Game 1 - against Hampshire at Hursley

On 7 June we set off for our first game at Hursley in Hampshire against the Hampshire Over 60s team. The game was at the IBM Hursley Cricket Club Ground.

It was a picturesque ground with a well established clubhouse.

The house in the distance in the first photo is Hursley House built between 1721 and 1724. Since 1958 it has been the property of IBM.

The warm-up before the game

Team photo before the match

Hampshire batted first on a difficult pitch and were all out for 84 in the 41st over. Rex Bennett took four wickets for 16 runs off his nine overs while Brian Scott took two wickets for only eight runs off his nine overs. Robin was not used as a bowler but opened the batting when the Australian innings began.

Batting continued to be difficult but Australia scored the winning runs in the 34th over. Robin top scored with 33 runs.

A good team effort first and a good start for the tour.

Exploring area around Yeovil

The previous evening we had a team dinner which included the presentation of caps. The Saturday was a free day and five of us used one of the cars to explore some of the attractions near Yeovil.

The first stop was the Fleet Air Arm Museum, a collection of naval aircraft.

The first hall we visited held a collection of early aircraft.

Information panels described how early aircraft were used by the Navy, including at Gallipoli during the First World War.

As well as military use of aircraft a major display features the a prototype of the Concorde.

We were able to walk through this narrow aircraft

as well as view the cockpit.

Another part of the exhibition provided a simulation experience of life on an aircraft carrier.

Visiting this museum was a great experience and we spent several hours there.

After lunch we visited the Haynes Motor Museum - the largest collection of cars in the UK.

The museum holds a large range of cars showing the history of motoring.

In one area of the exhibition hall all the cars are red - quite impressive.

There is also a display of racing cars

as well as a display of minis.

It was an interesting collection with some spectacular cars on show.

The final place we visited was Sherborne Castle. The central section of the castle was built for Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594. It has belonged to members of the Digby family since 1617. Additional wings have been added to the original structure.

The grounds surrounding the castle are most impressive.

View of the castle from the other side of the lake.

Ruins of the original castle can be viewed nearby.

Yeovil - part 2

In the afternoon we went for a walk in the Yeovil Country Park, a short walk from the hotel. This is a series of parks and the one we explored is Ninesprings.

Initially we walked uphill on one side of the springs through a variety of vegetation

and on the way found an interesting and comfortable bench

with a pair of carved animals, maybe seals or otters, on either end.

On the lower path we had views of the springs and waterholes.

It was an enjoyable walk.

Yeovil

On the first morning in Yeovil I decided to explore while the men had a training session. There are many interesting buildings in the town some, such as the Mermaid hotel, dating back to the 1600s.

The town has an interesting streetscape with a wide selection of architectural styles.

In 2000, to mark the new millennium, plaques were placed on some of the older buildings denoting their heritage significance. A monument to commemorate the Millennium was located at the junction of Henford and South Street.

One of the first places I visited was the local library. A staff member was photographing a new display in the library window so we discussed displays, the relationship of the library with local history organisations as well as the role of public libraries. Inside I met two other staff members and we discussed the increasing use of information technology in libraries including the challenges when the computer systems slowed down or refused to work. They were experiencing network issues. I had a look around the library collections. On the second floor there was a comprehensive local history collection. There was also a large collection of books relating to aircraft - the area has a large naval air museum and connections to the aviation industry. There was also an excellent sheet music collection.

The other place where I spent some time St John's Church. The first part of the building was constructed in the late 1300s with many extensions and alterations since then. The church tower is currently being restored.

I spent some time speaking to a member of the church about the history of the building and the memorial windows. It is an impressive building.

Outside the church most of the trees have been decorated with knitted items, including blankets. Apparently they had appeared on the trees three days earlier - all a bit of a mystery.

Back on the main street I continued on to the market which is held from Tuesday to Friday.

There are a variety of stalls, some selling fruit

while another sold meat.

There was also a collection of garden items for sale.

Street entertainers providing Peruvian music was unexpected.

On the way back to the hotel I passed the war memorial erected to the memory of soldiers and civilians who died during the two world wars. 

Cricket tour of England 2015

Our holidays in 2015 all revolve around cricket.

