Posts

TEARS, CHEERS AND BEERS... LYMINGTON'S PREVIOUS CUP FINAL APPEARANCES

Image
When Lymington take to the field at the Green Jackets Ground in Winchester on Saturday afternoon it will be the fifth time they have reached the final of local cricket's major cup competition: the Southern Premier Cricket League T20 Cup, formerly known as the Echo Trophy.  The Echo Trophy began back in 1980 and predominately featured Southern League clubs, although teams from outside the league could also apply to take part. On occasion Lymington ventured eastwards into Sussex to play Chichester Priory, and westwards into Dorset to face Colehill where, as Stewart Hand will no doubt gleefully tell you, Lymington once became the victim of a rather embarrassing giant-killing act. Each innings would consist of 24 overs or last for a maximum of one and a half hours, whichever came first. Clubs took the competition very seriously and fielded strong sides so the standard was generally very high. Being an evening competition, early season fixtures could often end in near darkness, which wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE SPORTS GROUND AT WAR

Image
On Sunday morning the annual remembrance day parade will pass along Southampton Road, just a few yards from the Sports Ground. This is quite fitting because, while we know that many Lymington cricketers served in the armed forces during the two world wars, it's probably not so well known that our beloved home ground also played its part during the conflicts. In this article we look at some of the events that took place on our small patch of grass in those wartime years. It might be worth mentioning that many years before World War 1 the Sports Ground had hosted war-related events. Way back in 1856 the ground (known then as the 'Cricket Field') played host to festivities to mark the end of the Crimean War. A procession of around a thousand children, led by the Lymington Town Band, left the Cricket Field on its way to the town hall (then in the High Street) where the children were 'regaled with tea and plum cake'. Then it was back to the Cricket Field for a 'Varie...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Ultimate Lymington Bearded XI

Image
As the long winter nights start to draw in and the 2023 cricket season is just a distant memory, our thoughts have turned to more important matters, such as beards. Historically beards have been the domain of tramps, pirates, Open University professors and Operation Yewtree suspects. However, Covid changed all that and now virtually every male has dabbled with growing a beard at some point or other. Even though our current Test captain Ben Stokes sports one, there seems to have been dearth of decent facial hair in English cricket over the years. Perhaps WG Grace set such a high standard that it was impossible to follow. Botham's beard famously won the Ashes in 1981, but until Moeen came along fairly recently properly hirsute cricketers have been few and far between. As far as Lymington Cricket Club is concerned we have not been blessed with the greatest selection of beards either in our long and illustrious history. The womens' section even less so. However, we have trawled ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Norman Gannaway obituary

Image
Norman Gannaway – a Spectator for all seasons If anyone deserved the title of a true 'Lymingtonian' it would arguably be Norman Gannaway. The Lymington Cricket Club life member and former club historian passed away shortly before Christmas at the age of 92, leaving a huge legacy with both the cricket club and the town as a whole. Norman had been born in Lymington in 1930 and, apart from a spell in the RAF and a few years living in Ringwood, spent virtually his entire life in the town. His association with the cricket club spanned more than eight decades, beginning as a scorer at the age of 11 way back in 1942. He went on to serve the club as an umpire, secretary and president. In 1982 he wrote a comprehensive history of the club and followed that up four years later with another book celebrating 150 years of cricket at the Sports Ground. Between 1985 and 2000 Norman wrote articles for the club's matchday programmes. Under the pseudonym 'Spectator' his columns were a...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Twenty years ago today! A good quiz question might be: who were the first team to win a trophy at the Ageas Bowl? Well that honour belongs to Lymington Cricket Club.  August 1st 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Lymington’s victory at the Ageas Bowl in the final of the Southern League evening knockout competition, the SEC Cup (formerly the Echo Trophy and nowadays better known as the T20). The cup win was significant for a number of reasons, not least the fact that it came in the first final to be played at Hampshire’s brand new West End arena following the county’s move from Northlands Road. But more than anything it marked the end of a frustrating 25 year wait for success in a competition that, despite all their big stars over the years, Lymington had fared pretty poorly in. It also exorcised the ghosts of Lymo’s previous final appearance in 1997 when the club was thrashed by 10 wickets by Havant. Lymington possessed a pretty potent First XI in 2001. A batting line up alr...
Post a Comment
Read more