The Dorset Cricket Society is set to be 'blessed' at its first meeting of the new year on Thursday (January 16) when Rev Andrew Wingfield-Digby is the guest speaker.  
A former Dorset Minor Counties cricketer, Andrew has been Chaplain to the England cricket team. He still plays regularly for Oxfordshire Over-60s.
Guest speaker on Thursday January 23 is ECB Cricket Operations Manager Alan Fordham, who (inter alia) has the unenviable task of compiling the county fixture list each year !
Meetings are at the Christchurch Football Club, Hurn Bridge, starting at 1.45pm.  New members are always welcome, £3 per week.

Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl spent three of his formative seasons playing Southern Premier League cricket with South Wilts and later Sarisbury Athletic. He's now starring in the Bangladesh T20 Premier League, where Mohammad Isam (Bangladesh correspondent, ESPNcricinfo) caught up with him.

"Mine is the call… oh what a catch."
Mohammad Shahzad had top edged a slog off Kesrick Williams. From the outside it appeared tough, but fielding standards these days means infielders believe every high ball is a potential chance. Ryan Burl, running behind from cover towards the boundary, hurled himself towards the ball as it dropped fast in front of him and completed the catch, with Imrul Kayes fast approaching to celebrate with him.
In real terms, this would make the year's best catches highlights montage. In the BPL, where fielding standards have often been below par, the Burl catch is arguably the best in eight years.
"If you don't try, you'd never know," Burl tells ESPNcricinfo about the effort. "The game is becoming very athletic. There are some great fielders these days. The game is played at a high tempo. These catches make an impact. I love my fielding. I set myself pretty high standards and I am not afraid to throw myself around. Probably to my detriment as I do get injured doing it."
                                                                        Impressive showing
The catch could be looked at as an equivalent to a zero-angle direct hit run-out, a match-winning cameo or a great over, moments that can turn games, championships and galvanise careers.
Picked by Chattogram Challengers following his impressive showing in the T20I tri-series in Dhaka in September, Burl's maiden BPL stint couldn't have had a bigger boost. As a 25-year old, he gave up on his studies at Solent University, reshaped his batting focus to fit the modern needs and prioritised playing for his country despite all the administrative challenges.
In July last year, they were given the shock of their lives when the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket for government interference. While their membership was restored, it could take them many years to recover from the jolt.
They missed the World T20 qualifiers in UAE, while what was to be their first bilateral series in India since 2002 stood cancelled. Their last T20I was in October in Singapore. So for a cricketer like Burl, T20 opportunities elsewhere is a boon.
                                                                            Serious talent
"There are some seriously talented players in Zimbabwe, but the problem is our lack of regular international fixtures to give us the exposure," he says. "But now we have the one-day league starting next year and hopefully leagues like BPL help us out by playing with foreign players from other countries."
Burl remembers going into denial when he first heard of Zimbabwe's suspension last year.
"A part of me refused to accept that I wasn't going to be allowed to play cricket again," he says. "I just never thought of it for a moment. I kept ignoring it and did my training. I tried to keep myself happy and in the zone."
While their reinstatement hasn't translated into a lot of cricket yet, Burl lives in the hope of a better future, which may begin when Sri Lanka visit Harare for a two Test series later this month, for which he is included in a provisional 25-player squad.. And so, he's trying to be a better version of himself.

