CRICKET and sunshine. It has been a long wait but this season looks like being one worth waiting for. This is especially so of our county club.

Uncertainty over the development of the ground is now in the past. The club should now move forward on all fronts. There are encouraging signs, the greatest of which is the number of talented players at Bristol, not yet in the first XI.

See them at Thornbury on April 30 playing Notts in a three-day Second XI fixture.

At the moment the first team are playing Northampton at Bristol (four days starting yesterday).

This column must offer two warnings regarding this game. First of all, the opposing side. which does not have a tail. All their batsmen from one to 11 can score good runs. They could easily draw their batting order out of a hat.

Especially prolific against us is off spinner James Middlebrook. I like him because his girth and gait give hope to middle aged men everywhere.

The second warning concerns the ground. It is still very much a work in progress. However, the Hammond Room and roof both remain. The latter is rightly renowned as a centre of wit and wisdom, where many long suffering sporting Bristolians bemoan the city’s lack of sporting success.

If you can get to the County Ground, sitting among this intellectual gathering can be stimulating, but it is not for the faint hearted. Mrs Light tells me she takes it in her stride, however. It has no fears for her.

There is no pavilion Grace Room to take lunch in. These facilities can be found in a marquee, happily situated in the sunniest place possible, just right for one of Mrs Paulo’s ice creams.

The club AGM follows the second day of the match (Thursday, April 25) and two reigns are coming to an end. Firstly, Rex Body is stepping down as chairman. Ably partnered by his wife Wendy, he has led the club through stormy waters and won so many battles on many fronts. Well done Rex and many thanks.

As well as a change in chairman there will be a change in president as David Allen comes to the end of his two-year stint.

Always in the right place at the right time and saying the appropriate thing to all the appropriate people, David and Joyce Allen have been splendid ambassadors for the club.

Rex will now spend more time following the fortunes of an obscure northern football team, managed by a Knight of the Realm, while David will have more hours to spend at his beloved Thornbury Cricket Club. They can only benefit from this.

I hear there may be a few injuries among the players at Bristol. I put it down to the fact they are from a softer generation. Those of us who grew up chopping wood, digging the garden, lifting hay bales and pedalling pushbikes up and down the Cotswold hills are from a stronger generation.

There is one welcome addition to the county cricket scene this season. The BBC are broadcasting live commentary on every county match ‘online’. Occasionally at Forest Green I assist as co-commentator, my broadcasting colleague being Bob Hunt. It is none other than Bob who is covering all Gloucestershire’s games, and has just been covering the Surrey v Somerset game at The Oval. I am retrospectively suing the county’s career service for not telling me such jobs would be available. My two minutes in 1959 consisted of ‘school teaching, bank or army’. You can see why I feel let down.

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