Saturday April 27 v Emmanuel College at Cambridge - Won by 120 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 187 (J L Carey 51; S Young 6-50); Emmanuel College 67 (N J Wingfield Digby 7-21)

We won the toss but made an uncertain start. Only Walker of the earlier batsmen played with any confidence and, when he was third out at 54, we rapidly slid to 89-6. This brought together Carey and Andrew Wingfield Digby who put on 75 in just over an hour. When Carey was out for an excellent 51 scored in 73 minutes, the tail added some useful runs. Loney, who had scored a fine century against us the previous year, was the only Emmanuel batsman to resist Nick Wingfield Digby, five of whose victims were bowled. A comprehensive win was in the bag by 5.40.

Sunday April 28 v Magdalene College at Cambridge - Won by 3 wickets
Magdalene College 178 (P M Quas-Cohen 77; P R D Gould 5-31, N J Wingfield Digby 4-33); Sherborne Pilgrims 179-7

Magdalene won the toss but were soon in trouble against Wingfield Digby and Gould. 31-3 became 72-6 which brought Quas-Cohen to the wicket; he made a most valuable 77 out of 96 and helped Magdalene to a more respectable score. Proctor started with a quick 21, another wicket and then Leakey and Wingfield Digby added 81 for the third wicket. Suddenly we were 110-5 and struggling, but Rowe played a sensible innings which saw us home.

Saturday May 11 v Oxford University Authentics at Keble, Oxford - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 1-0 - Rain

Sunday May 12 v Vincent's XI at Oxford - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 216-8 dec (D A B Lough 76); Vincent's XI 114-8 (A D Pickering 5-16)

After the early loss of Garforth-Bles, who was run out for 17, Morgan and Lough put on 97 for the second wicket in 74 minutes. We lunched at a comfortable 136-2, but half an hour after the interval were 157-6. Gould (28) and N J Wingfield Digby (21) put on a valuable 42 for the next wicket and we were able to make a reasonable declaration. Vincent's were always struggling against Pickering's tight bowling which yielded the analysis of 19-11-16-5. However, we could not get them all out and two Pilgrims in the shape of J M Wingfield Digby (25) and Hume were largely to blame.

Sunday June 2 - Cricketer Cup first round v Felsted Robins at Felsted - Lost by 6 runs
Felsted Robins 215-8 (R A G Luckin 61, N J E Mason 55); Sherborne Pilgrims 209-8 (P R D Gould 55)

Felsted won the toss and their openers, Luckin and Smith, put on 86 before the former was out after 105 minutes. Lunch was taken at 128-2 after 37 overs. Mason and Bailey (29) put on 44 for the third wicket but wickets then started to fall. We fielded well but were unable to restrict the scoring in the last few overs. Nevertheless, 216 was quite achievable in 55 overs - a rate of just under four an over. Wingfield Digby and Garforth-Bles put on 42 for the first wicket which would have been excellent if they had taken fewer overs. Many singles were missed and this helped the Felsted bowlers to feel they were getting on top. Gould made a useful 55 in his 20 over stay at the wicket, but his partners found difficulty in keeping the score moving. With ten overs left Morgan came in at 144-6 with 72 needed. He helped Gould put on 29 in six overs, and when Gould was out he continued to score fluently. 53 in five overs became 36 in three, and then 24 in the last over. This last over produced 17 runs but the margin of six runs somewhat flattered us in spite of the excellent 29* from Morgan. The simple lesson from this match was the vital importance of good running between the wickets.

Sunday June 9 v Esher at Esher - Drawn
Esher 186-9 dec (J Leemhuis 90; A R Wingfield Digby 7-40); Sherborne Pilgrims 79-3 - Rain

The Esher innings was made by an aggressive 90 from Leemhuis in 87 minutes before lunch. He scored freely off all our bowlers with the exception of Wingfield Digby who, in two fine spells, returned the analysis of 28-13-40-7. Leemhuis excepted, Esher struggled for 65 overs and set us a stiff target. After 20 overs we were in a good position, although pushed for time, but the result was decided in favour of the rain.

Sunday June 30 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 208-6 dec (J M Wingfield Digby 99, P R D Gould 65); Radley Rangers 154-9 (M Glover 68; N J Wingfield Digby 5-27)

A good toss to win and, after an unfortunate run out in the second over, Michael Wingfield Digby and Gould put on 144 for the second wicket. We declared after 53 overs' batting. The Rangers also suffered an early run out before Savill and Glover put on 83 in 68 minutes. When Glover was out at 135-3 there were 15 overs left. Wickets fell at intervals and we had four overs to snatch the last one. We failed, but this was hardly the fault of Nick Wingfield Digby who bowled 17 accurate overs for his 5-27.

Saturday July 13 v The School at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 182-8 dec; Sherborne School 94-9 (J N W Edwards 74*; A R Wingfield Digby 5-26)

We won the toss and everyone made some runs. Gent (25) and Rowe (29) put on 58 for the first wicket in 50 minutes, whilst Garforth-Bles and Fursdon (22) added 54 for the eighth wicket in half an hour. The School batsmen had a dreadful time with five ducks and no-one reaching double figures, with the exception of Edwards. He played a superb innings and thanks to his efforts the School escaped with a draw.

