Saturday May 4 v Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester - Won by 4 wickets
Royal Agricultural College 125 (R C A Garrett 5-41); Sherborne Pilgrims 126-6 (M M C F Jones 71)

In unprepossessing conditions we obtained a well deserved victory. The student farmers displayed a dubious knowledge of wicket husbandry by electing to bat first and finding themselves confronted by the hostile Garrett, who bowled expansively. He was ably assisted by Chris Ward, making his debut for the Pilgrims, who provided an effective foil with his medium place in swingers. In the result the College were whipped out by 2.50pm leaving us with just the excessive amount of time which can cause such havoc in a Pilgrims side. Nevertheless, Jones displayed punishing form and hit the bowlers hard and often. Garrett, promoted in the order as his mother and girlfriend were watching, found the occasion a little too much for him. Blackburn was beaten by a ball which would have beaten Garrett so it was left to O'Hanlon and Lyons to stem a minor collapse by a display of batting commensurate with their age and ability, and which forged an encouraging victory.

Sunday May 19 v Dorset XI at Sherborne - Lost by 8 runs
Dorset XI 233-6 (T J Kent 62); Sherborne Pilgrims 225-9

To confine Dorset to 233 in their 55 overs on an easy paced pitch was a tribute to the perseverance and accuracy of the six bowlers, all of medium pace bar the slow left arm of Saunders. Simon Knechtli, in his Pilgrims debut, bowled his right arm medium pace with great gusto and on occasions extracted some surprising bounce which undid two of the first three Dorset batsmen. Saunders bowled with commendable accuracy so early in the season. However, it was early season rustiness which made it difficult for our batsmen to quickly find form and force the pace though Edwards played strongly. The hero was Saunders who unleashed a succession of powerful drives in launching a bold counter-attack, which put the match back into the balance until the last few overs. Given the lack of match practice it was overall a fine effort to have run Dorset so close.

Sunday June 2 - Cricketer Cup first round v Harrow Wanderers at Sherborne - Lost by 31 runs
Harrow Wanderers 211 (E C Gordon-Lennox 73; P R Saunders 4-28); Sherborne Pilgrims 180

This contest was disappointing in that following an outstanding fielding and bowling display by us we completely surrendered the initiative by indulging in a tentative batting display which was possibly prompted by a fear of winning. Harrow won the toss and not surprisingly chose to have first use of a slow flat wicket. All our bowlers worked hard with Tim Edwards being particularly economical, though perhaps the outstanding bowler was Saunders, whose left arm spin prompted a post lunch Harrow collapse from which they never really recovered. Indeed they lost their last seven wickets for 43 runs. A target of 211 on such an easy wicket was well within range, but against a persevering and strictly moderate Harrow attack we slipped behind the required rate, thus placing an impossible burden on the lower order. Will Rydon and Simon Knechtli briefly raised hopes with an eighth wicket stand of 40 but by then the match had become almost irretrievable.

Sunday July 7 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Drawn
Radley Rangers 195-9 dec (H R Mendus 75; P W L Redfern 4-34); Sherborne Pilgrims 140-8

Looking around the changing room it was not entirely clear as to who would bowl for us but in an emotional moment Lough awarded the new ball to that famous post war pair of Redfern and Mason. There was little to choose between the two of them save that Redfern bowled well. Before the tarmac had completely ruined the new ball, Lyons replaced Mason and his particular brand of left arm swing bowling caused the run rate to change and allow Gent to bowl an extended spell of leg breaks. He was ably assisted by the wicket keeping of Michael Wingfield Digby who missed the earlier part of the match owing to the accelerator pedal having come away from his car. Mention must be made of the fine bowling of Redfern who, despite the damage done to the new ball by Mason's deliveries, bowled with skill and patience. Our innings flowered quickly but was then suddenly cut down in its prime by a fine spell of leg spin bowling by Gale and in the end we were lucky to escape with a draw.

