Hampshire's Ageas Bowl stadium is on stand-by to host the inaugural and eagerly anticipated World Test Championship final - in all probability between India and New Zealand - in late June.
Lord's is the scheduled venue, but such is the uncertainty the latest strain of Covid-19 has caused, it is looking increasingly unlikely the final will take place in NW8, simply because St John's Wood cannot accommodate players and operational staff in an on-site hotel and guarantee a bio-secure environment.
The Ageas Bowl, which hosted England's international matches against Pakistan and the West Indies last summer, is likely to be the preferred choice (to Old Trafford) as there is more space for players and staff to 'escape' from the arena by walking or jogging or playing on the adjoining golf course.
Hampshire will host a T20 international against Sri Lanka on June 26 at 6pm.

Grants and fundraising income for Hampshire grassroots cricket since the start of the pandemic has crashed through the magical £1m barrier.
Clubs have taken advantage of a range of financial aid packages in the last 11 months ago to ensure they don’t become a victim of the bleak economic climate.
They have claimed almost £600,000 of Government Small Business Grants, and just over £150,000 of ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) Emergency Support, writes Simon Carter of The News, Portsmouth.
Fifty-three clubs took advantage of the ECB grants, along with an indoor league based in Eversley on the Hampshire/Berkshire county border.
Now renamed as the ECB Return to Cricket Grant Scheme, the deadline for applying has just been extended again until the end of March.
The Small Business Grants were capped at £10,000 while the ECB’s handouts were up to a maximum of £3,000.
The best part of £110,000 has been received from the Sport England Community Fund, which was formed at the end of last March offering grants of between £300 and £10,000.
Taking the overall figure into seven figures, clubs affiliated to the Hampshire Cricket Board have also raised almost £150,000 themselves via a multitude of fundraising initiatives.
Portsmouth’s online Crowdfunding appeal raised over £20,000 towards a much-needed St Helens pavilion revamp.
Of the £149,067 figure raised by clubs, £40,791 has been handed to non-club causes - such as charities.
Players at Fareham & Crofton last summer raised over £2,500 via a sponsored bike ride. While half of that went into the club coffers, half was given to the Moving On Project - an organisation providing counselling and mental health services for 11-25 year-olds in the Fareham and Gosport area.
Elsewhere, Portsmouth Community staged a sponsored walk last October where 25 per cent of the cash raised went to Opening Up, a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers promoting mental wellbeing and suicide prevention through cricket.
                                                                                     Proactive
In all, 152 separate grants have been made - contributing to an overall total of £1,004,524.
Of that, the 19 clubs based in the Portsmouth, Fareham and Havant local authority regions have either been handed or fundraised £124,493. Of those 19, only four have banked a £10,000 Small Business Grant.
‘Councils have been very proactive,’ said Simon Jones, a Portsmouth CC player and the Hampshire Cricket Board’s cricket development manager.
‘I know of some clubs who have just found the money in their accounts.  I also know some local authorities – Hart and Test Valley - have been proactive in actually phoning up clubs asking them why they hadn’t applied for their money yet!’
Jones has been ‘very impressed’ with clubs’ attitudes during the pandemic.
‘The financial impact of this is going to be quite long-lasting and clubs have recognised there are only finite funds available,’ he explained. ‘I’ve spoken to clubs who have told me ‘we’ll apply for this one, but not that one Clubs have been very good about it all.’
Cricket’s governing body have handed out free cash to clubs even though the financial vultures haven’t exactly been circling.
‘The ECB have taken the view they will give out grants without asking to look at clubs’ bank balances,’ Jones said. ‘If someone had £50,000 in their account, there might be some raised eyebrows, but generally money in their accounts hasn’t been a bar to receiving grants.                                                                                 
‘If a club has been run responsibly, they should have good reserves. There should be money you can dip into, but you can’t live hand to mouth - you can’t rely entirely on grant funding.
‘But every club is in a different situation and will need different amounts to carry on. As well as grants, grassroots clubs can also access loans via the ECB Cricket Trust’s interest-free scheme.
Loans of up to £50,000 are available, but clubs have to show they have 25 per cent of that money in their own account.  Loans are repayable over five years, with a one-year repayment holiday.
Jones said that at any one time there could be between 6-10 clubs in Hampshire taking advantage of that scheme.
Another cash-saving initiative for clubs is the chance of being given a free portable defibrillator for installation at their ground.
Since last summer, some 35 of the potentially life-saving pieces of medical equipment have been awarded to clubs, even though due to lockdown restrictions they haven’t actually taken delivery of them yet.
There are still five available thanks to a joint venture between the Hampshire Cricket Foundation, the Club Cricket Charity and the Hampshire Cricket Board/ECB.  Email simon.jones@ageasbowl.com for details.
Clubs receiving a defibrillator must pay £600 over four years to help with maintenance issues, but that fee also includes training on how to use them.  Gosport Borough will be installing one at Privett Park ahead of the 2021 season. 

​He was among Romsey’s best-known sportsmen, both as a footballer and subsequently a manager, and in 1984 played for Hursley Park in the National Village Cricket Cup final at Lord’s.
Rick Kellaway had fought a brave battle against cancer, but died recently (aged 70) after contracting coronavirus in hospital.
He put his heart and soul into local sport, both as a player, coach and manager, and inspiring youngsters either on the field or from the touchline.
In the winter months Rick played soccer for Romsey Town before taking up managerial roles with Nursling and Awbridge. He spent most of his cricket career with Hursley Park before joining Old Tauntonians & Romsey as a successful junior coach.
He was hugely passionate about his sport, none more so than his later involvement with disabled/disadvantaged people and the Hampshire Disability cricket team.
Rick joined Hursley Park as a 17-year old in 1967 and was a regular member of the first team for at least 17 seasons, playing alongside Adrian Aymes (who went on to play 15 years with Hampshire) and with Paul Wright, Pete Bunney, and left-arm spinner Chris Westbrook.
He was a member of the Hursley Park team that played at Lord’s in the National Village Championship final in 1984, Marchwiel, from North Wales, beating them by an agonising seven runs under the gaze of Old Father Time.
                                                                                      Seeds sewn
Rick previously had a short spell as Hursley Park captain in the 1970's, but the season after the Lord’s final he happily dropped down to skipper the club’s Second Xl, in the process becoming youth team coach at The Quarters. The seeds of his future involvement in the game had been sewn.
Retired Hursley Park captain Chris Westbrook recalled: “Rick was a useful top order right-hand batsmen who bowled occasional off-breaks.
“A delightful guy with a good sense of humour, he was very intense on the field at both football and cricket and certainly superstitious, always needing to change in the same spot in the dressing room and follow the same rituals before every match.
“He was possibly too theoretical to be an outstanding cricket captain - where flexibility and hunches are sometimes the order of the day - but he thrived in the second team, where he was instrumental in bringing on younger players.
“He was very keen and enthusiastic player and good clubman.”

​After leaving Hursley Park, Rick returned to his old haunts, joining Old Tauntonians & Romsey, where he developed the colts section, opening the door for numerous youngsters to become involved in cricket.
After he retired at IBM Hursley, Mr Kellaway played a massive part in the Hampshire Cricket Board’s Disability Programme helping to provide opportunities for people with Disabilities right across the programme. 
HCB Cricket Development Officer Mike Pollard explained: “Rick supported our Schools Programme which had in excess of 20 schools involved, coordinating activity within the schools themselves and helping to facilitate competitions.
“He trained people with Disabilities to become young leaders and help with our school festivals. 
“Rick also supported some of our County Squads, including the softball and our D40 Academy teams who played matches against other Sunday Adult sides across the County, a role he was still undertaking last August. 
                                                                                        Passionate
“He worked tirelessly to give so many young people with a disability the opportunity to take up cricket and was hugely inspiring individual who played such a huge part in so many of these young people’s lives. 
“Rick will be sorely missed by everyone, a really nice guy who was so passionate about Disability Cricket and always had time for everybody.”
His passion for helping disabled and disadvantaged people continued away from cricket, with Rick giving many hours voluntary service. For a number of years, he and Anita ran a charity (NEWTS) that took these people abroad on holiday. 

