Lutterworth

While at Lutterworth for Game 11 Karen, Nola, Lyn and I went for a walk to explore the town.

We walked through the church yard of St Mary's Church which borders the cricket ground and into a street with buildings demonstrating a variety of architectural styles.

There were many interesting buildings in the town.

We also passed the local public library.

As usual for towns in Europe in summer there were displays of colourful flowers in the streets as well as on the buildings.

Near the war memorial we found a memorial to Sir Frank Whittle who developed a turbojet engine in Lutterworth in the 1930s.

When you enter the town there is a statue of an early jet plane - another memorial to Frank Whittle.

Roundabout

John Wycliffe 1324-1384 was rector in Lutterworth from 1374 until 1384. There is a memorial to him outside the Wycliffe Memorial Methodist Church. John Wycliffe initiated the first English translation of the Bible. He was also a prominent influence in what later became the Protestant Reformation.

The Wycliffe Reading Rooms are also a reminder of Wycliffe's presence in Lutterworth in the fourteenth century.

Our trip to Lutterworth was not just sight seeing. There were also shops to explore and Lyn, in particular, enjoyed seeing what was available.

We then returned to the cricket to watch Victoria win the game.

Game 12 against Kent at Maidstone

29 July and the drive was from Sunbury on Thames to Maidstone in Kent. Just before arriving at Maidstone we drove over an overpass where lines of trucks were queued up to go to France - they were 20 miles from the coast.

The Mote Cricket Club was established in 1859. One of the prime movers in the establishment of the ground was Lord Bearsted who oversaw the levelling of the ground early in the twentieth century. The club rooms were also built at this time though they have since been added to and had restoration work since then.

Lord Bearsted also had built his private pavilion known as The Tabernacle.

The players inspected the ground on arrival.

The weather was overcast and cool but the forecast was for a fine day. However some of the Wags found a good place to watch the game from inside the building.

Robin was playing his first game since injuring his leg during the first match of the Victorian over 60s tour.

Victoria batted first and made 196 in their 40 overs. Bill Wigmore retired at 40 and then returned later in the match to add another 14 runs to the score.

Kent could only manage to make 129 runs in their 40 overs. Greg Watsford took 3 wickets, Graeme Cook and Gordon Cowling each took 2 wickets while Lindsay Fisher and Robin took one wicket each. (Robin bowled 8 overs, 1 maiden and took 1 wicket for 28 runs.) It was a great team effort.

At the end of the game the Kent players formed a guard of honour with cricket bats for the victorious Victorian team - just one example of the good spirit in which the game was played.

During the match Robin made a new friend.

I also went for a walk exploring some of the nearby streets of Maidstone.

Game 11 against Leicestershire at Lutterworth

On Monday 27 July we left the hotel to meet our tour driver, Steve, and board the coach for another game of cricket.

It was a short coach drive to Lutterworth Cricket Club where we hoped that the weather would allow us actually play and complete a game. As usual it was overcast, cold and windy with some light showers. The maximum temperature was predicted to be 16 but 13 would be closer to the actual maximum temperature.

The Lutterworth Cricket Club is the 17th oldest cricket club having been established in 1789.

The club rooms are in a similar design to earlier rooms destroyed by a fire.

Once all the gear had been removed from the coach the players inspected the pitch and ground in general.

The game started and although there were light showers from time to time players only left the field once during play.

Leicestershire batted first and made 167 runs. David Green took three wickets. Victoria made 3 for 168 passing the Leicestershire score in the 38th over. Don Everett and Bill Rowe both retired after making 40 runs while David Green made 34. It was the second victory for Victorian over 60s on the tour. A great day.

The two teams posed for a photo after the game.

Victorious captain, Bill Rowe, enjoyed making the presentations at the end of day.

Game 10 against Northamptonshire at Wellingborough

Wellingborough Silver Ladies

As we entered Wellingborough we were greeted with the sight of statues of three silver ladies by the side of the road. Apparently there is also another set on the other side of the road. They certainly are eye catching.

Yes, it was raining again when we arrived at Wellingborough Town Cricket Club at Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. There was also an additional complication as the gates to the ground were too narrow for the coach.

There are a number of photos of teams on the walls of the club room including one of a team in 1936 so the club has been in existence at least since then.

The club had spent a lot of energy into advertising the match and as it was a Sunday had hoped to attract a crowd of up to 200 spectators. The rain ruined those hopes.

There was nothing that we could do but watch the weather forecast on various devices and wait to see if there would be an improvement in the weather. Some of the wives had an introductory session on creating blogs.

Eventually there was a break in the weather.

The pitch and ground were inspected and it was decided to play a shortened game.

Northamptonshire batted but after four overs the rain returned, the covers also returned and the game was called off.

Team photos were taken and then we had afternoon tea.

The sandwiches and cakes were delicious but the highlight was a selection of small cricket cakes.

It was suggested by some that this is the standard that we should follow back home!

Australia versus Derbyshire tour match at Derby

Thursday 23 July was a rest day so we decided to travel to Derby to watch the first day of the Australian test team tour match against Derbyshire at Derby.

When we arrived the players were doing their warm up exercises.

We walked around the ground before the game and a quick look at the cricket book and merchandise store.

Australia batted first and the day was spent watching the Australian players score 413 runs. David Warner and Shaun Marsh both retired after making their centuries. Mitchell Marsh made 53 and Shane Watson compiled 61 runs.

It was a great day's cricket. Fortunately the weather remained fine but it was cold.

Some of the crowd watching the game

At lunchtime groups of children played cricket games at one end of the ground.

We thoroughly enjoyed watching the Australians bat. We were lucky with the weather as only a few overs were played on the second day due to rain.