Sunday May 21 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Won by 5 wickets
Radley Rangers 157-9 (J E Pratt 5-27); Sherborne Pilgrims 159-5 (B D Atwell 65*, F M J Costeloe 50*)

Some good tight bowling by all the bowlers in this 50 over match restricted the Rangers to 79-4 off 32 overs at lunch - an excellent rate which gave us a psychological advantage. Julian Pratt (5-27 off his 11 overs) in particular kept the Rangers in shackles to the end. Despite the loss of three early wickets, Ben Atwell and William Hargrove (20) righted the boat and Jeremy Costeloe continued the good work with a partnership of 99, which made this look an easier victory than it really was.

Sunday June 4 - Cricketer Cup first round v Repton Pilgrims at Repton - Lost by 7 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 179-8; Repton Pilgrims 183-3 (M J C Jerman 61*, H J W Wright 53*)

Once again the Pilgrims' showing in the Cricketer Cup was less than perfect. Despite having assembled a more than competent side, with several playing regular cricket of a good standard, the combined talents failed to come up with the consistent performance required to beat a side who were finalists in this competition two years previously.

Rob Rydon won the toss and elected to bat. This was a decision that might well have been reversed if Rob had considered the batting disasters of 1993 and 1994, and that our victory against Downside in 1992 had come as a result of a run chase. He might also have been reflecting on his choice of options when Turner, Ricketts and Atwell were all back in the pavilion with only single figure scores to their names.

This was not so much the fault of the batsmen concerned, although they all played a part in their own downfall, as a tribute to Repton's tight bowling and the movement achieved off the pitch. On an overcast morning, the decision to bat first was a brave, but ultimately a reckless one.

Gillett (23) and Hargrove (28) steadied the ship, the first boundary eventually coming in the 18th over, but the acceleration was not forthcoming. Gillett looked as if he was about to cut loose, but then gave his wicket away. Rydon once more had to play a captain's innings if a decent score was to be attained. Sherborne lunched on 91-4, with both batsmen on scores in their early twenties. A total in the region of 220 looked to be a realistic target and one which Repton would have to work to achieve.

Hargrove fell shortly after lunch, as Rydon continued to look the most cultured batsman the visitors had on show. But the needless run-out of Pratt put all the pressure back on the captain. He succumbed for 44 to a skied catch at long-on. Yet, a poor score was upgraded to a respectable, if still eminently gettable, one by some staunch hitting on the part of Knechtli (27*), ably supported first by Costeloe, and then, inimitably, by de la Hey. 179-8 was not perhaps an ideal total, but given the circumstances, could have been much worse in our allotted 55 overs.

The match was thus finely poised as Repton began their innings. Their progress was slow, if unspectacular, keeping up with the required run rate of around three an over. Costeloe bowled a tight line, while Rydon's spell before tea was at times unplayable. The crucial statistic was, however, that at the interval, Repton had lost only the two wickets for 53 runs, with their best batsmen lurking in the middle order; Costeloe and Pratt being the wicket-takers. Stubbs (26) fell to a diving catch by Pratt at square cover off Ricketts with the score on 83, and still all to play for.

Mark Jerman, the better of the twins, was now at the wicket with Hedley Wright, who had played against Sherborne the last time these two sides met in this competition. This was a partnership that had to be broken early, but the wicket was not forthcoming. Atwell dropped what would have been a sensational diving one-handed catch at square leg, whilst a leading edge off Pratt, which might have ballooned anywhere, fell to safety. By the finish, both batsmen were in good touch and having little difficulty in dispatching the ball: their pacing of the innings was finely judged and Wright struck the winning runs in the 52nd over to complete the hundred partnership.

It was undoubtedly disappointing yet again to witness a comfortable defeat for the Pilgrims. But there are no clear-cut solutions, except for the possibility that we employ a professional cheerleader, to save Stuart Gillett's voice. Perhaps we just enjoy the playing of the game too much, rather than the winning.