"I want to make an impact with batting, bowling or fielding. Coming to bat at No 5, I want to score a fifty off 25 balls," he says of his goals. "Getting a few overs in, being economical and picking up a wicket or two. It is something I have been working on for the last year. I am reaping the rewards of a bit of hard work.
"I used to be an aggressive cricketer, but when I played first-class cricket I became little bit more patient and slower. Now I have obviously tried to adapt. It has been a mental thing. I also spoke to players like Sikandar Raza and Brendan Taylor who play all these leagues. I am picking their brains and trying out a lot of things in the nets. Like reverse sweeps and ramps. It is now part and parcel of the game."
                                                                                   Child prodigy
Burl was a bit of a prodigy growing up in Marondera, 80km east of Harare. He went to Peterhouse School, which has England internationals Gary Balance, Tom Curran and Sam Curran, Italian rugby star Sebastian Negri and Olympic rower Peter Purcell-Gilpin among its alumni.
Burl loved squash more than cricket - he was national champion throughout his teenage years -  but it's the mateship and camaraderie that pushed him towards a team sport.
"I am addicted to all sports," he says of his interests. "I have played cricket, squash, hockey and athletics through the age-groups. If there's a ball involved, I go crazy. I could have been better at squash than cricket when I was young.
But the fact was that after winning a squash match, I was by myself. Whereas in cricket, you can celebrate with ten other guys in the field. I just like the camaraderie of everyone being together and enjoying each other's success.   
Now that love has evolved into an international career that needs big performances almost regularly to keep himself afloat. Burl is a shoe-in for Zimbabwe's up-coming games with Sri Lanka and the tour of Bangladesh in February, when they play all three formats.
It will be another little window for the T20 scouts to keep him in mind for T20 leagues later in the year. Until they get regular tours and home series, Zimbabwean cricketers like Burl have to make use of every opportunity, even if it means running several yards behind them to take impossible catches.

Hampshire prospect Scott Currie took a wicket with his second ball and later returned to dismiss Zimbabwe's top run scorer before England's opening Under-19 World Cup warm-up match in Pretoria was washed out by a violent electrical storm.
He finished with figures of 2-30 off six overs as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 116. England's reply ended in torrential rain after just one over.
Currie's made a dream start, with Zimbabwe opener Wesley Madhevere nicking his second ball behind.  In no time Zimbabwe were 27-4, with Lancashire's George Balderston (3-13) taking the other three wickets.
Tadiwanashe Marumani (53) propped up the Zimbabwe middle-order until he became  Currie's second victim at 100-8.
The Poole teen then took a catch to end the Zim innings at 116.
England, one without loss when the rains came, play their second warm-up match against Afghanistan in Pretoria on Tuesday before launching their ICC Under-19 Cup bid against Australia in Kimberley next weekend.

Trustees of the Michael May Young Cricketers Foundation are meeting on January 15 to consider applications for funding for aspiring Under-18 cricketers from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Trustees like to support sustainable projects so coaching courses is always popular as is coaching equipment but hall hire etc. isn't. They also do small contributions towards nets and artificial wickets. For individuals it can be towards county tour costs or for those in need of coaching and equipment.  For further details, please contact themays@ntlworld.com
Winchester-based, Michael May was heavily involved in schools cricket in Hampshire schools cricket for many years and became an ESCA selector. He died in 1992. 

Promoted Fawley have recruited a batsman from Australia's fire ravaged Victorian outback to boost their prospects in Southern Premier League Division 2 this coming summer.
They have signed Tyler Clark, from West Gippland Association club, Kooweerup as their overseas player for 2020. WG is in south-eastern Victoria, near the lower NSW border, a 150-mile drive from Melbourne.

