“The Cradle of Cricket”

As part of the Charity Fundraiser on Sunday 1 June, we are holding a Raffle and Sealed Bid Auction, both to be held after the match, raising funds tor Breast Cancer Now.

Sealed Bid Auction

We have a fabulous experience on offfer for a Luxury Stay for 2 at The Ritz in London, pre-paid up to a value of £2,500!

Champagne on arrival; dinner in the world-famous restaurant; full breakfast, afternoon tea - you will be free to create your own bespoke experience.

Submit your name, contact number and bid amount to be in with a chance of winning this fabulous experience!

Raffle

We have also assembled an impressive array of raffle prizes, including:

• Shirt signed by James Vince
• Round of golf for 4 at Goodwood
• Complimentary tour, tasting and lunch for two at Hambledon Vineyard
• Gift voucher from Tender Cut butcher
• Masuri T-Line steel helmet (x2)
• Day for 2 at Wentworth BMW PGA Championship
• …and many more!

Tickets are £2, of £10 for a strip of 5. They are on sale now and at the event on Sunday at the club. We are unfortunately not allowed to sell them online.

We would like to offer our sincere gratitude to all those who have generously donated prizes.

Last Saturday, a re-dedication ceremony was held at Ridge Meadow to rename the pavilion in honour of the club’s greatest and longest-serving member, Robert “Topsy” Turner.

Chairman Mark Le-Clercq gave a short speech outlining Topsy’s contributions to the club, before unveiling the new name, “The Robert ‘Topsy’ Turner Pavilion”, all of which came as a complete surprise to Topsy.

Topsy joined the club in 1954 at the age of 13, and first started helping with the ground the following year – which adds up to 70 years of service and devotion to the club.

The last time anyone added it up, Topsy had scored over 35,000 runs and taken over 3,500 wickets for Hambledon; and between 1970 and 1983 he amassed the incredible feat of scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in 12 of those 14 seasons!

Thanks to Topsy (and Sue) for everything you have done for the club over the years; we hope to see you at the Ridge for a good number of years to come...

Two weeks have gone in the Fantasy League, and it’s time for this year’s new feature: an early transfer window. This will let you fix any glaring mistakes or omissions in your squad early in the season before it is too late. There will be a second transfer window at the mid-point of the season.

The transfer window is open for the next 10 days – until 12:00 noon on Saturday 24 May. You can make one group of changes of up to 5 players in your squad. You’ll also find a handful of new players to choose from who were not included at the very start of the season.

This week’s selections are now published to help you pick your team, so go along and make your changes now!

More sad news, this time of the passing of Brian Turner, brother to Topsy, who died on April 12 at the age of 76.

Our longer-standing members will remember Brian serving the club as scorer for about 13 years from 1983.

For those who do remember Brian and would like to pay their respects, Topsy and Sue invite you to join them at a service at 3pm on Tuesday 20 May at Portchester Crematorium (North Chapel).

On behalf of the club, I and the rest of the committee offer continuing sympathy and support to the Turner family at what was already a very difficult time.

Hambledon Cricket Club will be hosting a charity match at Ridge Meadow on Sunday 1 June in memory of Jackie Turner.

Ian Turner will be leading an XI of past Hambledon players in a T20 fixture against a Chairman’s XI selected by Mark Le-Clercq. The match will start at 1pm.

There will be fundraising on the day, including donations, a barbecue, and a raffle. Money raised will go to the Breast Cancer Now charity, and to the Cancer Unit at Milton Keynes Hospital, which did so much to care for Jackie.

You can also donate to Breast Cancer Now over on JustGiving.

This promises to be a wonderful occasion to remember Jackie, who contributed so much to the club over her lifetime, so please mark it on your calendars!