Sunday June 18 v Hampshire Hogs at Warnford - Lost by 8 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 113; Hampshire Hogs 114-2

This was a disappointing performance on what should have been an enjoyable day on a lovely ground in glorious sunshine. We elected to bat but struggled to a lacklustre 113. John de la Hey made a crafty 28 but only Julian Pratt (25) and Tom Batchelar (15) gave any support. Sloppy dismissals and poor running between the wickets resulted in a target which was never going to trouble the Hogs. One felt that more attention was being paid to the Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and the All Blacks than the match in hand. This was all the more embarrassing bearing in mind the hospitality shown to us by the Hogs which included a splendid lunch.

Saturday July 1 v The School at Sherborne - Lost by 4 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 209; Sherborne School 213-6 (E A Bellew 54)

After losing the toss the Pilgrims lost a wicket in the very first over and were soon 15-3 with our top three all back in the pavilion. Cossins and Pratt then steadied matters with a partnership of 63 which was followed by another healthy partnership of 72 between Cossins and Rankine. However, at lunch we were only 164-5 and despite having on paper a strong batting side, it appeared that a lot would depend on Cossins remaining at the crease if we were to post a decent score.

With Jackaman, Cossins and Hargrove all falling quickly after lunch, it was left to the old timers, Gent and Garrett, to squeeze the score past 200. However, we were all out in the 55th over and our score was a good 40 runs short of what was needed. For the Pilgrims to have any chances of winning the game we would have to restrict the School's scoring rate and put them behind the run rate.

The School batted steadily despite losing an early wicket, but at no great pace and it became clear that the game could well end up being close. The Pilgrims bowled 37 overs of spin through Julian Pratt and William Worrell and ended up bowling 14 more overs than they faced. In the last 20 overs the School needed under five an over and were well on course until tight bowling and fielding from the Pilgrims resulted in two unnecessary run-outs. With three overs to go the School needed 24 to win with six wickets down and all results were still possible. However, under pressure it was the Pilgrims who cracked with some loose bowling and then a silly four overthrows when another simple run out beckoned. However, this was a well deserved win for the School with no fewer than four of their batsmen scoring over 35.

Sunday July 2 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Cancelled

Saturday July 8 v Little Durnford Fonthill at Little Durnford - Lost by 3 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 137 (W P Hargrove 53); Little Durnford Fonthill 139-7

Raising a side for Saturday matches becomes more and more difficult with the ever-increasing demands of leagues; we were three short on this occasion. The Pilgrims batted rather slowly at first until William Hargrove took command with a very good 53; however, he had little support until there was a late flourish from Patrick Gent (25). With eight fielders our score was never going to be enough, although at 83-6 they could have been in trouble, but we were unable to sustain the effort or guard the wide-open spaces.

Sunday July 9 v Marlborough Blues at Sherborne - Cancelled

Monday July 10 v Old Blundellians at Sherborne - Drawn
Sherborne Pilgrims 226-7 dec (W H Wingfield Digby 64*, N I Gavin-Brown 50); Old Blundellians 172-7 (A Giles 56, N Vallence 56; R H F Pugsley 6-56)

This game marked Julian Pratt's debut at captaining the Pilgrims and he started badly by losing the toss and we were asked to bat. A solid if slightly slow opening partnership of 77 between Nick Gavin-Brown and Tim Percival appeared to have given us a good base. However, a middle order collapse saw us descend from 93-1 to 106-5 at lunch and with some serious re-building required. Our saviour was William Wingfield Digby who in sharing stands of 51 with de la Hey (23) and an unbeaten stand of 53 with Slade (22*) enabled us to reach respectability in declaring at just gone 4 o'clock, although we had batted for 75 overs.

The Blundellians were to have about 50 overs to get the runs and despite a very tight opening spell by Slade, the Blundellian openers suffered few alarms and started the final 20 overs with all wickets in hand and only 110 needed. However, the first over of the final 20 saw Hugh Pugsley remove both openers, one to a fine running catch by Springfield. Pugsley then reduced the Blundellians to 162-7 with eight overs still remaining but the game petered out to a disappointing draw with only 10 runs being scored in the last nine overs.

Tuesday July 11 v Fettesian Lorettonians at Sherborne - Lost by 100 runs
Fettesian Lorettonians 172 (J R S Lloyd 53*; F M J Costeloe 5-61); Sherborne Pilgrims 72 (J R S Lloyd 7-19)

This fixture was against new opposition who were touring the West Country and what a rude shock the Pilgrims received. Early on things looked good with Costeloe ripping through the upper order after Rix had won the toss for the Pilgrims and inserted our northern opponents. Shortly after lunch, with the score at 96-7, talk of an early victory was heard being discussed, but sensible batting combined with some Pilgrims going to sleep enabled the last three wickets to add a further 76 runs.