IBM Hursley cricket chairman Mike Meech reflected: “Rick was a great friend of ours, not just in terms of the support he gave us as in the role he had with the IBM Corporation (looking after the facilities at IBM Hursley), but the interest he took in the development of our club over the decades and the friendships he developed with many of our players and officials. 
“His love for cricket was always evident and over the years I've enjoyed discussing "the game" with him and taking in his strident views!  
“Whilst Rick was not in the best of health last summer, it was wonderful to see him at our ground with this Hampshire Disability Squad and many of us got to spend a good amount of time with him catching up. 
“Unfortunately, as it turns out this would be the last time we got to see him but for all us it will be forever a fond memory.  Our sincerest condolences are with his family at this time." 
                                                              Soccer: Player, manager and coach
Rick played for several local soccer teams as a centre-half, most notably with Romsey Town and then Hursley Sports in the Morning Division of the City of Southampton Sunday League. 
In 1986 he was appointed manager of Southampton League side Nutfield United (now Nursling) and transformed their fortunes. 
In his first season at the helm they won the Senior Division 1 title, followed immediately by successive Premier Division titles – the first club to achieve this feat. 
This led to promotion into the Hampshire League Division 2 for the 1989/90 season, but despite the loss of some key players to Wessex League clubs, Nutfield did well to consolidate. 
Rick stood down at the end of that season, but after a break he returned to management at Awbridge for the 1994/95 campaign, having spent a spell running Wellow’s Sunday football team. 
At the time, the club was in a transitional period and were relegated that year, but they recovered well twice narrowly missed out on promotion the following two seasons. 
Hampshire and Southampton Premier League soccer in the late Eighties and 90s was of a high standard compared with the current era.
                                                                                            Hot seat
In 1998 Rick became Chairman but three years later returned to the managerial hot-seat, overseeing the 2002 merger with friendly local rivals Michelmersh & Timsbury. 
In 2006 he handed the reigns over to his trusted deputy Brian Needs to again take up the chairmanship role before retiring from football a year later.   
Awbridge team-mate Lee Whitelock reflected: “Rick was very passionate and competitive about football, but in the correct way. 
“Rick’s team talks were legendary with 'passion, determination, commitment' featuring very prominently each week. 
“He knew how to motivate players and get the best out them. ‘Tenacious’ was a word that featured very strongly in Rick’s vocabulary. 
“He won many admirers for his sportsmanship and fair play. There have been many heartfelt tributes from the local football community from those who played with or against him.  Rick was an excellent club man who will be very much missed by many people.”
​Awbridge 2001/2 pictured below

Shortly before Christmas Isle of Wight County Press sports editor John Moreno was diagnosed with coronavirus. His scary and frightening account of the ordeal is a must read.  No one is safe, including the many cricketers/sportsmen who log into this website on a regular basis.  Read on …
​
FOR ALL the conspiracy theorists out there who bury their heads in the sand, coronavirus is very real, can be extremely debilitating and deadly.
I started to show the symptoms of Covid-19 just before Christmas. I felt fatigued, nauseous and had developed a hacking cough.
I'd had a flu jab a few days earlier and considered the probability it was a side-effect of that, or kidded myself it was a common cold.
You know you've taken all the precautions possible not to catch it, but you can't help thinking — is it the dreaded virus?
December 23 came. I was pretty run down but felt OK to carry on working as usual, knowing Christmas was soon upon us.
However, Christmas Eve was a different matter. The cough progressed quite rapidly overnight. I was losing my breath, I felt sick, I was starting to shiver uncontrollably, became delirious and my temperature rocketed to mid-39C.
Christmas Day was a write-off. I couldn't share the joy of my young son opening his gifts, no traditional roast dinner, no celebration. Just suffering, hoping if it was Covid-19, I had a mild version of it.
The paramedics came out to assess me that day. One said to me: "You've got all the symptoms. Don't be surprised if you have Covid," she said.
That was depressing to hear, but paramedics are realistic professionals who tell it exactly how it is.
Boxing Day arrived. My wife and I managed to book a drive-through test after two days of no on-line access to the NHS appointment system. Only the kits were available to order. Just as well. The kits arrived six days later. Then factor in sending them off and getting a result back.
The tests were taken at Newclose County Cricket Ground near Newport. Within 36 hours we received positive results by text message.

I stared at mine for a minute trying to take it in. I suppose I was stunned, but at least I knew what I had.  What preyed on my mind was the question of how much it would affect me.
However, following two further home assessments by paramedics, they felt my condition was serious enough to take me into hospital on the evening of January 2, when my temperature worryingly hit 40.3C — the 'red zone', something earlier paramedics had warned about.
The period between Boxing Day and my transfer to hospital was simply a living hell.
I was living hour to hour coping with the symptoms and dreaded when darkness fell. That seemed to be the worst time to cope with it.
My temperature never dropped below 38.9C for six days. My heart was racing, I suffered continuous headaches and coughing episodes I would not wish on anyone — losing my breath and trying to control the feeling of panic.
Of course, the other symptoms, like the loss of taste and smell, muscles aching, the loss of appetite and more, added to the distress.
All I felt I could do was stay hydrated and take paracetamol, as recommended by the NHS. I had also taken a course of antibiotics, although they seemed to have no affect on my condition whatsoever.