A trio of cricketers who have spent the bulk of their careers at eight-time champions Havant and South Wilts, who lifted the title four times between 2012 and 2015, have been included in the Southern Premier League's Team of the Decade.
The eagerly awaited announcement of the Dream Team, selected from all four divisions on the basis of sheer weight of runs scored and wickets taken betwLeague tatieleen 2010 and 2019, also sees the inclusion of two players from each of Alton and South Wilts. 
Long serving all-rounder Richard Hindley, Peter Hopson and Ben Walker (currently with Bashley Rydal), are the three Havant representatives. 
Alton's Julian Ballinger, with 305 scalps in the past decade, is selected alongside Brewers' team-mate Scott Myers, who has made over 4,700 runs, taken 95 wickets - and snapped up 88 catches !
South Wilts captain Tom Morton, with some 5,465 runs and 162 dismissals, was first pick for the past decade 'dream team'.
Had he not spent two summers at Ealing, where his award winning 796 runs helped the West London club lift the 2017 Middlesex County  League title, Morton would have been looking to have 7,000 SPL runs under his belt by close of play in 2020. 
                                                                               Left-arm option
Morton's Bemerton team-mate James Hayward, capable of scoring quickly with his own often zanny brand of ramp shots and reverse sweeps, would provide a left-arm option to Ballinger and Hindley in the spin department.
Ben Thane, who is expected to rejoin newly promoted Hook & Newnham Basics for the coming summer season, is penciled in to bat three, sharing Morton's tag as having scored over 5,000 SPL runs since 2010.
Lymington's Matt Metcalfe, with 342 wickets in the past ten seasons, was selected as new-ball bowler alongside James Hibberd, a prominent figures in South Wilts' past title triumphs..
The only non-current Premier Division player picked is Sparsholt all-rounder David Banks, who shone his BAT Sports/Totton & Eling days.
The Southern Premier League's Dream Team (12 selected as one may be injured in the football warm-up) - 
+ Tom Morton, 5465 runs @ 44, 162 ct 37 st
Ben Walker, 4492 runs @ 43, 139 wkts @ 18
Ben Thane, 5150 runs @ 41, 134 wkts @ 22
Peter Hopson, 4793 runs @ 31
Scott Myers, 4736 runs @ 38, 95 wkts @ 32, 88 ct 
David Banks, 4888 runs @ 40, 146 wkts @ 22, 85 ct 
* James Hayward, 4457 runs @ 35, 68 wkts @ 23
Richard Hindley, 3191 runs @ 36, 241 wkts @ 18
James Hibberd, 5976 runs @ 31.79, 483 wickets (overall aggregate)
Matt Metcalfe, 1810 runs @ 23, 342 wkts @ 17
Julian Ballinger, 588 runs @ 10, 305 wkts @ 20

* This website is deeply indebted to SPL Results Secretary Stephen Jones for providing statistical back-up to this article. No wonder he once appeared on University Challenge ...  

Teenage Hampshire prospect Scott Currie is set to take the new ball and open the bowling for England's young cricketers in the upcoming ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.
That's little more than six months after returning from a career threatening stress fracture to his lower back.
It wasn't until early June last summer that Currie, whose roots in the game were sewn as a 12-year old at Poole Town, tiptoed his way back on to the local cricket scene, having spent the first half of the calendar year in rehabiliatation.
"After the extent of my back injury was diagnosed, I spent five months in rehab, which predominantly revolved around strengthening the trunk, legs, back and core muscles," he explained.
As he alights an overnight Johannesburg bound flight, Currie may contemplate on his embroyo career in the game having turned full circle in a very short space of time. 
A decade or so ago a stress back fracture might have brought a premature end to a young bowler's career, but advancement in medical skills and technology has changed all that.
"It was a hard grind, but ultimately worth all the pain," Currie confessed.
                                                                                     Rising Stars
Now Currie is raring to go and being a new-ball bowler (coupled with being a more than handy  batsman) is a key member of a 15-man England squad chosen for the 16-nation global tournament - the team initially being based in Kimberley, the capital of South Africa's diamond industry.
Currie is understandably delighted to have been selected for the Under-19 World Cup following England's pre-Christmas trip to the Caribbean, where he played four times in a Rising Stars Tri-Series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies. 
"It's obviously a huge privilege to be selected, without doubt the pinnacle of age group cricket," he said, jokingly adding "It's not the sort of thing that normally happens to an 18-year old living in a culs-de-sac in Poole."
Currie got a taste of playing cricket in South Africa last February on a Hampshire Academy trip to Hilton College, but he acknowledges that conditions up on the High Veldt will be far different to those in sweaty KZ Natal.
Kimberley, where England are pitched against Australia, Nigeria and the West Indies in a demanding qualifying group, is almost 4,000 feet above sea level, with the batsman friendly pitches unlikely to assist the bowlers in either bounce or movement.      
                                                                           Fond memories of Poole
"And we can anticipate the mercury nearing 40C," grinned the 18-year old, who certainly won't be forgetting his Poole Town roots when he proudly slips on his England shirt in the pre-tournament warm-up matches against Zimbabwe (in Pretoria next Sunday) and Afghanistan two days later.
"I played in all the junior age groups at Poole and will always remember my debut, as a 12-year old, in the fourth team against Charlton Down at Whitecliff recreation ground," he smiled. 
"I then played in each of the Saturday sides in consecutive years until the age of 15 years.
"Some of my fondest memories of cricket have come in a Poole shirt." 
Currie, whose elder brother Bradley was named Southern Premier League Young Cricketer of the Year after helping Bashley (Rydal) to a maiden title last summer, went on to play for Dorset at Under-14, 15 and 17 county levels and subsequently the full Minor Counties Championship side.
His obvious potential was spotted by Hampshire, who now have him contracted as a 'rookie' player.
No surprise that after one magical day last July when he hit an unbeaten and career best 127 against Glamorgan in a Second XI Championship match at the Ageas Bowl and subsequently helped Hampshire IIs win the second team title outright.
Now his eyes are focused on the ICC Under-19 World Cup and warm-up games next weekend before the serious stuff begins against the West Indies in Kimberley on January 20.     
 