A score of 172 should have been easily within the Pilgrims grasp particularly as we had plenty of time. However, Costeloe had shown earlier in the day that there was a lot in the wicket with the new ball. After Gavin-Brown was out early to a loose shot, the Pilgrims were quickly reduced to 30-4 by the raw pace of Lloyd. Only Hargrove looked remotely capable of handling Lloyd's pace and indeed he was the only player to reach double figures. Once Hargrove fell, again to Lloyd, we quickly subsided from 61-5 to 72 all out with Lloyd leaving our innings in tatters. A resounding, comprehensive defeat but one in which the Pilgrims should accept that the opposition played the game considerably more competitively than we did, and that we will need to play much harder in future if we are to compete.

Wednesday July 12 v South Wales Hunt at Sherborne - Lost by 3 wickets
Sherborne Pilgrims 272-3 dec (B D Atwell 113*, W P Hargrove 52); South Wales Hunt 275-7 (D Ricketts 166)

After our dismal defeat the previous day, hopes were high against the South Wales Hunt, who had not previously beaten us. When captain Rice won the toss we were privileged to watch a fantastic innings from Ben Atwell who scored a chanceless hundred. He was ably backed up by Hargrove and Rix and indeed all the batsmen were able to score more than 20, apart from the captain. Rice declared after only 52 overs obviously wanting enough time to bowl the Hunts out.

Rice, nor the rest of the Pilgrims, could have been expecting to see a batsman of the class of Ricketts (a regular player in league cricket in Wales) who immediately showed how our score was by no means invincible. It became obvious that we had to attack the other end to Ricketts, but stands of 42, 93, and 45 with Ricketts contributing 124 out of these 180 runs brought the Hunts to the last few overs needing only 20 or so to win. Paul Grellier did manage to dismiss Ricketts with only eight required in the final over but unfortunately number eight won the game with consecutive boundaries. An exciting game with 550 runs scored but Rice won the Horlicks for giving the Hunts 12 overs more than us to get the runs.

Thursday July 13 v Butterflies at Sherborne - Won by 7 wickets
Butterflies 164 (C Davis 51*; R H F Pugsley 4-15); Sherborne Pilgrims 165-3 (B D Atwell 63*)

After losing the toss and being invited to field, Springfield quickly reduced the Butterflies to 20-2 and when Ward removed the dangerous Blyth (who had scored a century against the Pilgrims before) the Butterflies descended to 74-6 at lunch. After lunch Pugsley reduced the Butterflies to 115-9 but once again the Pilgrims were unable to apply a quick coup de grâce and a last wicket stand of 49 made most laboriously in 16 overs, enabled us to have a reasonable target to chase.

Having failed to score 172 two days earlier, would the Pilgrims bat well enough to secure the first victory of the week? An opening stand of 36 between Percival and Hodges got us off to a good start and then Rankine and Atwell saw us comfortably home with Atwell carrying on his fine form. A comprehensive victory with the Pilgrims scoring the runs in under half the overs that the Butterflies faced.

Friday July 14 v Rabelaisians at Sherborne - Won by 26 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 144 (O Paine 4-14, S C Ewen 4-29); Rabelaisians 118 (F N C Spicer 4-34)

With many leaving Sherborne after the Butterflies game, the remaining Pilgrims managed to recruit half their numbers shortly after closing time at the Digby Tap only 12 hours before the start and your captain was confident that those Pilgrims playing would do their stuff. However, when your correspondent had to come to the wicket with the score at 43-5 he was more than a bit concerned. Shortly after lunch, the Upper witnessed the rare sight of a hat-trick as the Pilgrims descended to 58-8 and in real trouble. However, Garrett, ably supported by Spicer, a master at the School, managed to turn the innings round with a fine stand of 82 for the ninth wicket and it was unfortunate that neither managed to reach 50.

