Page 35 - Demo

WEST MIDLANDS
(KEVIN BISSETT)
pring is in the air and therefore normally the cricket season must not be too far away. Unfortunately
we have been severely governed by the Cov-19 restrictions since March 2020 and nothing can be taken for granted nowadays. The Govern-
ment has provided a pathway back to playing out- door sports and I am sure we will all gladly follow the guidelines again to play our cricket.
The West Midlands region has been blessed with some new members who we welcome to The Forty Club with open arms. The 2020 season was challenging in many ways and I am sure a number of people did not want to play or took the decision to retire from our beloved game. I am hoping that we can attract most of these players back and more new members for the future.
The district xtures have nearly all been con rmed with our schools and colleges providing excellent opportunities to continue our aim of developing and encouraging cricket for younger people. We also have additional regional games that include a visit to Herefordshire, a county we have not played in for a number of years so it is exciting to be back to y the XL ag again.
Loyal West Midlands member Mike Weir has been supporting a dear friend of XL Steve Docker with fund raising to purchase a Dynavoz Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device. This has assisted Steve with his communication skills and allowed him to start to make contact with people outside of his care home.
Steve had played for West Midlands XL against Shrewsbury school in 2017 opening the bowling and as usual troubling the batsmen with his medium pace swing. Following the game Steve returned home and unfortunately su ered a severe stroke that has paralysed the right side of his body and left him a wheelchair user. He has very limited speech and severe reading and writing skills.
Steve will remain in care for the rest of his life and before Covid-19 had numerous cricketers as visitors. Our thoughts and prayers are always with Steve
and he will never be forgotten. A genuine massive thank you to those members who contributed and especially to Mike for organising and managing the fund raising activity.
S
Steve Docker and Mike Weir
We have constant unfortunate situations that take people away from us when not expected. I played in two memorial games last year to remember cricketers who sadly have passed away in 2020.
I would urge everyone to play as much cricket as possible to enjoy our beautiful game.
Stay safe and well.
D espite last season being a big disappointment to the cricketers of XL Club
and their school oppo- nents, we did manage two xtures
in the West district – moving an original date to September enabling us to play. Thanks must
go to Gregg Brown at King Edwards, Bath for making this happen.
Both matches were well-contested, but ended
in XL losing. The Hinton game was swung by
he home side’s Chris Antrobus’ 142. He was
well supported by Luke Askew (63). XL’s Andy Ashfold managed 82 retired. In the other match, the school overhauled XL’s 175 for 9 (Dom Fry 77), with the loss of 6 wickets, aided by captain Will Metcalfe’s 63 not out and Gabriel Tann’s 21 in 8 balls, including 2 sixes, leaving 2 balls to spare. Despite the results, we have picked up 6 new members from these two matches! This, coupled with the addition of new xtures (Warminster School and Kings Bruton), we are hoping for a very bright 2021. Fingers’ (and toes’) crossed.
The Forty Club 2021 Yearbook
37
WEST
(BEN WHITE)