Ashford welcomes County players - again
by Peter McGrath, June 30th 2005

Nestling on the banks of the River Wye, Ashford In the Water is renowned for being picturesque and welcoming. Steeped in tradition, most visit the village for the Trinity Sunday Well dressings, a past art resurrected some 40 years ago, as homage to the abundance of water. The village also boasts another proud tradition - that of village cricket.

Ashford in the Water Cricket Club was formed around 1841 and last year took steps to ensure that cricket can be enjoyed for generations to come, by launching their New Cricket Pavilion Appeal.

2004 saw the Derbyshire players visit the Ashford ground for the very first time. The day was, without question, a resounding success. So much so that Derbyshire County Cricket Club’s Director of cricket, David Houghton, agreed without hesitation that the club would again return to Ashford this year. The fixture sits proudly between Warwickshire and Surrey on the Derbyshire County Cricket Club web site fixture list and is set for Sunday, 10th July at 1pm.

Ashford Cricket Club’s sponsor, Coverworld U.K. Ltd, Chesterfield has again agreed to be the main match sponsor, and many other local businesses have already followed in committing to sponsorship of one of this year’s major sporting events in the Derbyshire Dales.

Since last year’s match, Ashford have enjoyed a good deal of success both on & off the field. The Derbyshire Match really seemed to kick-start the season, with a series of good results ensuing. The best of these was victory in the final of the Orme Shield, the local knockout tournament won for the first time in 34 years! Ashford also consolidated their position in Division 1 of the Yorkshire & Derbyshire Cricket League, finishing a respectable 8th.

The Pavilion Fund was given a further boost in the autumn by a highly successful ‘Evening With David Lloyd’, who entertained 100 guests in the village hall. The Club have also established a Junior Cricket session held each week during the season on Sunday mornings. There is already an enthusiastic turnout, with over 90 youngsters aged between 4 & 16 on roll.

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Back Row: Kate Stalker (Club Physio); Dave Harris (1st XI Physio); Lee Goddard; Travis Friend; Nick Walker;
Paul Havell; James Chapman; Ian Hunter; Ben Spendlove; Tom Lungley; Mohammad Sheikh; James Bryant;
Ben France; John M Brown (Scorer).

Front Row: Karl Krikken (Academy Director); Christopher Bassano; Ant Botha; Kevin Dean; Jonathan Moss;
Michael DiVenuto (Vice Captain); Luke Sutton (Captain); Graeme Welch; Hassan Adnan; Stephen Stubbings;
David Houghton (Director of Cricket); Mike Hendrick (Coach)

With over 500 people attending last year’s match, this year promises to be even better, offering the opportunity to see some fine stroke play by the county players and some spectacular bowling and fielding.

The day itself will, like last year, offer so much more, and not just for cricket lovers. A licensed bar and barbeque will be available, plus a raffle with some great sporting prizes that have already been donated by many of the professional league cricket clubs. But the greatest prize of all must be the opportunity to see the Derbyshire County Cricket team in action.