Saturday May 3 v Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester - Won by 40 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 183 (E P J F Lyons 52; C A Lloyd 4-23); Royal Agricultural College 143 (Lyons 5-38)

A convincing, if not resounding, victory to start the season was marked by some unusually spectacular Pilgrims catching. Of the six chances offered five were taken, three of them by Chris Ward in the deep. Our innings largely revolved around a stand of 68 between Rydon and Lyons, with useful contributions from Isaac (21) and Rice (25). The opposition batting seemed only to have one gear as they tore into our attack as though they were late for the milking, and ran their runs as if afflicted with warble fly. As wickets fell their run rate merely increased until in a blaze of glory they were sunk without trace - befooled by the slow left arm trickery of Lyons, aided and abetted by the glutinous hands of Ward.

Sunday May 18 v Dorset XI at Sherborne - Lost by 4 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 196-7 (T D W Edwards 90, M M C F Jones 68); Dorset XI 199-6 (A Kennedy 56, G S Calway 55)

We won the toss and, in a 55 over match, elected to bat on an easy wicket. A magnificent opening partnership of 150 between Edwards and Jones laid the foundation of our innings, with Edwards being particularly strong off his legs, and in addition producing a number of powerful cover and straight drives. Jones kept pace in his methodic way marked by a series of fine on drives, including a prodigious blow for six. At 117-0 with 19 overs to go we might have hoped for a few more runs than we actually got, but wickets fell in the chase, and none of the later batsmen were in long enough to get their eyes fully accustomed to the conditions. Dorset were made to fight every inch of the way. Fine swing bowling by Edwards, Justin Fish and Richard Arkell, aided by some enthusiastic outfielding, kept them under pressure but they eventually squeezed home with two balls to spare. The foundation of their innings was a partnership of 115 for the fourth wicket by Calway and Kennedy.

Sunday June 1 - Cricketer Cup first round v Downside Wanderers at Sherborne - Lost by 7 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 196-8; Downside Wanderers 199-3 (R T Vyvyan 74, A R Bernard 56)

A winning margin of seven wickets did not flatter our opponents whose batting was far more purposeful than ours had been earlier in the day. On losing the toss we were put in to bat on a green but slow wicket. Edwards played well for his 37 but a lunch score of 100 off 36 overs was really too slow in the circumstances against strictly moderate bowling. After lunch we were guilty of some casual batting but Saunders played a fine attacking rear guard innings which culminated in the final two balls of the innings going for six. A score of 196 really put the onus on the bowlers, but sadly both line and length were lacking as Downside, mercilessly punishing the many loose balls presented to them, raced to 96 off 22 overs before the first wicket fell. They were never under any pressure and victory was secured with ten overs left.

Sunday July 6 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 248-4 dec (M M C F Jones 126*, A D Leakey 80); Radley Rangers 212-6 (R J Flory 53, C H H Pegg 50*)

On a perfect batting wicket Jones and Leakey hammered the Radley attack to all parts of the ground. Rowe and Wingfield Digby (J M), like the poor, are always with us, but on this occasion failed to make their usual quota of runs. Radley fared badly against the fierce pace bowling of the burly Wilson and were much relieved to come to the green and pleasant bowling of Rowe and Redfern who, in spells of economy of both guile and accuracy, prised Radley back into the game for a brief while before they put up the shutters for a rather disappointing draw.

Saturday July 12 v The School at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 164 (P M S Slade 4-34, A R Vassigh 4-53); Sherborne School 140-6 (N H Peters 61; A I C Wilson 5-29)

A very modest batting performance against the best School attack for some years saw us reduced to 87-8, before Lough and Fisher (26) gave the score some respectability. Any thoughts the School might have had of an easy victory were shattered by the vibrant fast bowling of Wilson, who took the first five wickets, four of them clean bowled. From such beginnings the School's ambitions withered and they were content to play out for a draw with able batting from Peters.

Sunday July 13 v Marlborough Blues at Marlborough - Lost by 4 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 178 (S J Baillie-Hamilton 4-59); Marlborough Blues 179-6 (S E Battersby 63)

A rather patchy batting performance, in which Eckersley-Maslin and Rice both played well, saw us to 178, which given the paucity of our bowling attack seemed to be manifestly inadequate; and so it proved with Marlborough getting there in 39 overs though Gent toiled away manfully with his leg spinners.

Saturday July 19 v Honourable Artillery Company at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 205-6 dec (R A Rydon 87); Honourable Artillery Company 160-8

A pugnacious innings from Rydon, together with a solid contribution from Isaac, gave us a fine start to the week. They put on 124 for the second wicket in even time. HAC never mastered a varied attack, and unlike many found Gent a source of considerable mystery but, in spite of being 138-8 with six overs left, managed to hold out for a draw.