On my arrival at emergency department 2 at St Mary's Hospital, I was given oxygen, was swab-tested for coronavirus, they took blood, X-rayed my chest, gave me an ECG and put me on an antibiotic drip — a whirlwind of tests in a short time.
Following about two or three disorientating hours in the bright lights and high activity of the ward, I was wheeled into the quiet of the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU), where they tried in vain to take more blood, which had pooled away from my limbs.
That was when they started me on anticoagulant injections, concerned I may develop, or had already developed, a blood clot on the lungs.
I went without water for about three hours, so it was a relief to be able to hydrate a little and a further drip was added.
                                                                                        Treatment
A few hours later, I was taken to the Isolation 2 ward, best known as Colwell before the area was adapted for Covid patients.
It was a three-hour wait before I received any further treatment. Worryingly, my file had been mislaid between MCU and Isolation 2, according to a junior doctor, and they would not proceed until they had the test data in their hands.
I quickly realised I was on a ward full of elderly men, most of them confused by the effects of Alzheimer's and demanding all the attention of the hopelessly limited staff available during the night shift.
The shouting from one was stressful enough in itself, but it often sparked a chain reaction spreading to three, sometimes four of them.
Others would simply repeat quiet, desperate pleas for help.  It was so sad to hear. As awful as I felt, I tried to calm the person in the next bed.  I also felt for the staff, who showed the patience of saints.
Just when I thought I had come to the end of my tether, I then started to get a course of treatment and more tests. A sense of positivity returned.  I had some fresh water, a little toast and some warm milk.
By early afternoon, a team of doctors visited me to talk through what they knew — that I was quite seriously ill, I was tachycardic, I had pneumonia, I had pleurisy, but they reassured me I was in exactly the right place.
                                                                                       Staff shortage
A matron had taken control of the ward and things shaped up well.
Night time saw an evident staff shortage but as morning came and more staff arrived, care levels were restored. I got my medication — a steroid boost to my antibiotics and another blood and Covid test.
Having a little breakfast helped. Although I could not taste it, I felt my appetite returning slightly. Not what I expected.   I even had some lunch and I felt more positive.   But within an hour, I came back down to earth with a huge bump.
I had been pressing the alarm button, then, completely out of the blue, I suddenly lost all breath — in and out — and felt panic as I ripped off my breathing tube and pulled my drip with me into the centre of the ward.  It was all I could do to get some attention.
Several staff descended on me rapidly and, in what seemed an eternity, but which was, in reality three or four minutes, I was calmer and my breathing eventually restored.
That was possibly the most sobering few minutes of my life — when you feel totally out of control.
Thankfully, my condition stabilised over the next couple of days. I did not feel better, but I certainly did not deteriorate. I saw that levelling off as a real positive.
The day care on the ward was very efficient, considering the ongoing problems they faced, and I was getting the medication I needed, a change of sheets, decent food (the catering at St Mary's is extremely good) and even an opportunity to have a shower — a simple, but really positive change for me psychologically.
The stress of having to listen to the elderly men continually demand everything from the staff — and even compete with each other for attention — remained hard to bear, so sleep remained out of the equation.
Occasionally, I could hear the urgency of staff on the adjoining ward deal with what appeared to be a downturn in someone's condition.   I lay there wondering and hoping it was not the worst.
Day five was a huge turning point for me. The doctor decided to move me into my own room, off the ward that afternoon.
It was quiet. I had my own bathroom. For me, it was heaven sent. I slept for the first time in about 12 days. I had to be woken up for my medication.
                                                                                                 Recovery
The following day I was told I could go home. The doctor told me that what I had gone through was a 'total assault' on the body and that it would take some time to recover.
I still had pneumonia, the pain of pleurisy in my chest and had tested positive for Covid yet again, but they believed being at home was the better alternative on my road to recovery.
Leaving the hospital that evening, I expressed my deep gratitude to the staff and felt quite humble and emotional, knowing they had turned things around for me while under such huge pressures to deliver quality care in such extraordinary circumstances.
Things were not ideal some of the time, but generally the NHS staff were absolutely superb. These are people who really, deeply care, are highly professional and, yes, I believe they are still unsung heroes who do so much more than can be properly portrayed.
Yes, coming home has been a huge plus as I recover, but the after-effects of Covid have proved to be more debilitating than I dared imagine — the extreme fatigue, the wasting affect on the muscles, the damage pneumonia did to my lungs.
Building up and sticking to a basic exercise regime has been vital — walking around the garden and using steps for ten minutes to begin with, which was exhausting, to now doing a half-hour walk.
The walks are extremely tiring, but I feel more strength returning to the muscles now.
Covid clearly affects people in different ways, but one thing is for sure, one should never get blase about it — even with a vaccine on the horizon for the majority of us.
Vaccination is a race against time.
If I had to say one thing — stay sensible, take all the Covid precautions If I had to say one thing — stay sensible, take all the Covid precautions necessary and be considerate to your fellow man and the corner will surely turn soon.

Article reproduced by kind permission of the Isle of Wight County Press.
www.countypress.co.uk/news/19027609.living-hell-covid/

Gosport cricket stalwart and decorated D-Day veteran Ron Cross MBE has visited the crease for the last time to play his final innings.  
He passed away peacefully in a Gosport nursing home on Wednesday – eight months after celebrating his 100th birthday last June. He had been unwell for several weeks. 
Ron served club cricket with distinction for over half a century, initially as a decent opening batsman with Gosport CC, his home town club, and, after retiring with a back injury, as one of the best known umpires on the circuit. He officiated for over 40 years.
His contribution to the game is marked by a commemorative seat alongside the pavilion at Privett Park, where he spent so many happy days with the game he loved.
Ron’s milestone 100th birthday last summer, which was marked by the traditional telegram from HM The Queen, came two days after the 76th anniversary of the D-Day landings. 
As a demolitions non-commissioned officer, he was just 24 years of age when, as part of the Royal Engineers’ 79th Armoured Division, he went ashore on Juno Beach in Normandy at the head of the Allied invasion on 6 June 1944. 
                                                                                             Falaise Gap
Ron and his unit were responsible for clearing minefields and blow up anything in the way to enable tanks to land on the beach.
From Normandy, Ron fought with his battalion through France and towards Germany, where he stayed until the end of the war.  He witnessed the carnage at the Falaise gap, describing the scene as “horrible.”
He took part in three further landings in Holland and was mentioned in dispatches.
Ron’s heroism during the June 6 invasion, in 1944, earned him France’s highest medal for valour, the Legion d’Honneur in 2016.
Tributes have now been paid in honour of the ‘wonderful’ grandfather of three.
His 70-year-old son, Martyn Cross, of Gosport, said: ‘My dad had a very active life. He really did love life. He was extraordinary.
‘He was unbelievably brave during the war – they all were. It was a job and they all got on with it. If they hadn’t, the world would have been a very different place.
‘But he didn’t talk about the war for a long time. It upset him too much talk about D-Day.’
Mark Stevens, chairman of the Solent and District Branch Royal Engineers Association, said the retired Sapper’s legacy would never be forgotten.
                                                                                                    Awe
‘New sappers and veterans like myself hold guys like Ron in absolute awe,’ he said. ‘It took incredible courage to do what they did and to clear mines and explosive traps while under direct enemy fire. Ron’s legacy will never be forgotten.’
Demobbed in 1946, Ron joined the Royal Navy Hospital, Haslar, as a woodwork instructor.
But soon his skills turned to patient care and rehabilitation and he trained as an occupational therapist, remaining at Haslar for 37 years.
His commitment to the hospital saw him being awarded an MBE 1980, which was presented to him during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage said: ‘Ron was a local hero in every sense of the word.
‘He fought for our country at D-Day, where he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur for his courage. He served our community, earning an MBE for his work at the Royal Hospital Haslar. And he was a stalwart of Gosport and local cricket. He was, quite simply, a local legend.
Active in the community, Ron was the chairman of the Gosport Stroke Club and frequently gave up his time to visit schools and attend seminars to talk about his WW2 experiences.
                                                                                                     MBE
After the war, Ron worked as an occupational therapist at the Royal Navy Hospital, Haslar for 37 years and developed the department - for which he was deservedly awarded the MBE.
Upon retiring from playing he became leading umpire on the Hampshire circuit and beyond making a significant contribution to the summer game. His efforts are being marked by the installation of a commemorative bench at Privett Park.
He officiated hundreds of matches, including Hampshire 2nd XI, the Inter-Services Championships, national club championship cup ties, and the Southern Premier League – in addition to treading the hallowed turf of Lord’s on several occasions.
“I did 40 years or more on the circuit, during which time I became an umpiring instructor and helped form the South Coast Panel,” he recalled.
When asked who were the most famous people he had umpired, Ron smiled: “Gordon Greenidge and Peter O’Toole, who turned out for the Lord’s Taverners’ and was a real cricket fanatic.”
Ron’s funeral Service at St Luke’s Church in Haslar next month will be followed by a simple Cremation.  At a future date a there will be a Memorial Service at St Luke’s and Internment of Ron’s  Ashes in the Haslar Memorial Garden.

Back in 2010, Hampshire Under-13s were the pride of the West, Taunton festival winners .. so no wonder team managers Steve Oliphant and John Boniface look so delighted either side of Sheila, the scorer.
​The squad was (from left): Tom Martin, Will Arnold, Felix Ambrose, Eddie Lewis, Joe Weatherley, Scott Tilson, Andy Gorvin, Charlie Ayers, George Watts. Front: Paddy Oakshott, Brad Taylor, Tom Boon, Ryan Murray. 
Hampshire won 11 of their 16 matches that summer to finish runners-up in the U13 County Championship.
Joe Weatherley, with 667 runs, was the stand-out performer at Taunton and joined Will Arnold in making a festival hundred. Brad Taylor took 21 wickets.
Interestingly, they faced three 'to be' England Test players in the tournament in Devon's Dom Best, Essex's Dan Lawrence and Lancashire leg-spin bowler Matt Parkinson, who made four ODI appearances in New Zealand (2019) and South Africa last winter.
* We plan to feature more Hampshire junior age group teams during the lockdown.

