Thanks to Peter Bolland for these first notes.

Today we welcome Perranaworthal to Trewirgie in what I am told is a bit of a local derby or so the great Brian Riddle tells me. Perran were promoted last year as worthy champions of Division 2 West and amongst their squad is an old Truro mate of mine Carl Murphy who on his day is a match winning bowler. Let’s hope for our sakes it’s not today. No relation I hasten to mention to our very own Sriram Krishna’murphy’.

Last week was a mammoth effort by the club to be able to select 4 sides to do battle on Saturday. We were helped at the 11th hour by Penzance who could not fulfil their fixture with Redruth allowing us to spread the 3rd team players both up and down.  Kevin Thomas deserves a mention as his side completed the first ever 4th team fixture at Clijah with a resounding win against Helston 2nd XI. This we hope will be the breeding ground for our very young players and already we have had boys playing their first adult competitive match and absolutely ‘loving’ it.

All the sides are considerably stronger this week as football and rugby players become available, I only hope that they now commit themselves to pushing the club forward throughout the rest of the season. Please remember that the club has financial commitments and running games of cricket does not come cheap. Subs are now due and can be paid at any time to the captain of your side, but please note that this year there will be a deadline on payment, probably May 31st. After that time non payment may result in no game!.

On Saturday the first team rallied well when Callington were looking comfortably set on 90 for 2 chasing 167 for victory. But the bowlers responded brilliantly, supported by the excellent Steven Kevern in the field and we took the last 8 wickets for 48 runs. Earlier OJ and the immaculate Sriram Krishnamurthy anchored the batting to get us what proved to be a winning score.

The 2’s were very under strength and the young players drafted in found the challenge very difficult as we knew they would: Div 2 is a very good standard. Darren Clift scored 50 but was the only players who shaped up on a difficult day for skipper Paul Ladner.

The 1st team welcome back Nigel Hambly and Martin Strick for both games this weekend, further strengthening what already looks a good side. Ben Stevens and Peter Thomas make way but have plenty of opportunity to fight for their places against Leedstown and Wendron respectively in the 2’s. The 3rd team look very strong and will be attempting to add to their 20 points of last week against Truro and Falmouth 4th teams. Kevin Thomas’ boys take on St Ives II and Botallack II.

Redruth:
David Guffick/Sriram Krishnamurthy/David Simpson/Steven Kevern/Nigel Hambly/Martin Strick/Peter Bolland/Phil Bostock/Liam Norwell/Scott James/ David Stephens

This Weeks Notes:-

Thanks to the ‘Barmy Army‘ and welcome Mo

Good afternoon everyone and please join me in welcoming Launceston to Trewirgie, a much happier place with 2 wins in the last 2 games. Before I comment on last weekend’s victory at Grampound Road I must say a big thank you to the ‘Barmy Army’ who took the trouble to go all the way to Luckett to watch the first team. They didn’t see much cricket from our boys but it is brilliant that our supporters are prepared to jump in a mini bus and take the trouble to watch Redruth. So to Trevor Smith, Joe Graham, Roy Thomas, Malcolm Hambly, Paul Mankee, Barry Prisk and the driver Bob Lunn thanks for your efforts.

Moe Hartmann made his debut against Grampound Road 2’s in what for all of us was a first game on the new Grampound Road pitch. Although the outfield looks and plays a little rough the track itself played well. After a slow start Dave Guffick and OJ set about the home attack and the run rate climbed steadily throughout the afternoon. OJ and Moriz renewed their partnership in the middle and both looked like class players, who if they continue to produce this form should see us being very competitive this season. OJ made 84 and Mo an impressive 69. 273 was to be way too many for the home side and the 10 points was secured within the first 20 overs of the second innings, Martin Strick taking out the top order.

On Tuesday we backed up our victory with a Vinter Cup win over Mullion. Once again the batting looked very strong and a 20 over total of 153 was not something Mullion ever considered chasing. Peter Thomas showed his potential for the future by taking 4 wickets for 3 runs, well played Peter.

Launceston will be a different kettle of fish however and 4 wins from 4 games shows us that they are already title contenders. Today will be a good test of whether we will be able to manage a top 6 finish, so let’s knuckle down and try and get the job done.