Sunday July 20 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne - Lost by 50 runs
Sherborne Town 227-7 dec (G S Calway 79, J D Clarke 58, I C D Stuart 51); Sherborne Pilgrims 177 (C Stone 56; S Sawney 5-57)

The Town made light of our bowling on a good wicket and declared after 53 overs. Eckersley-Maslin made a useful 34 in an hour but, with the notable exception of Stone, the rest did not offer. Extras at 27 were the third highest score by a long way.

Monday July 21 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 213-6 dec (M M C F Jones 90, R M Eckersley-Maslin 50); Somerset Stragglers 147-9 (S Larder 57; R A Rydon 5-31)

The Stragglers were thoroughly outplayed and fortunate to escape with a draw. A fine opening partnership of 107 between Jones and Eckersley-Maslin enabled the later batsmen to chase for quick runs. The Stragglers were always in trouble against a competent attack and found Rydon particularly difficult to cope with. However, they defended stoutly to deny us what would have been a well merited victory.

Tuesday July 22 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Lost by 8 runs
Dorset Rangers 225-9 dec (S W D Rintoul 113, J R Tozer 59; J J Fisher 4-53); Sherborne Pilgrims 217 (M M C F Jones 55)

The Rangers won the toss and elected to bat in perfect conditions. The Pilgrim Rintoul made an excellent century and the treachery was compounded with 59 from Tozer. Mention should be made of the tireless Gould, increasingly regarded as the Mahatma of modern slow bowling, who toiled with the thoughtful meanness (34 off 17 overs) to keep the Rangers in check. Our reply was fitful - Jones was again in fine form and was well supported by Gould and Henderson, but their hard work was to no avail as, in the dying moments, Ward played a shot of rare negligence to snatch defeat from the jaws of a respectable draw. The fact that he was caught by Gent off the bowling of Richard Scott (yet another Pilgrim) in the last over made it all the more annoying!

Wednesday July 23 v Wiltshire Queries at Sherborne - Won by 6 wickets
Wiltshire Queries 134; Sherborne Pilgrims 137-4 (M M C F Jones 61)

The Queries never got going and the only stand of any consequence was 43 for the seventh wicket by Lawson and Cleaver (25). Morton and Gould bowled their spinners to good effect. After losing an early wicket, Jones and Cooke put on 107 and this led to victory with time to spare.

Sunday July 27 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Lost by 8 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 262-5 dec (T D W Edwards 108*, J N W Edwards 63); Old Tonbridgians 263-2 (J Owen-Browne 108, E M Wesson 89)

This was our best batting display of the season with the Edwards brothers in their contrasting styles taking the bowling by the scruff of the neck to set Tonbridge with a challenging task. It should have been, but with only nine men and scant bowling resources, we were in no position to stem the runs which flowed from the bats of the openers who put on 188. Tonbridge reached their target in just 42 overs. We only had ourselves to blame.

Saturday August 2 v Hampshire Hogs at Warnford - Lost by 7 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 153 (C Bazalgette 4-23); Hampshire Hogs 155-3 (M G Molden 62*, P R C Came 52)

We were indebted to Isaac, Rydon and latterly Spink, without whom our innings would have been an extremely sorry story. As it was 153 was a modest enough score, especially in view of our exiguous bowling resources. Not surprisingly the Hogs fed greedily on the generous offerings and, in spite of being 42-3, coasted to victory with great ease.

Saturday August 9 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Drawn
Bluemantles 235-4 dec (W J Wesson 104, S H C Cosstick 52*); Sherborne Pilgrims 204-7 (R J W Proctor 90; B N Grainger 4-75)

We were unable to make much impact on the Bluemantles batting following an early breakthrough by Lyons, whose use of the new ball reminded many of his spells with the old one. Our reply was robust. That Viking of the north, Proctor, played a pathfinding innings of 90 in which he first pillaged and then laid waste to the bowling - however upon his departure the necessary momentum could not be maintained. Number eight had said that he had to leave early for London to get back to dinner with his girlfriend. As he was stumped second ball he will have had mixed feelings as his train was heard to leave from the nearby station. The fall of this wicket and others further reduced our chances and the match subsided to a draw.

Sunday August 31 v Cobham at Cobham - Won by 4 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 185-9 dec (M M C F Jones 86; A R Black 4-61); Cobham 181 (G Stuckey 93; A I C Wilson 4-43)

A match where the fortunes of both sides fluctuated throughout the day and which culminated in an exciting finish. We won the toss, and on an untypically slow damp Cobham wicket, were indebted to the ever improving Jones, whose anchor innings of 86 was punctuated by many fine legside strokes to take his Pilgrims runs for the season to 507 (average 56) - an altogether splendid contribution. Mason (23) gave sound support before we declared. Cobham set off well with 51 for the first wicket, which became 51-2 and then 164-4. The fiery pace of Wilson, in his second spell, was too much for the middle order. Nevertheless, Stuckey kept going and was only out in the last over - caught by Jones on the long on boundary going for the winning hit.