This week, Sparsholt’s opening bowler Alex Dilley and all-rounder Tom Foster look forward to the upcoming season. Dilley, a law student at Winchester University used his pace to make early breakthroughs on several occasions last summer. Foster was given his first taste of First team action last year in the Southern League, before reverting to the Second team in the Hampshire League.

Alex Dilley is looking forward to getting a whole season under his belt, after injuries limited his playing time last season. “I played half a season last summer” he explained, “This year I would like to play the full season. I am perennially injured; however nothing has flared up so far, so I should be able to play through the whole season hopefully.”

Last year was Alex’s first year at Sparsholt, and although he performed well with the ball, he is aiming for an even better season this year. “I took sixteen wickets last summer, which wasn’t bad considering I missed half the season. My target for this year would be for between 30 and 35 wickets.”

Alex believes that the squad has improved this year, and believes the team should be aiming high this season. “This year we will hopefully be able to have a full strength squad and which should hopefully lead to at least a top half finish, maybe even pushing for promotion.” He added, “Last year we struggled a bit with a few injuries and some people weren’t available, so if everyone stays fit this year then there is no reason why we can’t do well.”

Tom Foster is looking to move in to Sparsholt’s First team on a more regular basis this summer, despite being just fourteen. He has already represented the first team last summer, and has also held his own in the Second team, posting a number of high scores. “My aim this year would be to score a few runs for the Seconds and break in to the Firsts. I’d like to get a few more runs than I did last year for the First team. This will hopefully help to solidify my place in the County under 15s setup.”

“I got three fifties at the end of last season for the Twos. I didn’t get that many runs at the start of the season, so that could be where I could improve for this year. My junior team didn’t do badly either. We finished third in our league.”Tom believes that playing with and against older players has aided him in the long run. “It’s good in a way, as you’re able to learn a lot faster. It can be a bit nerve-racking at times though, as you don’t really know how they will react to playing against a fourteen year old.”

Having played for Sparsholt for seven years, Tom believes that the club really helps young people get in to cricket and play regularly, which can only be a benefit. “I’ve played for Sparsholt since I started playing Cricket. The coaching is really good. Each age group usually have two teams who train once a week and they play matches most weeks.”