Last Sunday, 9th May, our match against St John’s College, Oxford was, rather regrettably, called off. The opposition withdrew at the last minute, due to lack of numbers.

This Saturday we are again scheduled to be in Oxfordshire, as we have hired a village ground there for our home match against Gentleman’s Relish. We are still looking for a couple of extra players, so if you can make it, please let me know. Lifts are available.

Looking further ahead, we are also still recruiting for the following fixtures:

– Sunday 23rd May v Sanford, in Guildford.

– Sunday 13th June v Shedfield, near Southampton

– Sunday 20th June v Heartaches, Ascott Park, Bucks

– Sunday 27th June v Pyrford, near Woking

If you can make any or all of those matches, please let me know at maxie@maxieallen.com

Also, here’s a significant date for your diary – Sunday 29th August: this year’s Allstars Festival. The Festival is one of the major events in our calendar – it’s our club match and family day, and if you can only make it along a few times a year, this one is a must.

Can we get this guy to play for us against St John’s?

Actually, despite what it says in the post below, the cricketing highlight of 2010 is the Allstars Tour to Bergerac. Our annual overseas tour is one of the key events of the season. The cricket is not taken terribly seriously, there’s lots of banter and fun, and overall it’s heartily recommended.

This year’s Allstars Festival is pencilled into this year’s fixture list for Bank Holiday Monday 30th August, at Barnes Common. Sadly missing from last year’s calendar, the Festival is an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of the Allstars, with a game played in a party atmosphere, between two teams of Allstars and friends, with barbecue, beers, friends, and hopefully some sunshine. Friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands, children, other relations, and even James Hindle, are all welcome, to play or just to watch and socialise.

I thought I’d kick off discussion about this year’s Festival, by asking: what would you like to see at this year’s festival? Dancing girls? Fire-eaters? Elephants? Do you like the two-15-over-innings-a-side format? Tell us your hopes and dreams for what will inevitably be the highlight of the cricketing year, putting the IPL, the ICC World Twenty20, and the Ashes into the shade.

We need a more esoteric, personalised name – to convey its intended role as a kind of online version of the Sun Inn after a match. It can be as obscure as you like: only regular players will ever visit anyway. Enter your suggestions below.