Saturday April 24 v Emmanuel College at Cambridge - Lost by 10 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 108 (J F James 5-22); Emmanuel College 109-0 (A G Powell 69*)

A side weak in strength and numbers found batting hard going and we were in deep trouble at 44-8. A gallant stand of 46 by Peck and one of our guests, as well as a last wicket stand of 18 got us into three figures. With little bowling and a meagre total we were always going to have problems - Powell and Poole showed just how big these were.

Sunday April 25 v Magdalene College at Cambridge - Won by 6 wickets
Magdalene College 145 (J F James 5-19, C J S Maxwell 4-25); Sherborne Pilgrims 148-4 (H R J Walker 59*, J N W Edwards 53)

We fielded well and, with good bowling from Maxwell and James our tormentor of the previous day, Magdalene never threatened a large score. The early loss of two wickets was put right by Edwards and Walker in a partnership of 98 and we gained a comfortable win.

Saturday May 15 v Oxford University Authentics at Oxford - Lost by 79 runs
Oxford University Authentics 167-6 dec (D Wilson 60, D H Price 56*); Sherborne Pilgrims 88 (Price 6-19)

The Authentics made a poor start against Fursdon and Wingfield Digby who shared the first four wickets. 21-4 was good news but Wilson and Price changed the picture with a partnership of 87 for the fifth wicket. Hume had Wilson caught by his namesake behind the wicket, but we made little further progress. Peter Donald (19) and Lough (21) put on 44 for our first wicket but the innings then expired with all ten wickets falling in 80 minutes.

Sunday May 16 v Keble College at Oxford - Won by 151 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 253-7 dec (P N C Rowe 115, N J Wingfield Digby 53); Keble College 102 (F V Harris 4-11)

We faced a moderate attack and Rowe helped himself to what was offered. Gould (26), D J Wilson (28) and Wingfield Digby gave good support and our runs came off 44 overs. Sexton was the only Keble batsman to offer any resistance and we won with time to spare.

Sunday May 30 - Cricketer Cup first round v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Lost by 64 runs
Old Tonbridgians 236-7 (C S Cowdrey 79); Sherborne Pilgrims 172 (P N C Rowe 68)

The OT's won the toss and, after losing a wicket in the second over, were helped by a stand of 69 from C M Smith (22) and Cowdrey. When Smith was out at 71, Rylands joined Cowdrey and they added 58. Both were out just before lunch, when the score was 136-4 after 37 overs. Gracey, with help from the middle order, controlled events and we were left with a tough, but not impossible, target of 4.3 an over. Rowe lost five partners before being joined by Harris at 68-5. They added 59, but when Rowe was eventually out, Harris received insufficient support from the lower order and we were all out with three overs left. It was no disgrace to lose to the eventual winners of the competition, but there is little doubt that the OT's did not play to their full potential on the day - sadly, neither did the Pilgrims.

Sunday June 6 v Esher at Esher - Cancelled

Sunday June 27 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Won by 4 wickets
Radley Rangers 208-7 dec (G de W Waller 81; P R D Gould 4-54); Sherborne Pilgrims 211-6 (R M Morgan 74)

On a very hot day Radley lost their first four wickets for 44, but Waller and Sloan then put on 110 for the next wicket. Gould bowled steadily on a good wicket and helped to restrict the scoring. Peter Donald (20) and Morgan got us off to a good start, and Proctor hit a quick 32, all in boundaries. Gould's unbeaten 20 took us to a good win, the runs coming in 12 fewer overs than we had bowled.

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1976 was the year of the dry summer and serious drought. Saturday July 19 to Sunday July 25 must surely have been the most frustrating time in the history of Pilgrims cricket. The weather was wonderful but we could not play. The Upper wicket was dangerous as there were local water restrictions. Although the School could have used their own water from the two artesian wells on Carey's, the longer term interests of "town and gown" quite rightly prevailed. We had to cancel the matches at Commem and the cricket week.

Saturday July 10 v The School at Sherborne - Cancelled
Friday July 16 v Old Sedberghians at Sherborne - Cancelled
Saturday July 17 v Hampshire Hogs at Sherborne - Cancelled
Sunday July 18 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne - Cancelled
Monday July 19 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Cancelled
Tuesday July 20 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Cancelled
Wednesday July 21 v Old Cliftonians at Clifton - Cancelled

Sunday July 25 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Cancelled

The OT's were playing in the semi-final of the Cricketer Cup: they beat Charterhouse Friars by 56 runs and beat Old Blundellians by 170 runs in the final.

Saturday August 7 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Won by 6 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 166 (G Macleod-Smith 5-44); Bluemantles 160 (N A C Dudley 4-22)

We lost two quick wickets before Devitt and Lough (27) put on 60 for the third wicket. Devitt batted for two and a half hours and, although slow, it was a valuable innings. At the other end we suffered a customary middle order collapse, and it was only when Stebbings came in at 106-7 that bat was put to ball. The Bluemantles made an unconvincing start, but numbers five to eight scored 24, 23, 29 and 21 respectively. It seemed they would get home with a few wickets in hand but some fine bowling, backed up by good fielding, changed the picture, and we eventually won by a narrow margin.