 

Bashley (Rydal) will open their defence of the ECB Southern Premier Division championship on the very ground they clinched their first ever title in August.
Their visit to Chapel Gate on May 2 will evoke happy memories for Michael Porter’s side, who chased down Bournemouth’s 238-5 to win by five wickets, with Tom Friend hitting 84 not out.
The victory in the penultimate round of fixtures pointed Bashley to a unique title treble, as their second team went on to take the Division 3 championship and the thirds Hampshire League Division 3 South.  
Runners-up last season and champions in 2018, St Cross Symondians start with an attractive home match against South Wilts at the Green Jackets, while promoted Hook & Newnham Basics dip their toes into Premier Division cricket for the first time at Havant.
Lymington, who set the pace at the start of 2019, play the Hampshire Academy on the Ageas Bowl Nursery Ground, while Alton host Burridge.
There’s a tasty Winchester derby in Division 1 at Locks Lane, where Sparsholt entertain promoted St Cross Symondians II, whose achievement of climbing into the second tier of Hampshire recreational cricket is commendable.
Relegated Basingstoke & North Hants begin at Division 2 winners Totton & Eling.
Division 3 champions Bashley (Rydal) II open with a home match against Old Tauntonians & Romsey, while runners-up Fawley tackle Waterlooville at Holbury.   Fair Oak set sail for Ventnor.
The pick of the opening day SPL3 games is arguably Portsmouth & Southsea’s meet-up with old rivals Hambledon.  Hythe & Dibden host Trojans at Jones Lane.
The 2020 Southern Premier League fixtures can be found at www.southernpremierleague.co.uk/fixtures
* Bashley (Rydal) skipper Michael Porter is pictured with the ECB Southern Premier Division trophy.

Champions Bashley (Rydal) have signed left-arm spinner Dominic Clutterbuck from ECB Southern Premier Division neighbours Bournemouth.
The 21-year old, who is in his final year studying Sports Coaching & PE at Oxford Brookes University, has spent the last three seasons at Chapel Gate, winning the Division 1 bowling award with 35 wickets in his debut 2016 summer and playing a lead role in the club’s promotion with 34 scalps in 2018.
“I loved playing for Bournemouth and winning Division 1 in 2018 was very special, but I thought I needed a change and Bashley (Rydal) are going in the right direction.,” he explained.
“I know their skipper Michael Porter very well and Steve Wilson has been my bowling coach since I was ten years of age.
“I thought the opportunity (to join Bashley) was too big to turn down. They are a very ambitious club with a lot of talented young players.”
Clutterbuck spent two months before Christmas back in training with the Oxford MCCU squad, having taken a sabbatical from cricket mid-way through last summer.
He played only six Premier Division games for Bournemouth (taking five wickets) this past summer and three more at the end, helping the Lions’ second team snatch the third promotion place from Hampshire League County Division 2.
Ironically, Clutterbuck's Bashley debut could be against Bournemouth at Chapel Gate, where the champions begin their title defence on May 2.

