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The Road To Lord's





Round Two - Regional Quarter-Finals

As the Worcestershire match meandered towards a draw yesterday, I decided to keep tabs on the first few Village Cup streams I could turn up on YouTube, with the aim of following the winners - or the teams that beat them - all the way to the final at Lord's in September, and hopefully learning a little bit about some of the clubs along the way.  And so I began with three humble village sides...

Outcasts Cricket Club



Group 11 - East Midlands
Crowle (west of Scunthorpe)
Lincolnshire County League, Premier Division (currently 6th)

Founded in 1947 as a wandering refuge for players unable to get a game in other local village sides, Outcasts settled in Crowle in the 1960s before relocating to their current ground at Hirst Priory in 1978.  It's a wonderfully picturesque, leafy ground with plenty of soothing birdsong and the odd dog-walker accompanying the crack of willow on leather, but despite a promising start against visitors Cropston with an opening stand of 74 between Rick Johnson and Matthew Teale, the Outcasts subsided badly in the back half of their innings; two calamitous run-outs certainly didn't help the cause as they toppled from 100-2 to 150-8 off their forty overs.  When Cropston opener Parth Sindhal was bowled by Liam McAnaney for 1 off the fifth ball of their reply, it looked like a tight chase might be on the cards, and Outcasts certainly enjoyed some overs on top; but further wickets proved hard to come by, and Alex Risk played an excellent hand for the visitors with a half-century as they cruised to a 7-wicket win with seventy-five deliveries to spare.  My focus will shift to Cropston for the next round, as they progress along with Lowdham and Calverton.

Ynystawe Cricket Club



Group 17 - Glamorgan & Gwent
Ynystawe (north-east of Swansea)
South Wales Premier Cricket League, Division Two (currently 1st)

Founded in 1920 by soldiers returned from the trenches, and moving to their current ground at Maes-yr-Afon in 1953, Ynystawe are a true Valleys club whose proud history encompasses lifting the Village Cup in 2001, after triumphing by 99 runs over Elvaston at Lord's with bowler Paul Discombe's 6-18 setting a new competition record.  In Sunday's second round they made short work of Hopkinstown on the banks of the Tawe, skittling the visitors for just 96, with Alex Fletcher claiming 5-38; his first five-fer in any competition since 2014, and first ever in the Village Cup.  Despite a top-order wobble, Andrew Beasley and Luke Garthwaite saw Ynystawe home within twenty overs to progress to the regional semi-finals along with Miskin Manor, Pentyrch, and two-time finalists Ynysygerwn, who prevailed by 27 runs away to last year's regional finalists Tondu.

Sonning Cricket Club



Group 25 - Berkshire
Sonning (east of Reading)
Thames Valley Cricket League, Division 3A (currently 8th)

Reports of cricket matches featuring a Sonning XI go back to the middle of the 18th century, and the current club has played its fixtures on King George's Field for over a century.  Having edged past Emmbrook & Bearwood by 4 wickets in the first round, it was a stroll in the park for Sonning in their encounter with Pinkneys Green, as number three Peter Higginbottom motored to an unbeaten 132 off 102 balls with no fewer than twenty-one boundaries, featuring some fetching cuts and straight drives amidst the more scything short-form strokes.  He proved a key man with the ball too, taking two key wickets and effecting a run-out as Pinkneys Green stumbled to 117 all out shortly after seven o'clock, handing Sonning a 175-run victory.  Cookham Dean, Wraysbury and White Waltham are the other teams to progress in Berkshire.

Full list of teams through to Round Three:

Group 1 - Scotland: Meigle, Bute County, Falkland, Freuchie
Group 2 - North East: Stocksfield, Wolviston, Sacriston Colliery, Bormarsund Welfare
Group 3 - North Yorkshire (North): Folkton & Flixton, Rockliffe Park, Forge Valley, Sutton-on-Hull
Group 4 - North Yorkshire (South): Addingham, Carlton Towers, Patrington
Group 5 - West, South Yorks & Humberside: Ackworth, Houghton Main, Middleton/North Dalton, Frickley Colliery
Group 6 - Cumbria & North Lancs: Cleator, Lanercost, Lindal Moor, Torrisholme
Group 7 - South Lancs: Rainford, Ainsdale, Woodhouses, Wrea Green
Group 8 - Cheshire & Clywd: Alvanley, Stayley, Tattenhall, Halkyn
Group 9 - Derbyshire: Dove Holes, South Wingfield, Langley Mill United, Old Glossop
Group 10 - West Midlands: Milford Hall, Quatt, Burwarton, Himley
Group 11 - East Midlands: Lowdham, Calverton, Cropston
Group 12 - Warwickshire: Corley, Fillongley, Temple Grafton, Nether Whitacre
Group 13 - Worcestershire: Dumbleton, Hagley, Bretforton
Group 14 - Herefordshire & Powys: Colwall, West Malvern, Wormelow, Fownhope Strollers
Group 15 - Northamptonshire: Loddington & Mawsley, Haddon, Kimbolton
Group 16 - Dyfed: Llandysul, Bronwydd, Carew
Group 17 - Glamorgan & Gwent: Miskin Manor, Pentyrch, Ynysygerwn, Ynystawe
Group 18 - Gloucestershire: Corse & Staunton, Kingsholm, Marshfield, Rockhampton
Group 19 - Oxfordshire: Aston Rowant, Langford, Minster Lovell, Oxford Downs
Group 20 - Dorset & Wiltshire: Box, Winsley, Goatacre, Chalke Valley
Group 21 - Buckinghamshire: Bledlow Village, Stoke Green, Winchmore Hill
Group 22 - Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire: Sharnbrook & Bromham, Redbourn, Wheathampstead, Sawbridgeworth
Group 23 - Essex & Suffolk: Horndon On The Hill, Great Waltham, Woolpit, Easton
Group 24 - Surrey: Blackheath, Churt, Rowledge, Valley End
Group 25 - Berkshire: Cookham Deane, Sonning, Wraysbury, White Waltham
Group 26 - Hampshire: Ventnor, Calmore Sports, Bramshaw, Sparsholt
Group 27 - Somerset & Avon: North Petherton, Congresbury, Timsbury
Group 28 - Devon & Cornwall: Grampound Road, Gulval, Roche Old Boys
Group 29 - Cambridgeshire & Norfolk: Foxton Granta, Histon, Nassington
Group 30 - East Sussex: Little Common Ramblers, Crowhurst Park, Rottingdean, Mayfield
Group 31 - West Sussex: Liphook & Ripsley, West Chiltington & Thakeham
Group 32 - Kent: Bidborough, Leeds & Broomfield, Sibton Park