Zimbabwean Brighton Mugochi has been appointed head coach at promoted Southern Premier League Division 1 club Totton & Eling.
The 33-year old left-arm spin all-rounder took 80 wickets in Logan Cup cricket his native country before moving to England, where he initially played Sussex League cricket for Henfield.
When he enrolled at Southampton Solent University, Mugochi joined Burridge and took 38 wickets for them in 2017.
Bowling an accurate tight line and producing tidy returns, he subsequently took 27 wickets for Totton & Eling in their successful 2019 SPL2 promotion campaign, alongside making 111 (out of 173) in a remarkable tied match against neighbours Calmore Sports in last season’s League Cup.
An ECB Level 2 coach, Mugochi is heavily involved in junior cricket development and, once the currently lockdown restrictions are lifted, will take up his appointment at Southern Gardens.

​George Edwards could be excused for pinching himself when he took guard at the crease on debut for Southern Districts in South Australia’s demanding West End First Grade Premiership cricket competition.
​“It was an unbelievable experience, a level of cricket I It promised to be a baptism of fire for the recently turned 19-year old South Wilts batting prospect from Teffont, who was about to face one of the State’s most experienced bowlers and a Test cricketer to boot.
Chad Sayers, skippering rival Adelaide side Glenelg, had made close on 100 appearance appearances for South Australia and in February 2018 had been called up to play in the Wanderers’ Test for Australia against South Africa.
Later that same calendar year Edwards was turning out in South Wilts third team cricket under the tutelage of Jody Everett in Hampshire League, County Division 2.
There was a distinct gulf to overcome.
But Edwards (pictured left after a batting net session), who spent three months at Darren Lehmann’s Cricket Academy before Christmas, emerged from his ordeal with real credit.
                                                                           Unbelievable experience
Arriving at the crease with his adopted South Australia side 71-3 in response to Glenelg’s 219 all out, Edwards went on to hit a six and four boundaries in an hour-long stay in the middle, making his team’s second highest individual score of 33.
He was eventually seventh man out at 128. Three runs later Southern Districts were dismissed for 131 and beaten by 88 runs.
​“It was an unbelievable experience, a level of cricket I never expected to play as a couple of seasons ago I was playing for South Wilts 3rd and 4th teams and only last year the seconds before making my first team debut in the League Cup match against Calmore Sports,” Edwards smiled.
“Facing Chad Sayers was a really good test for myself and thankfully I didn’t get out to him. 
“I looked him up in Wisden afterwards and found he’d dismissed AB de Villiers (caught behind for 69) and Kagiso Rabada in that Wanderers Test, the match that followed the infamous ball tampering scandal in Cape Town which culminated in Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft being sent home.”
South Wilts have only seen glimpses of Edwards’s promise since he joined them from Steeple Langford in 2017.
                                                                                          Techniques
“I’ve been away at boarding school, initially at Dauntsey’s, then for the past two summers Millfield, so my only chances to play for South Wilts have only come in the school holidays,” he explained.
Edwards, who is headed to Oxford Brookes university to begin a sports development and coaching degree course next autumn, acknowledged the help and advice former Hampshire all-rounder Jon Ayling (Dauntseys) and Millfield coach Mark Garaway had given him in his school days.
“I couldn’t have asked for two better coaches,” he said. “Garas taught me the importance of being able to field well, as well as fine tuning batting techniques.”
Edwards jetting off to the DLCA in Adelaide shortly after South Wilts’ extended autumn season ended and spent three months at the Academy alongside Millfield school pal and South Wilts’ left-arm quick Josh Croom.
“It is a high performance programme with training every day Monday-Friday with matches on Sundays or midweek, with strength and conditioning training,” he explained.
“I found it tested me every day both mentally and physically, but I’m definitely stronger for it.”
Edwards’s DLCA coach has been former SA Redbacks left-hand opener Mark Cosgrove, a ‘gun’ player in the Big Bash League over the years.
He added: “Being coached by Mark has been unbelievable, it’s so good to be helped by someone who has as much knowledge and experience in the game as he does.
“Being coached by him, playing at the highest level of club/grade cricket in South Australia has definitely helped me develop my skills as a cricketer.”
Edwards also had the unique experience of spending Christmas and New Year away from his Teffont family home.
“I went to the Gold Coast over the holiday period and had a very Christmassy lunch with a Big Mac in McDonalds. 
“It was a very weird feeling because it didn’t feel like Christmas being away from family, but still had a nice day lazing about on the beach,” he laughed.
Now back home on the outskirts of Salisbury, Edwards will be crossing off the weeks and days before he can pick up a cricket bat again in earnest.
“I imagine South Wilts have earmarked mid-April to begin pre-season friendlies, but the government will not allow non-elite team sport to resume until such times as the Covid-19 pandemic has been brought under control, so I’ll have to be patient, along with everyone else.
“I really intend to push for a first team spot at South Wilts this summer. My time spent in Adelaide has provided me with goals to aim for and hopefully given me the platform to push off from, so I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Below: George Edwards shows off his batting skills in South Australia's West End Premiership competition for Southern Districts.

Hampshire Seniors' Fifties side pictured in front of the Arundel Castle pavilion during last season's match against Sussex.
Standing (from left): Dick Batchelor (scorer), Iain Griffiths, Keith Harris, Darren McBride, Zane de Monte, Andy Worth, Andy Parratt, Andy Giles, Sean Lilley (umpire). Seated: Neil Sutherland, Tim Wheatley, John Rickard (president), Nick Gargaro, Keith Harsham, Stu Shapland.

Hampshire will host the Channel Islands, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire in their eight-team ECB 50-plus County Championship south-west group this summer, alongside trips into deepest Cornwall, Devon, and the Isle of Wight.
Dates for the fixtures have yet to be confirmed, but any seasoned cricketer, preferably still turning out at either Premier or Hampshire League County Division level, is invited to join the Seniors' ranks, with 50s enquiries to nickgargaro@me.com Cell: 07917 163812.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have confirmed a new three-year sponsorship deal with LV= General Insurance.
The firm are the new title sponsor of England men's and women's domestic Test series and the County Championship, until 2023.
Former partners Specsavers opted not to renew their contract, thought to be worth £2m per year, in 2020.
After hosting New Zealand for two matches in May, England face India in five Tests this summer, starting on August 4 at Trent Bridge, before matches at Lord's, Headingley, The Kia Oval and Emirates Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, the revised County Championship begins on April 8 with a new three-divisional format following last season's inaugural Bob Willis Trophy.