Mark Lavelle will captain Calmore Sports for a sixth successive year in 2020 – making him the longest serving Southern Premier League skipper by some distance !
He led Calmore to the 2016 Division 2 championship and then the 2017 SPL1 title at the first attempt, scoring close on 2,300 runs and taking 231 wickets since cementing a regular spot in the first team in 2010.
Lavelle, left, who won the SPL2 bowling award in 2016, has enjoyed possibly the best economical bowling record in the entire Premier League in recent seasons, conceding 2.50 runs per over in 2017 and 2.62 this past summer.  His miserly off-spin has been rewarded with over 30 wickets in each of the past three seasons.
Lavelle will lead Calmore out onto both the Southern Premier and Hampshire League’s Most Improved Ground in 2020, groundsman Joe Weston’s nine-month stint at Loperwood Park having coincided with a major upturn in marks – and prestigious awards from both leagues.

​Bournemouth University students will probably have to end three unbeaten opposition records if they are to reach the BUCS indoor sixes cricket finals.
They carried all before them, winning all seven games in last month’s south-east qualifiers at Eastleigh’s Fleming Park.
But East London, Exeter and Kent, whom they will face in the South regional finals in Canterbury on February 1, also emerged with 100 per cent records from their domestic tournaments, leaving Bradley Currie’s with a stiff task in Canterbury’s Christ Church University sports complex.
Currie is joined in the Bournemouth side by Dan Goodey and Basingstoke & North Hants spin all-rounder Ash Neal, who scored close on 200 runs in the Eastleigh.
Lymington’s Harry Fisher will line up for Exeter alongside former Hampshire Academy pace bowler Rory Hipwell, while Bashley (Rydal) all-rounder George Wilson plays for Oxford Brookes, who are paired against Canterbury, Cardiff & Met and Westminster in the other half of the draw.
The top two teams in each group will progress to the National BUCS finals.
Hartley Wintney batsman/wicketkeeper Will Kerr leads Birmingham University in the northern regional finals.

Hampshire Academy all-rounder Scott Currie has been selected to play for England in the upcoming ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.
The 18-year old Poole-based prospect, who recently signed a rookie contract with Hampshire, is named in a 15-man England squad which will face the West Indies (January 20), Australia (January 23) and Nigeria (January 25 2020), all in the diamond mining centre of Kimberley.
Currie has just returned from a pre-World Cup Tri-Series tournament in Antigua, where he played key roles in England wins over the West Indies and Sri Lanka.  His unbeaten 22 in a half-century ninth wicket stand set up an eventual 29-run win over the West Indies, while in a later match Currie took three late Sri Lanka wickets as England went on to beat the eventual tournament winners in their last 'qualifying' match.

Alton have lined up Auckland University all-rounder and captain Nick Stobart as their overseas player in the ECB Southern Premier League next summer.
The Zimbabwe-born 24-year old, pictured in action earlier this year, enjoyed a fruitful past season in Lancashire, helping Walkden win the Bolton & District League title.  In all cricket he made some 550 runs and, in his principal role as a sharp out-swing strike bowler, took 63 wickets, lifting the league’s bowling award in the process.
Stobart steps into the shoes of fellow Kiwi Matt Bacon, who took 42 wickets all all competitions for the Brewers this summer.
Sources in New Zealand suggest Stobart has long been regarded as a player of significant promise. He excelled for Whangarei Boy’s High School, topping the wicket and MVP charts between 2012 and 2015. He represented the Northern Districts Under-19s and finished as their leading wicket-taker during their 2013 Regional campaign, culminating with Northern Knights Development Program inclusion.
Before his move to Auckland, Stobart starred in the Northland Premier Competition and based on seasonal statistics (2013-15), was named in the Northland “Club Team of the Year” during this period. He represented the Northland Men’s XI, following his “Bowler of the Year” award for the 2nd XI in 2015/16.
Stobart not only boasts an impressive playing career, to date, but he’s an accomplished and practising NZC level 1 coach, with a Bachelor in Sport and Exercise Science (BSc) degree. He has conducted a Strength and Conditioning program for young cricketers and coached an age-group side through the Auckland Eastern Districts CA tournament. During the first term of the 2018 school year, before he left for the UK, he was employed by Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland as their 1st XI fielding and conditioning coach.

