7 days prior to the Tour week Lincs CCC pulled out of the Monday fixture stating they had no player available despite this being match having been agreed 6+ months ago.

Then 3 days prior to the start date Camberley CC rang to say they only had 8 players for Sunday tour opener.

Many phone calls, conversations and text messages took place during the ensuing hours & days leading up to Sunday 26th but somehow matches were confirmed with both Camberley and the owners / managers of the Elvetham Country House (Nazoomi Ahzhar & Jay Matharu) who used their list of contacts to recruit some overseas / 1st & 2nd Xi players from local leagues.

The Squad was once again led by Mick Martin (29 caps) with the next most experienced player being Will Evans (13 caps). The remaining 12 players of which 5 were debutants totalled 28 caps between them so it was yet another inexperienced team following the 2021 Tour which had 10 debutants. Such is the life of the Police it is becoming harder and harder to select the team due to unavailability due to Probationer training / CID, Driving & Firearms Courses etc. Whilst some Forces support their staff wellbeing with varying amounts of time off to represent National Sport others have gone the other way by reducing and even removing all time off making selection even harder as players now have the dilemma of choosing between Police Sport and family time.

And so to the Tour itself….

Firstly a huge thanks here goes to the new scorer, Lewis “Statto” Rouse, making his debut having taking over from Peter Mitchell who had been in the box since 2005.

Statto not only kept the traditional scorebook but also used Play Cricket Live Scorer which removed the need for the Sec to update scorecards post tour. He also produced daily match reports along with updating “Mitch’s” BPCC History Document. He is already a valuable member of BPCC and let’s hope he continues for future tours.

Day 1

British Police CC (366 for 6) beat Camberley CC (60 all out) by 306 runs

Stuart Drakeley retired Not Out 100

Dave Roffey 93 & 4-3-2-3

Tom Knight 78

Gary Knight 43

Joe Flatt 5-4-5-3

Day 2

British Police CC (320 for 5) beat Elvetham Select XI (171 all out) by 146 runs (DLS)

Gary Knight 106

Tom Knight 83

Dave Roffey 60 & 2-6

Joe Flatt 3-41

Stuart Drakeley 2-26

Day 3

British Police CC (250 all out) beat Army CC (194 all out) by 56 runs

Gary Knight

Dominic Manthorpe 28 & 3-41

Mike Harling 3–48

Sam Godfrey 2-31

Day 4

British Police CC (231 for 4) beat RAF CC (230 all out) by 6 wickets

Stuart Drakeley 60*

Matt Sisson 54

Mick Martin 34*

Sam Godfrey 3-45

Dave Roffey 3-50

Will Heather 2-25

Day 5

Club Cricket Conference (261 for 4) beat British Police CC (257 for 8) by 6 wickets

Tom Knight 93

Mick Martin 62

“Highest 5th wicket partnership of 158”

Matt Sisson 52

Dave Roffey 2-46

Full scorecards / Match reports Tour Averages can be viewed at:

https://britishpolicecc.play-cricket.com/home

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/britishpolicecc/

Details can also be seen on our FB & LinkedIn pages

Thanks to all the hosting clubs and to the officials standing during the week especially the 2 BP umpires Shaun Storey and Neil Vaughan. To Ian Dowling our Sports Therapist on his 3rd Tour for keeping the lads fit and on the field of play and last but not least the Assistant Manager Graham Shaw who provided support and wealth of experience from his 103 BP appearances including 53 as Captain.

Finally a huge thanks to our new Main Kit Sponsor SoftJump (Fortrus) and Commercial Director Steve Wheeler who has agreed to support us for 3 seasons, to Magnet Forensics who have also become a new back of shirt / sleeve sponsor and to Motorola Solutions who have been supporting us since 2019 as a kit sponsor. Thanks also to our Match Sponsors Arc Legal, George Burrows, NARPO and Halo Solutions. Your funding support allows BPCC to continue providing competitive cricket for men and womens squads and in turn provides a source of wellbeing and a break from the stresses and strains that everyday policing encounters.