Saturday July 13 v The School at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne School 214-5 dec (D M G Wright 74*); Sherborne Pilgrims 116-3 - Rain

With a powerful pace attack we put the School in to bat but their openers took full toll of some initially rather plain bowling. At 55-0, after little more than half an hour, we were wondering whether we had done the right thing. In the event we reduced the School to 127-5. However, the absence of an adequate spin attack was a sore handicap to us and allowed the middle order to retrieve the situation. We made a spirited reply with Blackburn showing particularly fine form but, with 40 minutes to go and 99 runs needed for victory, the rain came.

Sunday July 14 v Marlborough Blues at Marlborough - Won by 7 wickets
Marlborough Blues 151 (R C A Garrett 5-29); Sherborne Pilgrims 154-3 (G A Tice 51)

This was a comprehensive victory in which the Blues were completely outbatted and outbowled, and one which provided ample revenge for the indignities inflicted on us in the previous year. On a damp, grey and misty day the Blues elected to bat first on a somewhat grassy wicket and were immediately confronted with a hostile piece of pace bowling by Blackburn, who extracted considerable left from the wicket. However, the outstanding bowler was Garrett who, reducing his pace and concentrating on accuracy, completely undermined the Blues innings with the admirable assistance of the debutant Tice who took the astonishing number of five slip catches, four of them off Garrett. Not satisfied with his contribution so far, Tice went on to open our innings and take 51 runs off a most competent attack. He ran out Isaac but generally showed great judgement. Michael Wingfield Digby no doubt would have stayed with Tice a little longer had he not been hit on the head by a short ball. Happily he was soon restored to his normal self. It was left to Eckersley-Maslin and Edwards to guide us home to the most satisfying victory of the season.

Saturday July 20 v Honourable Artillery Company at Sherborne - Abandoned

Sunday July 21 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Town 202-6 dec (N S Arnold 70*); Sherborne Pilgrims 143-6 (R A Rice 86)

This match was remarkable for the return to form of Rice who played superbly for his 86. He placed us in a position to make a serious challenge on the Town's total had it not been for the rain.

Monday July 22 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 83-6 - Rain

Another miserable wet day saw our batsmen looking at the rain clouds rather than the ball. The weather won all too soon.

Tuesday July 23 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Won by 5 wickets
Dorset Rangers 222-8 dec (A G M Watson 106); Sherborne Pilgrims 223-5 (R A Rice 115)

To the relief of all, the skies cleared and we had an uninterrupted match. Watson played exceedingly well for his 106, his second century in successive years in this fixture. Given the easiness of the pitch the Rangers total was by no means a large one and this became rapidly apparent when Rice came to the crease and proceeded to play a succession of delightful strokes in his best innings by far for the Pilgrims. He was well supported by Blackburn and Spink, and victory was obtained with time to spare.

Wednesday July 24 v Wiltshire Queries at Sherborne - Drawn
Wiltshire Queries 196 (J R Drew 5-60); Sherborne Pilgrims 155-9 (G P Gent 4-69)

This was a renewed fixture and provided an evenly matched contest. It was a little difficult at times to know which side was the Pilgrims. We won the toss and inserted the Queries on an easy paced pitch. Cassell played promisingly, but the foundation of their innings was provided by Lyons who, in an innings of artistry and charm, drew the fire out of our varied attack, for whom Drew bowled dreadfully to obtain five wickets, three of them falling to rank long hops. Our innings began unpromisingly with Isaac committing the cardinal sin of leaving Redfern's straight ball (a delivery which Redfern had worked on in winter nets). A serious challenge was mounted by Rydon and Blackburn but we found ourselves in trouble against the leg spin of Gent and off-spin of Morton, and in the end were struggling to avoid defeat.

Sunday July 28 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Abandoned

Saturday August 3 v Hampshire Hogs at Warnford - Abandoned

Saturday August 10 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Abandoned

Sunday September 1 v Cobham at Cobham - Lost by 16 runs
Cobham 188 (W J Rydon 4-29); Sherborne Pilgrims 172 (R C A Garrett 69*)

This was an afternoon match owing to the home club's lunchtime catering difficulties. Rydon bowled his slow medium in swingers to great effect and we did well to restrict Cobham to 188. We were in all sorts of trouble until Garrett arrived at the crease and in a pungent and vociferous display, during which he hit three sixes, brought respectability to our score and could even have secured victory had he not run out the last batsman, a lamentable and uncharacteristic lapse of judgement.