Hampshire Cricket have announced five new faces will join the Ageas Bowl Academy set up and play ECB Southern Premier Division cricket in 2020.
They are promising Hartley Wintney all-rounder Harry Broderick (top left), Berkshire prospect Toby Albert (top right), and rookies Dom Kelly, Charlie Mumford and Huw Wheeler, the Hampshire Under-15 Player of the Year.
Fletcha Middleton, George Metzger, Tom South, Sonny Reynolds and left-armer James Trodd will return again for 2020, as well as U17 trio Josh Lawrenson, bat/spin all-rounder Tom Prest and seamer Harry Petrie. 
Middleton, who may skipper the Academy side next summer, was leading run scorer in the ECB’s Super-Four’s Regional tournament at Loughborough in August.
Although not part of the squad initially this past season, Millfield’s Kamran Khanna impressed after debuting for the side and he too is included in the 2020 intake.
Hampshire’s youngsters did well this summer, with the Under-17s beaten finalists in the ECB 50-over Cup and semi-finalists in the three-day County Championship (where they were beaten by eventual winners, Surrey), and the Academy finishing fifth in the SPL, with seven victories.
George Metzger’s 646 runs saw the Basingstoke & North Hants batsman/wicketkeeper finish as the  highest youth run-getter, closely followed by Fletcha Middleton, whose 644 runs included five half-centuries.
Of the five newcomers, Harry Broderick is a hard hitting right-hand batsman and emerging seam bowler, while East Woodhay raised Toby Albert made his mark in the summer by scoring a magnificent career-best 168 against Worcestershire in the ECB County Championship. A handy gloveman, Toby plays for Finchampstead in the ECB Home Counties Premier League.
Winchester-based Dom Kelly is an Under-14 right-arm seamer and left-hand batsman, currently under the tutelage of Mark Garaway at Millfield.
                                                                            Broken finger
A right-hand batsman (and another wicketkeeper), Charlie Mumford represented London & the South East in this year’s Under-15 Bunbury Festival. He has been training with the Hampshire youngsters for the past two years.
Under-15 Cricketer of the Year Huw Wheeler (see separate article) is a Gower-esque left-hand batsman and a sharp seam bowler. He broke a finger in training last week, but will comfortably be fit for the season ahead.
Head of Player Development, Charlie Freeston said: “It’s fantastic to welcome five new promising young players to the Hampshire Academy. They help to form our new intake for 2020 alongside the talented cricketers who return having shown promise as part of the squad this summer. We’re excited to see their development continue throughout this winter and into next season.”
The player pathway system, including the Hampshire Academy, has a strong history of producing talented youngsters that go on to succeed in the professional game, highlighted no more so than nine products of the youth system representing Hampshire throughout this summer’s campaign.

Bournemouth leggie Jem Warner is celebrating a third five-wicket return of the winter season for East Sandringham, his adopted Australian sub-district grade club whom he has helped to joint top place in Melbourne's South East Longmuir Shield competition.
The Swanage-raised Durham University law graduate has been bowling 21-over plus spells in the Aussie heat, taking an initial 5-51 against West Bentleigh, which he has followed up with a 5-92 return against Mackie, 4-63 v Bentleigh ANA and last weekend 5-89 against Elwood.  Warner has snapped up 23 wickets so far.

Talented Ropley teenager Huw Wheeler has been named Hampshire’s Under-15 Cricketer of the Year and is pictured with the Peter Lewin Memorial Trophy, previously won by Alex Ayers and Tom Prest.
Huw, 15, who attends Bedales School in Steep, has played for Ropley since he was seven years of age and as a languid and stylish left-hand top order batsman and developing pace bowler, has gradually made his way through the county’s junior representative team ranks.
Having enjoyed a fine all-round season for Hampshire Under-15s and made his mark in the county development squad, Huw has joined the Hampshire Academy, for whom he took 4-34 on debut against Burridge in August.  
He also played in the Academy side which won the Southern Premier League’s T20 Plate competition. 
Huw certainly isn’t short of pals to practice with, as elder 17-year old brother Joe turns out regularly for Ropley’s Hampshire League side and sibling Ollie is a promising pace bowler for Hampshire Under-12s.