​He is the man responsible for ‘hitting the winning six’ which ensures work can start on the £75,000 redevelopment of Portsmouth Cricket Club’s pavilion on Southsea’s seafront.
Club president Arthur Shaw [left], 75, has been associated with PCC ever since it was formed in 1989 via a merger of South Hants Touring Club, for whom he played, and Portsmouth & Southsea.
And over three decades later it is his generous donation which will help the St Helens-based club hopefully prosper - on and off the pitch - in a post-Covid landscape, writes Simon Carter of The News, Portsmouth.
PCC had launched an ambitious online Crowdfunding campaign in November which needed to hit the £20,000 mark by January 3 in order to proceed. Over 200 supporters had helped swell the total to over £17,000 by Christmas.
Step forward Shaw - along with his wife Diane and son Matt, who played for the club before nipping over the Hill to join Waterlooville - to pledge a whopping £3,500, leading to club chairman Rick Marston’s ‘hitting the winning six’ quip.
                                                                                            Refurbishment
​The donation is worth another £845 when Gift Aid, a scheme available to charities and grassroots sports clubs, is taken into account. Under Gift Aid rules, PCC can claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated.
Due to the Crowdfunding target being reached, work can start this month on internal refurbishment to a pavilion built in the early 1970s and now clearly showing its age. Patched up in places, it now needs a total makeover.
When completed, the facilities will be a far cry from those that greeted Shaw when he first played at the ground as a youngster for Cormorants.
Along with SHTC and Portsmouth & Southsea, Cormorants shared the rundown wooden changing rooms at the then council-owned and run St Helens (the ground is still council-owned, but PCC pay an annual rent and are responsible for all maintenance work).
Shaw had joined the junior section at Cormorants as the team was run by the father of his Portsmouth Northern Grammar (now Mayfield) School friend Dave Whymark.   There was no clubhouse, just a van near the boundary rope selling teas and cakes.
During his playing days, Shaw was an all-rounder, batting left-handed around the middle order - his top score was a chanceless and classy 110 against Fareham in a friendly - and bowling right-arm swing.
He captained the 1st XI on occasions and, according to his one-time SHTC team-mates Ian Preston-Jones, was a ‘good change bowler and partnership breaker.’
Shaw’s SHTC colleagues also included David Rock, who played 37 first class games for Hampshire between 1976-1979 as well as 18 one-day matches, and the late Barry Boorah, the leading wicket-taker in Southern League (1969-1999) history with 666 victims.
On retiring from playing, Shaw was elected PCC president in 2014 following the death of Geoffrey Elderfield, who had been on the Hampshire CCC committee and was a founding member of the SHTC.
                                                                              Strength to strength
PCC are in a far better state than they were just over a decade ago. Back in 2007 they were relegated two divisions for fielding ineligible players, and the other Southern Premier League clubs had been asked to vote on whether to kick them out of the league completely.
‘The club was on the point of going under, and that’s when the parents of the colts decided to take over the running of the club,’ recalled Shaw.  ‘It’s gone from strength to strength since then.
‘The parents have got more involved and there have been people prepared to take over and help. We’ve had that continuity, and it’s worked well.
‘This is one of the few places kids can play cricket in Portsmouth - there’s not much cricket played in the schools apart from the private ones at St John’s and Portsmouth Grammar.
‘It’s impressive to see how many kids we get here - every Friday during the summer it’s like a swarm of ants. There’s a real community feel, a real community spirit, and that’s what has got me more and more interested. Some of the kids have put their pocket money towards the appeal, which is lovely to see. I’m just happy to help out in my own little way.
‘The pandemic has been a disaster for everyone. If there was a worse time to ask people for money, I would be interested to see it.  That’s why I wanted to help.’

                                                                                            Little revenue

Marston (left) is hopeful the new facilities can help PCC - currently in the second tier - back into the top flight of the Southern Premier League. ‘The big goal is to get the first team back into the Premier Division,’ he remarked.
‘Having the new facilities will help to attract new players - a good bar helps, good changing rooms, a decent wicket.
‘We also want to carry on improving the facilities. The next big project will be to replace the nets - they’re a bit bouncy, a bit lively. That’ll cost around £20,000.  There’s always stuff to do.’
Like most grassroots sports clubs with their own facilities and bills to pay, the last nine months have been devastating financially.
‘We haven’t been able to hold any events that usually bring in the money, our bar has been shut for months so there’s been very little revenue coming in,’ Marston reported. 
‘January is normally the month we try and get the membership money in, but at the moment we’ve got nothing to offer. We would normally be holding indoor nets for colts and adults, so I don’t know how many people will pay up.  
‘January could be a very difficult month.  Our insurance costs around £400-£500 a month, and the pavilion insurance will go up once we do the redevelopment work.’
Due to spending around £75,000 on the redevelopment, they are hopeful of soon negotiating a new lease with the city council. Committee member Alistair Thompson, a former councillor, is heavily involved in those talks.
While rent, bills and insurance still need to be paid, PCC have been relying on grants to help them through the pandemic.
                                                                                     Sponsorship
They received £10,000 of Government help as a ‘small business’ shortly after the first lockdown was introduced last spring.  A £2,780 grant from Sport England was happily pocketed, followed by another one of £1,300 after the second lockdown was announced.
PCC had also been hopeful of landing a further £10,000 Sport England grant to help with the pavilion refurbishments. Though that fell through, the club have obtained major sponsorship from St Cross Homes to plug the gap in the finances.
‘There have been bits and pieces of work done over the years, and we’ve ended up with a rabbit warren of corridors,’ Marston said of the pavilion interior.  ‘This plan has been on the backburner for four or five years, but we have not had the money. The redevelopment work will put us in the Premier Division in terms of facilities; now we just need to get the team to that level.  For a city of Portsmouth’s size, we should be in the top division.
‘With the bigger balcony, this will be the best ground in the league in terms of viewing.  I know it can be cold when the wind is blowing, but we can’t control the weather!’
* The Crowdfunding campaign is still running, and as of yesterday had reached £22,581, plus another £4,837 in Gift Aid contributions. To donate, visit crowdfunder.co.uk and search for ‘Portsmouth CC redevelopment.’

​South Australian talent Jake Winter, who spent the 2017 summer at South Wilts scoring over 560 ECB Southern Premier League runs, is back in form Down Under after missing the entire 2019/20 Adelaide season following surgery on a hip injury.
He was in the form of his life and knocking loudly on the door for potential SA Redbacks selection the previous Australian season, thumping a double century, besides two other hundreds for his grade side Glenelg in the state's West End Premiership. 
“I had to have an arthroscopy to repair the labrum that had torn, so it took a while to get back playing again,” he explained.
But Winter came bouncing back with an unbeaten 112 which powered Glenelg to a nine-wicket win over Prospect in the latest round of 50-over matches.
“It definitely felt good to score my first ton in a couple years. But to come back from such a long lay-off and start to put some consistent scores together has felt very good.”
Winter says he'd love another crack at playing for South Wilts, but adds with caution: "It's the visas that are a problem."
South Wilts’ teenage left-arm quick Josh Croom, who is spending the winter at Darren Lehmann’s Academy in Adelaide, continues to impress in Second Grade cricket for Glenelg, taking 2-13 off an eight-over spell against Prospect II last weekend.
“I’d would have had a five-fer but for three spilled catches, ironically, all by the same fielder,” he groaned.

​Remember Logan van Beek, who played ECB Southern Premier League cricket for St Cross Symondians in 2017, scoring 556 runs and taking 24 wickets ?
Back in his native New Zealand, he’s just been immortalized for one of the greatest classic catches probably ever seen on a cricket field, certainly at Wellington’s delightful Basin Reserve ground.  It happened this weekend when he was playing for Wellington Firebrands in New Zealand’s Super Smash.
Sprinting into position, van Beek threw his body toward the ball and stuck out a hopeful hand.  It had been struck cleanly off the bat of the Northern Knights’ Brett Hampton, and the chances of van Beek claiming the catch were slim.
But it was one of those days for the Wellington Firebirds in their T20 clash. Van Beek, fielding on the boundary at cow corner, ran full pelt to his right, threw his hand out, and the ball stuck, leaving commentators, fans and the fielder in disbelief.
“I just somehow pulled it off. I’m not sure how it happened, but it happened,” van Beek said. “My tactic is, once I see it, I just put my head down and run as fast as I can, then it’s just about giving it a chance ... you just have to go for it.”
Former Black Cap Craig Cumming called the catch “as good as you will see”, while several, including Canterbury’s most notable sports broadcaster Elliott Smith, drew comparisons to Mayu Pasupati’s (Liphook & Ripsley 2000) famous catch at the same ground 21 years ago.
Another stunned TV commentator added: “What is going on out there?
“Unbelievable catch, Logan van Beek. I don’t think he can believe that himself.
Wellington’s 80-run Super Smash win came after they had restricted the Knights to 105, having posted 185-7 themselves, the emerging Finn Allen (remember the name) hitting 79.
If you we’re up in the early hours of Saturday morning, take a look at this clip to relive van Beek’s catch .. something he doubtless learned from his 2017 summer at the Green Jackets !
​https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyaTuQEzp6A

