a 12-minute underground trip to St John's Wood station.  Lord's is a maximum ten-minute walk away.
​Tickets are now on general sale and appear to be selling well.  It appears there will be no cash admission on the day, so its essential to purchase an entry ticket in advance.
​
https://tickets.lords.org/en-GB/events/the%20voneus%20village%20cup%20final/2021-9-19_11.00/lord's%20cricket%20ground?hallmap

Joe Huns blew Hook & Newnham Basics to pieces with a four-wicket new-ball blast which sent the North Hampshire side crashing to 76 all out and a crushing nine-wicket defeat, which Parley achieved off only 38 balls.
Huns sent back Hook’s first three batsmen with one solitary run on the board and then took a fourth to make it 20-4.  Chanula Wickramaratna (21, supported earlier by Will Wyatt and then Will Gardner, temporarily halted Parley’s wicket surge, but by the 14th over Hook were 76 all out, Spencer Savage taking 2-16.
Two balls into the seventh over of their reply, Parley were home and dry, Tom Saunders hitting 38 not out and then lifting the trophy soon after.
Hook & Newnham Basics played their Get Out of Jail card to snatch victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat by Fair Oak in the semi-finals – but there was no great escape in the Hampshire Under-19 Vitality T20 Blast final.
Reeling at 69-8 against Fair Oak, Hook’s teenagers looked as though they might be back at the KGV for an early lunch - until their semi-final tie at Totton & Eling’s Southern Gardens took an amazing twist !
Academy prospect Max Simpson (31) and Will Gardner (17) launched a blistering late assault, adding an unbeaten 59 for the ninth Hook wicket – an astonishing 33 runs coming off Joeh Turner’s last over.
Hook, having earlier been pinned back by Lewis Goodyear (4-12) and Tim Murrell (3-16), finished with 128-8, a total which proved beyond Oak’s reach.
Monty McKenzie hit an unbeaten half-century as Fair Oak closed seven runs adrift at 121-8 (Tom Clark 19) after a brave run chase. Josh Balcombe took 2-18.
Parley showed off their potential in a comfortable 32-run win over Hambledon in the semi-final, with the Dorset side already set for a challenging total on early spadework by Saunders (37), Marcus Bragginton and Lucas Neill.   When Sam Rook (50) smacked three sixes in a quick-fire half century and Andrew Cooke (22) weighed in, Parley were almost out of sight at 162-7.
Losing Chris Pratt first ball was a serious blow for Hambledon, who relied on Jonty Oliver (37), Mahendra Jish (26), Ben Reilly (24) and Mark Butcher (20) for their eventual 130-6, Savage (2-16) bowling another tidy spell.