​Gosport Borough, Hythe & Dibden and Sparsholt were among the immediate beneficiaries following the official launch of the Hampshire Cricket Foundation, the newly relaunched charity aligned to Hampshire Cricket and the Ageas Bowl, with the aim of delivering a healthier future for people across the county by raising funds to support four key objectives - 
1. Provision of a life-saving public access defibrillator and training for its use for each of the 160 affiliated cricket clubs in Hampshire, 
2. Screening of every 14-year-old club cricketer in Hampshire each year and to support a range of other cardiovascular screening programmes at the Ageas Bowl and at facilities across the County
3. The introduction of a Healthy Heart Programme across all Hampshire primary schools to help reduce the levels of childhood obesity, and 
4. Offer 3,000 heart patients a supervised exercise and rehabilitation programme each year.
The launch was marked with a special Hampshire Cricket Foundation Christmas Lunch, hosted by TMS and Sky Cricket presenter Charles Dagnall, at the Ageas Bowl last week, with over 250 turning out to mark the occasion. 
                                                                                    Life saving
The event, which helped raise more than £14,000 for the charity, also included a cheque presentation of £10,000 to Cardiac Risk in the Young for heart screening and the presentation of four life-saving defibrillators to local cricket clubs; Sparsholt, Steep, Hythe & Dibden and Gosport Borough.
Stuart Robertson, Hampshire Cricket Foundation Director, said: “The Charity Christmas Lunch marked the launch of a very exciting new phase in the development of the Hampshire Cricket Foundation and it feels that we are at the start of something very special. The Hampshire Cricket Foundation will change and save lives in our community and at the same time will help to make every cricket club, the heartbeat of its community.”
Heart and circulatory disease kills one in four people in the UK and remains the world’s biggest killer whilst there are 30,000 out of home cardiac arrests in the UK each year. One in three children in the UK are overweight or obese by the time they leave Primary School and one in four adults in the UK are considered obese. All of these issues are something the Hampshire Cricket Foundation is passionate about tackling.  
For more details please visit the charity’s website at www.ageasbowl.com/community, contact community@ageasbowl.com or call 023 8047 2002 and ask for Hampshire Cricket Foundation.
The Hampshire Cricket Foundation is a registered charity (Charity No. 1152024).


- 

South Wilts stalwart Rob Wade has been recognised for his eight consecutive years as Director of Cricket at the Bemerton club. 
He received a standing ovation at the recent SWCC junior players’ awards function when he received an engraved trophy from Stuart Nash (left) and Russell Rowe (right), who have succeeded Wade in the juniors’ role.
Rowe, who played alongside the former South Wilts captain and all-rounder on many occasions, praised Wade for “his organisational skills, selfless devotion and commitment, evidenced by the number of juniors who rose through the ranks during his tenure.”
All three of Wade’s cricketing sons, William, James and Edward are among those who have progressed into senior Bemerton cricket.
​

Rookie Southern Premier League pair Ben Attrill and Jacob Harris have caught the eye in Australian sub-district cricket this weekend.
Isle of Wight teenager Ben Attrill, who plays Premier Division cricket for Lymington, top scored with a patient 35 for his adopted South Western Australia club Denmark in the Albury & District League, but opponents Collingwood Park comfortably polished off a 114-9 run chase to win by five wickets. It was the Danes' eighth successive defeat.
Promising Gosport Borough all-rounder Jacob Harris, meanwhile, did well in Big Bash T20 cricket for Warrion, who play in the Colac District Association, a two-hour drive west of Geelong in the heart of Victoria's fruit growing region.
Harris swatted not only the pesky and aggressive local flies but the ball, making 34 in a 27-run defeat by Alvie and subsequently 38 off 20 balls against Colac West.  Harris later took a wicket with his second ball, triggering a mass collapse as Colac dipped to 78 all out.
In Melbourne itself, South Wilts teen Jack Stearman found himself promoted to Parkdale's First Grade side on the back of his 121 against McKinnon the previous week - and he didn't let his team-mates down.
Stearman top scored with 44 and was headed for a half-century when he had the misfortune of being run out. ​ Parkdale then defended a modest 138-9 (40 overs) to win by 11 runs, Stearman and Bemerton team-mate Will Harries taking a wicket each.
​