Alton have swooped to sign former Hampshire Under-17 captain Fletcha Middleton for this summer’s scheduled ECB Southern Premier League campaign.
He will link up with past Hampshire Academy teenage team-mate Tom South and incoming South African pace bowler Matt Arnold ahead of the Brewers’ Premier Division opener against Burridge at the Jubilee Ground on May 1.
Middleton will, though, be dual registered with the Academy, whose own campaign begins against Lymington on the Ageas Bowl Nursery Ground.
The eldest son of former Hampshire opening batsman Tony Middleton who spent his embryo years at Fair Oak, Fletcha has become a formidable run scoring force on the local scene in recent seasons.
A regular in county junior age group cricket since debuting for the Under-10s back in 2012, Middleton has scored over 2,000 runs for the Academy and Hampshire Under-17s.
He was among the leading batsmen in last summer’s Southern League Cup, scoring 333 runs, including an unbeaten 108 against Sparsholt at May’s Bounty.
Middleton is also under England Under-19 consideration for the next ICC Youth World Cup in the West Indies, having skippered the South in last summer’s trial matches at Loughborough.

Winchester sport has been saddened by the passing – at the ripe old age of 92 - of Compton & Shawford cricket stalwart Derek Igglesden, who skippered the Hampshire League club for a staggering 25 years before hanging up his boots in 1998, aged 70.
A decent batsman and medium-pace bowler, who converted to spin in his latter days, Derek was one of three talented sporting brothers in the Winchester area.
Playing a decent level of local football, he (with a certain Terry Paine as a team-mate) helped Highcliffe Corinthians win the Hampshire Junior A Cup.  He was also a useful table tennis player.
His long cricket playing career with Compton & Shawford began, aged 19, in 1947. During his period as captain, which ended two seasons after the merger with Compton & Chandler’s Ford, C & S carried off the HCL South West Division 1 title in 1976.
An accurate medium-pace bowler with an unusual action, Derek had a ‘special ball’ that got him many wickets – his team-mates always knew when he was going to bowl it when he licked his fingers at the beginning of his run-up.
He was a player who put 100 per cent into his game, playing hard and being competitive.
But as soon as stumps were drawn and play ended, he would be first in the bar, often the life and soul of the party, reeling off numerous amusing stories about the game he was passionate about.
He was fun loving, generous, cheerful and witty guy, with an infectious deep throated laugh.
Both during and after his playing days, Derek did a huge amount off the field, helping upgrade the Compton cricket square and outfield, and putting his building skills to work by improving the Shepherds Lane pavilion.  
Professionally, he was a director of the Winnall-based building company, Hampshire Contractors, originally founded by his father, Bert.  The firm build most of the Oliver’s Battery estate.
Derek was also heavily involved in the Winchester & District midweek Evening League for many years, both as a player and an official.
His father presented the Igglesden Trophy to the WDCCA, originally as a knockout competition for the local village sides.  Compton, appropriately, won the cup in 1981.

It was in 1966 with his long-term friend and ex-Compton & Shawford team-mate Tom Wilson (a right back with Fulham and Brentford in the late 1950s and early Sixties) that Mr Igglesden co-founded the Hampshire Stragglers, who toured Kent for over 40 years, using Folkestone as their long term base.
The Stragglers played leading club sides in Kent for four decades, and out of the cricket tour a golf society was born.  
A long standing member of the Royal Winchester Golf Club, Derek succeeded Tom Wilson (who became a director at Fulham after ending his playing days with Folkestone Town) as Stragglers’ president in 2006, a position he held until his death.  Such has been its success, the golf society now boasts over 100 members, many with steep roots in cricket.
Derek Igglesden was a very well respected businessman and sportsman, who put so much time and effort back in the games he loved.  His memory in Winchester sporting circles will live on for many years.

Five Southern Premier League sides are among the 128 teams to have entered this summer's Royal London national club championships, which the ECB plans to start on May 16 2021.
The competition did not take place last year due to then suspension of recreational cricket because of the on-going coronavirus pandemic.
Provided the epidemic has been brought under control and recreational cricket gets the government green light for the upcoming season, long standing SPL rivals South Wilts and Bashley (Rydal) face off (at Bemerton) in one of the RLC west groups, with the first round winners away to either Bath or WEPL champions Potterne.
Havant, who have been the SPL's most successful side in the competition over the years, renew rivalries with Surrey Championship side Weybridge, while Burridge host St Cross Symondians.

Farnham and Alton cricket clubs have paid tribute to Chris Burchett, who died just before Christmas. He was a fine opening batsman for Farnham in their most successful period in Surrey club cricket during the 1970s and 80s before joining Alton, where he went on to score runs in equally plentiful measures.
Long time Farnham team-mate Bob Shergold reflected: “Chris will be remembered by most for his bold attacking style, but this was fully complemented by a solid and correct technique that could suit all conditions.
“When in the right mood his batting could be devastating and he was one of few club batsman who could transform a game inside an hour at the crease.”
Chris Burchett joined Farnham in 1970 after starting out at Elstead and Thursley. He soon announced his arrival when he made 126 against the I’Anson league representative XI, always a traditional and keenly contested fixture.
Over the coming years he became one of the club’s most prolific batsmen with over 12,000 runs.  Only Alan Thorpe, Geoff Hebden and Bob Shergold scored more.  He topped 1,000 runs in a season on seven separate occasions and over the years scored in the region of 30 centuries for the club.  When he left Farnham, having been made a Vice President, he finished his playing days with Alton CC before donning the umpire’s coat.
                                                                                     Astonishing
Chic Stedman, Farnham’s leading wicket taker, past captain and president, played in the majority of games with Chris, continued: “He was one of the few players I was glad I didn’t have to bowl at as he could make any bowler look second rate. 
“Not many players are responsible for actually taking games by the scruff of the neck and turning them into victories and I think he won three or four games a season for us with astonishing innings. 
There were, of course days when Bob Shergold, batting at no 3, had to make sure he was padded up and ready to bat!!
“Chris was a very good player and genuinely nice bloke, never happier post-match than with a beer in his hand and socialising with the opposition.”
A classy, stylish batsman, Chris played representative cricket for British Telecom and the XL Club (alongside Bob Shergold and Chic Stedman). He joined Alton in 1980, reproducing his attacking flair with runs galore for all four of the club’s sides. 
One Alton game in particular stands out – a tour match in Gloucester when, after 13 overs, Chris was the first man dismissed. Alton were 120-1 – and Chris had made 101 of them !
Alton chairman Julian Ballinger added: “Stories of 100s in the 3rd and 4th teams are plentiful – as he got older, he scored most of his runs in boundaries. There weren’t many quick singles being taken in those days!
“However, the best recollections were of Chris as a man. So many Alton members simply remember Chris as a “legend”, a “top man”, a “great guy” and a “fantastic man”. 
“He was generous with his time and always had plenty of wise words of encouragement for his younger teammates. He also had a sharp wit and was well-known in his umpiring days for some razor-sharp put-downs to cricketers from both teams who thought they knew better than he did!
“Chris will be sorely missed and fondly remembered as a player, a clubman, a teammate and a friend. Alton will be paying tribute early in the 2021 season to a much-loved member of the club.” 

