A Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire and Hurricane fly high over Woodbury Cricket Ground in Devon on their way to the inaugural Torbay Air Show. Below, the under 15 girls of Devon and Gloucestershire do battle, grateful that a number of heavy rain showers also fly straight past the ground as they roll along the Exe Esturay.
The playing fields of Lord Wandsworth College provide the ideal setting for a game of cricket, played on a perfect Summer Sunday. Set in 1200 acres of farmland, the college was established when former Liberal MP, Baron Sydney Stern, bequeathed money to be used in the education of local agricultural worker’s children. LWC, with it’s fine sporting tradition and long association with girls cricket, was included in The Cricketer Magazine’s annual Top 100 Cricket Schools supplement and is a fitting venue for the under 15 Hampshire Ladies team. Cricket isn’t the only sport enjoyed by current and former pupils, though. Legend has it that the school’s first rugby posts were cut by the boys from the surrounding woodland, and a young Jonny Wilkinson could be seen here meticulously perfecting his goal kicking technique during his school years.
Whilst the red-capped Welsh girls celebrate a Gloucestershire wicket, the umpires take the opportunity to watch an RAF Hercules transport plane as it passes majestically overhead. Although based in Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, much of the low level training for these planes (nicknamed Fat Alberts after an American cartoon character) takes place over the Central Wales TTA (Tactical Training Area). Below, the flag of St David flies over the clubhouse where, inside, the England jumper of former Pontarddulais Cricket Club player Robert Croft hangs proudly on the wall. The people of Pontarddulais (translation: bridge over the black stream) have more than just cricket to be proud of, though. The town is home to one of the oldest brass bands in Wales and the local male voice choir have been crowned National Eisteddfod Champions a record 15 times. They can also be heard performing the choral parts in the Pink Floyd film The Wall.
Cricket Skies 