Local cricket followers will be interested in Monday's South Africa MSL T20 Cup final between Paarl Rocks and Tshwane Spartans, which is being played in front of a sell-out crowd at Boland Park and screened live on BT Sport from 3.30pm onwards.
Hampshire head coach Adrian Birrell is in charge of the Paarl Rocks side, which includes former Portsmouth Grammar School left-hander Cameron Delport, who helped Hants Under-17s thrash Durham (including Ben Stokes) in the 2007 ECB County final at Hove, and Sibonelo Mayhanya, who played ECB Southern Premier League cricket for Basingstoke & North Hants in 2018.
​Spartans are skippered by Heinrich Klaasen, who played for Purbrook as a teenager and before joining the Centurion-based Titans.
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Hampshire Academy all-rounder Scott Currie stuck three late blows as England Under-19 dismissed their Sri Lanka counterparts for 113 before clinching a four-wicket victory in the latest Tri-Series Youth International in the Antigua tournament.
The Poole -based talent took all three wickets in his second spell and finished with a 3-18 return off 7.4 overs, but wasn't required to bat as England polished off the target to beat a Sri Lanka side which thrashed the West Indies by 130 runs the previous day.
Currie, who has just signed a rookie contract with Hampshire, is hoping to gain a place in the 15-man England squad for next month's ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.

South Wilts are to host Gloucestershire's county cricketers in a warm-up match for the 2020 Royal London Cup next July.
The match at Bemerton on Friday July 17 2020 (1100) will feature Wiltshire's Minor Counties side against Gloucestershire, newly promoted to Division 1 of the County Championship next summer.
Gloucestershire's side will probably include former Bashley (Rydal) all-rounder Ryan Higgins, Benny Howell and left-armer David Payne, who cut his teeth locally with Parley and Bournemouth.
It will be the first time South Wilts has hosted a First Class county side since May 2005 when Wiltshire gave Kent a massive C & G Trophy fright before losing by only nine runs (160 v 151) at Wilton Road.

Hampshire Academy all-rounder Scott Currie rescued England Under-19s with the bat and set up a 29-run victory over the West Indies in the second Tri-Series International in Antigua on Sunday.
England were reeling at 114-8 and facing a second consecutive defeat by their Caribbean hosts when Currie joined Warwickshire left-hander Dan Mousley (48) in a ninth-wicket partnership which turned the match.
The pair added a precious 55, with Currie [left] making an unbeaten 22 off 25 balls on his Under-19 International debut as England rallied to post 169.
Currie, who is expected to join ECB Southern Premier League champions Bashley (Rydal) next season, took the new ball but only managed to bowl four wicketless overs for 22 runs as the West Indies eased themselves back in the box seat at 74-2.
But their last eight wickets fell for only 66 runs. The West Indies were all out for 140, leaving England 29-run winners.
England’s next match is against Sri Lanka at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Wednesday.

South Wilts teenager Jack Stearman has struck his first century on Australian soil, scoring 121 for his adopted Melbourne club Parkdale against McKinnon in the Southern Bayside League Division 3.
Stearman, who is spending a gap winter in Australia before studying Russian at university next autumn, previously hit 108 for South Wilts against the Hampshire Academy in 2018, prior to which he twice hit hundreds in U15 cricket and two more in the Hampshire League.  Parkdale posted 264-9 before bowling McKinnon out for 111.
South Wilts teammate Will Harries is also playing his trade Down Under this winter and has taken seven wickets and made some handy down the order knocks for Parkdale's first grade side.
With 15 wickets, including a 4-25 return against New City this weekend, South Wilts’ pace bowler Luke Evans is St Patrick’s leading bowler in Albury cricket, close to the NSW/Victoria state border. He served up his best delivery in early November when his daughter Ella Sophia was born.