On 3 June we left Melbourne to travel to England for the Australian Over 60s Cricket Tour of England and Wales. The tour lasts for a month and we then join the Victorian Over 60s Cricket Tour of England. By the end of the two months we will have seen a lot of cricket and many cricket grounds.

Our flight to Gatwick was with Emirates stopping at Dubai for two hours. Generally it was a good flight as we were not too close to families with young children. However there was one small child a few rows behind us who seven hours into the flight, much to the amusement of those who could hear, announced, "I want to go home".

At Dubai we met up with most of the other team members who had come on different flights and then continued on to England. At the airport we had a short delay while we worked out how to collect the cars required for transport. Eventually we were on our way to Somerset arriving at Yeovil approximately 30 hours after leaving Melbourne. We slept well that night.

Yeovil is named after the nearby River Yeo. Artefacts from the Bronze Age and the Romans have been found in the area but there has definitely been a settled community in the area since the arrival of the Saxons. Records show that Yeovil has been a market town from before the 1600s. Yeovil was known as a centre for making gloves from the fourteenth century. Today the local football club is known as the Glovers and a shopping centre is called Glovers Walk. The hotel where we stayed in Yeovil is The Manor which was built in 1776 by John Daniell, a glover and merchant. In 1927 the building was converted into a hotel.

Yeovil was to be our base for eight days during which time four cricket matches would be played against Hampshire at Hursley, Wiltshire at Goatacre, Somerset at Taunton and Devon at Thorverton.

National Over 60s Cricket Championships - Melbourne

A 'holiday' at home may not have all the additional attractions of a holiday interstate or overseas however it was still a week away from normal activities.

The 9th National Over 60s Cricket Championships was played from 8 - 13 November on various grounds, primarily in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Twenty-six over 60s teams took part in four divisions while another eight teams played in the over 70s competition so it is a big event.

Vic Metro 1 team

The Meet and Greet was held at Sandown Race-course on the Saturday evening. This provided an opportunity for the players and their partners to socialise with team members and also with those from other teams. It was good to meet a number of people we had met last year when the championships were held on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. This year the Victorian teams in the first division were Vic Metro 1 and Vic Country 1. Each team played matches on the Sunday and Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday was a rest day and the finals were played on the Thursday to determine the final places in each division.

Shepley Oval, Dandenong

The first match played by Vic Metro 1 was against Queensland at Shepley Oval in Dandenong. The Victorians made 227 runs which was considered reasonable until Queensland passed this total with about seven overs to go. Vic Metro 1 won their next two games against Western Australia at Narre Warren North and against South Australia at Keysborough. This left us with New South Wales to play on the Thursday for third or fourth place in first division. All the games were played on turf and the pitches generally favoured the batsmen. In Over 60s cricket batsmen retire when they reach 40 and in one match at least five of the Vic Metro 1 batsmen retired and no wickets were lost during the innings.

Narre Warren North

On the Monday the Vic Metro 1 match against Western Australia was a Day Night Game at Narre Warren North. This was an experiment which hopefully will not be repeated in furture Over 60s Championships.

As the sun was setting the fieldmen were frequently unable to see the ball as they were looking into the sun. Later when it became dark, and the only light was from the lights overhead, both the players and those watching the game had difficulty seeing the ball. The lights turning themselves off at 8 o'clock didn't help the situation, especially as we had to wait half an hour until they came back on. The day had been moderately warm but during the evening it became very cold for players and spectators.

By Wednesday the weather was warmer and the players enjoyed playing a normal day game.

Keysborough

Our final game was at Berwick and by this time Melbourne was showing the diversity in our Spring weather with temperatures in the mid 30s. We especially appreciated the hospitality shown at this club from the sign welcoming the Over 60s teams when we arrived at the ground to the scones and jam which were an addition to the Subway rolls which were the normal lunch.

All in all it was another successful carnival. Queensland won the Over 70s competition and New South Wales won the second, third and fourth divisions of the Over 60s. Congratulations to Vic Country 1 for winning the First division. Vic Metro 1 came a credible fourth. Generally the games were played in good spirit - a feature of over 60s cricket - though unfortunately a few of the New South Wales 1 players appeared to have forgotten about sportsmanship when they played Vic Metro 1. The Championship dinner at Sandown Race-course provided a sociable ending to the 9th Over 60s Cricket Championships. We look forward to attending the 10th championships in Hobart next November.