Any aspirations that the Rabelaisians had of scoring the runs easily were quickly quashed by Spicer who reduced them to 22-5 helped by Dan Thorne, playing for the opposition, falling to Garrett for the second year. However, a seventh wicket partnership of 28 and an eighth of 47 enabled the Rabelaisians to get within striking distance. When your correspondent dropped their top scorer he began to sweat but luckily Torben Rankine, playing his last game for the Pilgrims before making his international debut, managed to secure the last wicket for an exciting victory.

Sunday July 16 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Cancelled

Saturday August 12 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Won by 6 wickets
Bluemantles 243-5 dec (J Butcher 84, O Hutton 65); Sherborne Pilgrims 244-4 (W P Hargrove 97, J E Pratt 68)

Unusually for a very popular game, we only managed to raise nine players which made the resulting win even more credible. On another wonderful pitch we decided to bowl first with the hope of restricting the Bluemantle's to a reasonable score, which, in view of only nine fielders, we managed to a certain extent. Julian Pratt bowled tidily on a pitch not suitable to bowlers and Andrew Palmer bowled well at the end to claim three wickets.

Our innings depended very heavily on the top four since our batting looked somewhat frail after them. Rix and Bennett put on a useful opening stand but both departed with the score on 32, thus leaving a huge burden on Pratt and Hargrove. We realised it could be our day when Pratt was dropped first ball and the resultant overthrow went for four. After that both batsmen played with considerable skill and after Pratt was out for an excellent 68, Will Hargrove continued to dominate the bowling, ably assisted by Andrew Palmer. Nearing his well deserved hundred Will was unfortunately bowled - unfortunately because it seemed only he had noticed the bail had been dislodged. Anyway, Palmer and Morton soon finished the match, and what had seemed an unlikely victory was complete.

Sunday August 27 v Cobham at Cobham - Won by 67 runs
Sherborne Pilgrims 239-7 dec (E P J F Lyons 63*; D McDaniel 6-58); Cobham 172 (H Lee 59*; R A Bagnall 5-50)

As in 1994 the Pilgrims fielded a young side for this traditional August Bank Holiday cricket extravaganza; there was one exception - Ed Lyons was drafted into the team for his experience and it proved to be a wise choice.

We lost the toss and the opposition decided to field first due to the rather overcast chilly conditions unsuitable for flamboyant batting. Despite the weather, the Pilgrims endeavoured to bat quite well with a cautious opening few overs followed by some enjoyable calypso cricket. At 56-0, Pratt and Rice were starting to look dangerous when Rice received a somewhat unfortunate lbw decision. The next hour was rather interesting as the Pilgrims continued to play every stroke known to man, most of which are not to be found in any coaching manual. Although there was a great deal of entertainment involving a flourish of boundaries, we also managed to reduce ourselves to 120-6. Pratt, Jackaman, Rix, and Atwell were all out playing attacking shots. The in-form Hargrove, with all the family watching, strode to the crease in confident mood, but his first ball was far too straight and rather convincingly bowled him.

At this stage Lyons, joined by de la Hey, decided to play properly and the two of them had an excellent stand of 119 runs. De la Hey was dismissed for 46 looking for the extra four runs before the declaration. Lyons was masterly and ended up undefeated on 63. The two of them batted extremely well to get us out of a potentially very sticky situation and gave us quite a handy score which was always going to take some getting.

Cobham's batting, as in 1994, was not really very good. With this in mind, Bagnall decided to open the bowling, downhill and downwind - captain's prerogative. Despite batting extremely well in their first 15 overs, the home team managed a spectacular collapse in the five minutes just before tea; having been 41-0, they lost four wickets for four runs in the space of just 14 balls. It was unfortunate that this flurry of wickets effectively ended the contest as the remaining Cobham batsmen were not up to the task of scoring the remaining runs.

After tea there followed the inevitable spell of spin bowling in an attempt to get the home side to play shots, score runs and subsequently, lose wickets. There was really only ever going to be one outcome and eventually Cobham were all out for 172, with Lyons taking the last two wickets to cap his man of the match performance. Bagnall took five wickets and Pratt 2-16 from nine testing overs.

So once again Cobham were defeated. Although it is always good to win, it should be noted that several Pilgrims had travelled quite considerable distances in order to appear in this game. It was probably quite a good job that the pre-match meeting the night before had been so long and thorough otherwise their journeys might have been in vain.