Geoff Beale has stepped down as Hampshire Sixties captain ahead of the 2021 vets season which sees the county elders pitched in a potentially demanding National Championship south-east group alongside Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex.
Kent will be Hampshire’s first opponents on April 27 when Blackheath’s Chris Swadkin will doubtless be looking forward to scoring his annual century !
Left-hander Beale, pictured, assumed the Hampshire captaincy in 2015 taking over from the late Geoff Owen. 
He is closing in on 1,900 runs for the Seniors, having made three centuries and 11 fifty-plus scores.
Hampshire qualified from their south-west in each year of his captaincy but progress in the play offs was always short lived, although in 2019 when qualification was changed to a league format, Hampshire narrowly lost their final game and hence a place in the final to Somerset who, in turn, finished national runners-up.
Due to the cancellation of the national competition, Hampshire played only two friendly matches – both against Oxfordshire – last summer.
President John Rickard and his selection panel are unlikely to be short of candidates to fill Beale’s boots, with Bashley Rydal’s Iain Britton, successful as county 50s skipper, and Lymington’s Neil Trestrail favoured among the bookies, with Rick Marston, Martin Shephard, and Chris Yates outsiders.  Given his First Division experience with Saints and Manchester City, Graham Baker may yet toss his hat into the ring.  
White smoke from John Rickard’s Kellett Road chimney will indicate when the 2021 Hampshire Sixties captain is chosen, but it may be a while yet as the President has no plan to turn off his central heating during this cold snap.

Hartley Wintney have rescheduled their delayed 250th year anniversary celebrations until next summer, with matches against Hampshire and the MCC set to take place in July, and a black-tie Lord’s dinner in the historic Long Room in mid-December 2021.
The North Hampshire club had planned to celebrate cricket being played on The Green since 1770 this past season, but on the on-going covid pandemic put paid to their celebrations.
So, all being well, the summer of 2021 will be 250 + one for Hartley Wintney.
“The club has hosted hugely successful Hampshire benefit matches since 2002 and Friday July 23 2021 is earmarked for the county’s next visit to the Green,” said HW chairman Ian Kerr.
“The previous day we will be hosting the MCC, so it should be a memorable 48 hours for everyone.
“We very much hope that, once again, we will be able to hold a fund-raising lunch event in a marquee, so fingers firmly crossed for the positive impact of vaccines and groups being able to mingle and socialize again.
“Hartley Wintney have made quite a name for themselves at hosting these functions in the past.  They are massively enjoyable occasions, with 300 or so diners sipping the odd glass of wine.”
The concluding celebration event will be Hartley Wintney’s Long Room dinner at Lord’s on Saturday December 11.
“That will be a great event in cricket’s inner sanctum and the dinner being postponed by 12 months after 250 years should not make much difference,” Mr Kerr smiled.
Hartley Wintney have already launched 1770 fund raising initiatives for two splendid causes, the future of junior cricket at the club and Parkinsons UK.
“The latter is especially important to us given that my immediate predecessor as chairman, David Harrison and former Hampshire & England cricketer Shaun Udal, an honorary HWCC member, are both afflicted by this under researched disease,” Mr Kerr added.
Contributions would be very much appreciated and can be made at: 
https://gogetfunding.com/hwcc-pledge-1770/ 
A fully illustrated hard-back book about the history of Hartley Wintney CC has been published and has been well received.
It weaves together the characters in the village with the evolution of Cricket, with copies available for £17.70 through  book.hwcc1770@gmail.com
"It is a fantastic and outstanding publication. The work and research involved are simply immense," praised Thames Valley League chairman Neil Doody, a long standing club member and vice-president.

​Portsmouth cricket chairman Rick Marston (above) has praised the club’s local community for getting behind their pavilion redevelopment plans. 
The Southsea seafront-based club recently launched an online Crowdfunder with the aim of reaching a £20,000 target by January 3, writes Simon Carter of the Portsmouth News..
With Christmas fast approaching, over 200 people have financially backed a project which will cost over £70,000 in total and make the pavilion one of the best in Hampshire.   As of lunchtime today, £16,881 had been raised - 84 per cent of the target.
‘We’re getting close, it’s really exciting,’ enthused Marston. ‘We could hardly have picked a worse time to do this. We haven’t been able to hold any fundraising events, and to do it in the run-up to Christmas is a bit suicidal as well. People have got better things to do with their money at this time of the year, so it’s been a perfect storm really.’
Despite the pandemic and the festive season, though, Portsmouth appear on course to hit their target.
‘The most positive thing for me has been the way the community has pulled together to support us,’ said Marston.  ‘To have got 200 separate individuals is a great volume of people, it’s brilliant.  To read the warmth of the feedback has been great as well, because we do see ourselves as a community-based club.
‘Having said that, there is a pyramid structure - we want to get local kids involved and at the top level get them playing the highest standard they can.’
The pavilion project - including roof repairs, a new balcony and major internal work - will cost between £70-75,000.
Local company PMC Construction - whose managing director Steve Cripps is chairman of Baffins Milton Rovers FC - are lined up to do the building work.
‘A big factor has been Paul Woolf, one of our members, he’s the CEO at the King’s Theatre,’ explained Marston  PMC are doing work at the King’s and Paul has been the link for us. I know PMC have a pedigree in terms of supporting sport, so we look forward to working with them. A local development company, St Cross Homes, has come in as a major project sponsor.
‘Also, so many local businesses have also supported us - Tenth Hole, Indian Cottage, Gtec, Woodgate Solicitors, The Eastney Tavern.
It is vital Portsmouth CC hit their target.  ‘We need to get to the £20,000 mark,’ said Marston. With Gift Aid, the figure will be over £25,000. If we don’t hit the £20,000, basically everyone gets their money back, so we will get there somehow.
‘If we can go over it, the quality of the overall project will be improved - better coat hooks, door handles, everything.’
                                                                                          Permission
PMC have said they can start work next month, with hopes the project can be completed by the time the 2021 grassroots cricket season begins.
‘We haven’t got external planning consent yet, but we have permission to work on the roof and internally,’ revealed the chairman.  PMC have said it’s an eight-to-12-week project.  The dream is for all the work to be done by the first home game of the season.’
With the Southern Premier League fixtures just released, that means Andover’s visit to St Helens on Saturday, May 8. Portsmouth are due to start the 2021 season at Rowledge the previous weekend.
Marston said the club have already pencilled in some special attractions for next summer.  They are due to host the MCC on a date to be confirmed.
‘We had one a few years ago, it was a very good fixture,’ he recalled.
Portsmouth are also hosting a fundraising event for charity Cricket for Heroes.  The cricket will be in the shape of a four-team T10 tournament - the first time St Helens will have staged such a competition.  One of the teams will consist of players drawn from the armed services.
Portsmouth’s new pavilion will obviously benefit the cricketing community, but Marston is hoping it will boost the club’s coffers as well through being able to stage more events.
‘With the new facilities, there will be a social side of the pavilion and a changing room side,’ he said.  ‘That means we could have a colts game going on, and also host a wedding, anniversary or other such party.  It will give us a lot more flexibility in terms of staging events.  We could even hold wedding receptions - there will be stunning views from the balcony.’
To support the pavilion project, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ and search for ‘Portsmouth CC redevelopment’.
The News, Portsmouth

Hook & Newnham Basics are keen to organise 1st XI pre-season friendly matches - preferably against Premier Division or Division 1 standard opposition - in mid/late April before the commencement of the ECB Southern Premier League programme on 1 May 2021.
They would like to play away on Saturday 18 April, but their KGV Ground is available the following week, 25 April 2021.  Email enquiries to Vince Gardner: vinnygardner1967@gmail.com

