Chalke Valley travelled to the town of Minehead for the second time in four years and enjoyed their most successful tour to date. Playing at some lovely cricket grounds in the West Country, particularly in the Exmoor national park, the Valley managed to win three games out of three.

The tour started on a Friday night at the ground of Over Stowey for a 20/20 match. Put into bat, Chalke Valley managed to score close to 150, with Craig Johnston top scoring. In reply, the home opposition never looked likely to win, with wickets shared amongst the bowlers. A good start to the tour was then completed by the now customary visit to the local nightclub!

Day 2 saw the club visiting Bridgetown Cricket Club, whose ground was voted the loveliest in the country in 2002. Chalke Valley opted to bat first, with David Brown and Dave Cooper laying the foundations for a competitive score with a first wicket stand of 34. Some lusty hitting from Joe Brewer and Anthony Jeffery helped the touring team to a competitive score. Bridgetown’s response started well, with their opener helping himself to a fifty. However, some “effective” bowling from Stuart Verdin (3-35) helped to complete a solid victory for the tourists.

The tour finished with a 40 over game in the village of Timberscombe. Despite being eager for the win, the team (apart from the captain and Kev) decided to have some fun by drawing straws for the batting line up. Batting first, Chalke Valley posted over 150, with Kev Monaghan scoring his first 50 for the club. With many of the players now nursing a few injuries and many more sore heads, it was not surprising that several catches went down in the field. The tour though finished on a high, with Toby Golden and Ben Cooper taking some excellent catches to ensure that the valley maintained their 100% success rate on tour.

Many thanks go to Stuart Verdin for organising an excellent tour. Roll on the 2012 tour!