Thursday July 18 v Old Sedberghians at Sherborne - Won by 1 wicket
Old Sedberghians 161-8 (A K Bruce-Lockhart 70*); Sherborne Pilgrims 162-9 (W J Rogers 4-13)

This was a hastily arranged extra fixture against the Sedberghians, who had been let down by one of their other opponents. It was a 45 over match with only one new ball so, on winning the toss, we elected to field. All our bowlers were in the wickets but the stand of 82 for the third wicket by Bruce-Lockhart and Weston gave us something to aim at. We got to 67-3 thanks to a solid innings from Wingfield Digby, but in spite of a good 24 from Brearley slumped to 94-8. Cometh the hour ... Lough, with some sensible striking, and C G Jackson (27) put on 67 before the latter was run out with the scores level. Lough kept his head and we got the final run with a ball to spare.

Friday July 19 v Old Sedberghians at Sherborne - Won by 2 wickets
Old Sedberghians 239-8 dec (H D E Roberts 56); Sherborne Pilgrims 240-8 (H R J Walker 103*; W J Rogers 5-55)

Another close finish and the Sedberghians would probably consider they were unlucky to lose on both days. They batted steadily for 60 overs and set us a very fair target. Their key partnership was by Roberts and Webb for the sixth wicket which added 64 in 31 minutes when the innings was at a decisive point. Wingfield Digby and Lough put on 91 for the second wicket and, when they were parted, Walker came in with 127 wanted in 14 minutes and 20 overs. After a quiet start he took control and with three sixes and seven fours reached a magnificent century in 82 minutes. Wickets fell at the other end and, for the second day running, we got home in the last over.

Saturday July 20 v Hampshire Hogs at Sherborne - Drawn
Hampshire Hogs 215 (C Lainé 71; E D Fursdon 4-63); Sherborne Pilgrims 168-8 (R H Rham 4-51)

The Hogs won the toss and made steady progress helped by stands of 51 for the third wicket, 52 for the fifth and 45 for the sixth. Lainé and Wilson played well and were severe on the loose ball. At 182-5 the Hogs must have been hoping for quick runs and an early declaration. However, things did not go according to plan: we got some wickets which forced the Hogs to bat on for 65 overs. This left a tight target but we were given a fine start by Rowe and Sugden with 61 for the first wicket, and then Rowe and Angus Robertson (25) with 39 for the third. We then got into trouble in trying to force the pace and 101-2 became 149-8. It needed a cool 23* from Fursdon to stabilise the tail.

Sunday July 21 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Town 177-6 dec (A S Hodgson 64); Sherborne Pilgrims 100-9 (G R Corke 5-39)

The Town won the toss and made a very slow start. Fursdon reeled off six maidens and after seven overs had 2-5. Hayward batted 40 minutes for zero and with the Town at 32-2 we were hopeful. Hodgson and Watts changed this with a stand of 92 and we were eventually left with a tough target. Our batting was never up to the task and, apart from Garforth-Bles, we were always coming second.

Monday July 22 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 178 (P R D Gould 50; T M Taylor 4-34, C Barrington 4-36); Somerset Stragglers 164-8

We won the toss and at lunch were 108-4 with Gould having been supported by Walker (23) and Sugden (21). The middle order was helped by Parker (22) and D J Wilson (20) but we battled for 60 overs. Our bowling did not cause the Stragglers enough problems and, although they were 145-8 with some 20 minutes to go, we could not get the last two wickets.

Tuesday July 23 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Won by 2 wickets
Dorset Rangers 205 (M Harris 64, G H Pinney 58; P R D Gould 4-39); Sherborne Pilgrims 209-8 (H R J Walker 55; M Miller 5-57)

After losing two early wickets, Pinney and Harris put on 100 for the third Rangers wicket. With the score 177-4 at a quarter past three we could have been chasing a formidable total, but Gould and Walker (2-62) got the wickets and we were left with three hours to get the runs. Parker and Walker had a useful stand of 61 in 43 minutes and we wanted 110 in the last 20 overs with eight wickets in hand. Thanks to Walker and Gould (23) we got home with two balls to spare.

Wednesday July 24 v Old Cliftonians at Clifton - Won by 84 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 189-5 dec (G P Gent 64*; G D A Milne 4-57); Old Cliftonians 105 (A S Dixon 61; P R D Gould 7-36)

After an eighty minute delay through rain we made good use of winning the toss with a stand of 69 for the second wicket by Wingfield Digby and Lough, and an undefeated "declaration" partnership of 74 in 42 minutes from Gent and Gould (26*). Gent batted particularly well and his runs came in even time. Gould was back in the thick of things when Clifton batted and it needed the skills of Dixon to keep them afloat. Victory beckoned at 65-7 but Dixon was still there and it was another 35 minutes before Richard Scott bowled him with a beauty. This enabled us to sort out the tail and win in the last over.

Sunday July 28 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 224-7 dec (C V Nicholas 71*, E D Fursdon 58); Old Tonbridgians 197-7 (S J B Langdale 58*)

Our innings was mixed - a good start by Garforth-Bles but 56-1 turned into a dangerous 117-6. Nicholas and Fursdon rescued the day with a superb partnership of 103 in 43 minutes. Fursdon was in great form hitting four sixes. Tonbridge had 31 up for the first wicket but accurate bowling and good fielding pinned them back to 105-6. Any ideas of a Pilgrims victory were dispelled when Smith joined Langdale and they put on 75 runs in 46 minutes. When Smith was out 45 were still required but the overs were running out and the result was an honourable draw.

Saturday August 10 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Abandoned