​South Wilts’ teenage left-arm quick Josh Croom helped put the Australia Test cricketers through their paces in Adelaide ahead of the first Border/Gavaskar Test, which saw India dismissed for an all-time low 36 all out and beaten by eight wickets.
The 18-year old from Stratford-Sub-Castle is spending the winter months at the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy and spent four training sessions bowling at the Aussies ahead of the Test.
He didn’t do badly either bowling out Travis Head (who played Southern Premier League cricket for Ventnor as an 18-year old in 2013) twice and then Aussie skipper Tim Paine – both in centre middle practice on the Adelaide Oval.
“It was a surreal experience bowling flat out in the middle of one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world with all the media and television people around,” Croom beamed.
“I bowled at all their top line batsmen, including Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Burns, and Matthew Wade, plus a host of the lower order.” 
Croom, who was recently awarded a Hampshire Academy contract for the 2021 UK season, has become a familiar face in the Australia camp.
“In September I was one of the Academy bowlers to join their bubble at the Ageas Bowl as they prepared for the One Day and T20 Series against England.
“It was great to have all the Aussie coaches and players from their England trip remember me when I rocked up at the Adelaide Oval and to have a good catch up and learn about the game with all of them over the last week.
“I’ve really enjoyed my experience with the Aussies Test players, especially in September at the Ageas Bowl.
“It made me feel as though I was an International, having the experience of seeing how the players go about their business, both on and off the field.”
It wasn’t a one-sided thing either as the Millfield schooled Croom picked up a tip or two from the Aussie players which he hopes will hold him in good stead for the future.
“Pat Cummings and Josh Hazlewood (who between them routed Indian in the second innings) went out of their way to take me aside and gave me some valuable advice.  They were terrific,” he smiled.
As a reward for his endeavours, Aussie head coach Justin Langer gave Croom complimentary tickets for the opening two days of the Test, which saw India dismissed for 244 and then bowl Australia out for 191.
“It was an incredible experience to watch two great days of cricket with very competitive teams up against each other.  What happened on day 3, when Indian were rushed out for 36, was unreal,” he added.
Croom followed in South Wilts’ team-mate Raff Hussey’s footsteps by joining the Darren Lehmann Academy in mid-October and after spending his initial two weeks on Australian soil having to quarantine in a hotel.
                                                                                 Recommended
He explained: “I spoke to many different people about joining the Academy, especially Raff (who went there two winters ago) and some of my Millfield school chums who recommended it highly. 
“I’m staying in a house with two other cricketers from the Academy – trying to follow mum’s cookery tips – and have training camps four days a week, Monday to Thursday, developing our cricket skills, as well as fitness and gym work.
“Every Friday our head coach takes us down the beach to do recovery sessions (swimming, stretching), before we have matches for our clubs every Saturday.”
Croom has joined the South Australia seaside town grade club Glenelg, where Jake Winter (who spent the 2016 season at South Wilts) plays.
“It’s a superb setting, with a sizeable grandstand come pavilion and grassed banks all around,” Croom enthused.
Ian and Greg Chappell played at Glenelg before going on to play and skipper Australia on many occasions.  It is also the home to Andrew Hilditch and off-spinner Ashley Mallett.
Croom certainly made a positive impression in his latest outing for Glenelg, taking 3-28 in an impressive seven-over spell with the new ball as Second Grade opponents West Torrens were rushed out for 100 and soundly beaten by 120 runs. 

Local sport has been saddened by the death of former Hampshire cricket treasurer Tim Jobling, who played club cricket for the Winchester side Hyde Ramblers in the mid-Seventies before moving across to captain Petersfield in the old Southern League.
Mr Jobling died recently, aged 74 years, after a brave battle against prostate cancer.
He captained the Peter Symonds Grammar School as an all-rounder – according to his brother Chris he was a decent away-swing bowler in his teenage years – the pair going on to play for Eastgate, who then became Winchester City.   The King George V Ground was the club’s home.
A subsequent merger saw Winchester City link up with Hyde Ramblers, where Tim played as a top order batsman in a powerful side which included Don Marks, Bob Lashley, Brian ‘Bumper’ Lush, Richard Edwards, Dave Stratton, Pete Green, Rob Savage and Ken Mould.
Team-mate Peter Green, now Hampshire 70s captain, reflected: “I played a great deal with Tim at Hyde Ramblers. 
“He joined when Winchester CC amalgamated with Ramblers and batted at number 3, keeping company with prolific batsmen such as Dave Stratton, Geoff Goater and Dave Hayter, pace bowlers Bob Laishley and ‘Bumper’ Lush, and spinner Kenny Mould. 
“It was a fine, all-round team, one of the original Southern League sides. With North Walls as the home ground, Tim was always great company at the many after match evenings spent at the King Alfred.”
Tim subsequently joined Petersfield and captained their Southern League side for three seasons between 1983 and 1985.  He played his Sunday social cricket with the Hampshire Hogs.
Mr Jobling joined Brooking Knowles & Lawrence, the Winchester accountancy practice, as a trainee, and, once qualified, became a partner of the Southgate Street firm.                                                                                Working alongside prominent Old Tauntonians cricketer Tony Baker (who was chairman of the Southern League), Tim soon became league treasurer – a fiscal role he continued with Hampshire  CCC in the latter days of Northlands Road.
Hampshire chief executive Rod Bransgrove takes up the story.
“I first met Tim when he was working for Tenon in the 90’s and hosting occasional relaxed working lunches with local businessmen. 
“These were genuinely productive and enjoyable occasions and I am sure that the network he established was of great benefit to his Company. 
                                                                                Cheerful and witty
“He was on the Hampshire County Cricket Club Committee in 2000, when I first got involved with the Club, and was the only committee member who voiced the full extent of his concerns about the true vulnerability of the business. 
“A Trustee of the Barker-Mill Foundation (alongside Naomi House) and a passionate Hampshire cricket and Southampton football devotee, he was consistently cheerful, witty and optimistic even when unwell in recent years. 
“My thoughts right now are with all his devoted extended family and the numerous good friends who, like me, will profoundly miss this honest, generous and entertaining character.”
Away from his love of sport, Tim had been a long-serving trustee of the Barker-Mill Foundation and former chairman of the Winchester Medical Foundation.
The Barker-Mill Foundation has paid tribute. Its chairman Richard Moyse recalled: “Tim was appointed as a trustee in 1995 and in his 25 years with us was a huge asset to the Foundation.
“His passion and continued championing for charities ensured support was provided to causes that most benefitted the wider Hampshire community, and his compassion, dedication and loyalty for helping others was admirable and unstinting, we shall all miss him.”

​Alton have lined up 32-year old South African all-rounder Matthew Arnold to replace Thando Ntini as their overseas player in the ECB Southern Premier League next summer.
A right-arm seam bowler and left-hand batsman, Arnold has made 130 appearances in South African provincial cricket, primarily for Easterns and Titans, taking over 270 wickets.
He played for a Cricket South Africa Invitation XI against England in Benoni last December and trapped Surrey’s Ollie Pope leg before wicket.
Arnold’s last provincial appearance was for the Titans last March, playing alongside Protea pair Aiden Markham and Dean Elgar.  South Africa cricket has just been suspended due to the rapidly escalating covid pandemic crisis throughout the country.
Regarded as an important stand-in player when the internationals are away, Arnold represented the SA U19 side that lost to India in a rain-affected final at the 2008 ICC Youth World Cup. 
A reliable bowler who has consistently been one of Easterns’ leading wicket-takers, Arnold is a wise old head, a clever cricketer and also very useful with the bat, the left-hander boasting a highest first-class score of 150.
Arnold will also uses his experience of more than a dozen first-class seasons to coach Alton's junior cricketers, the Brewers winning the Hampshire Under-19 Cup this past summer.