In this episode of the Silver Stumps podcast hosts Grant Timms and Trevor Lee review the matches that took place on the first day of the season for the Over 60s Championship - April 23rd - and look forward to week two matches scheduled for April 30th

A number of games were cancelled and have been rearranged for the replay date of July 2nd

There were no matches played in the North and Midlands groups with Essex winning the only matching the East group and Sussex the only match in the South-East group.

All three matches were concluded in the South East Midlands group with wins for Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire

In the South-West group the big Match of the Day between Wales and Gloucestershire was cancelled and in the other games there were wins for Devon and Somerset

Top bowler of the week was Essex’s Mel Hussain with 4-19 and top batter was Martyn Ford from Sussex who made the league’s first century of 2024 with 101

We are looking for the comedy moment each week so please do send your suggestions to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk along with details and anyone who you think deserves a shout out on the podcast for a particular bowling, batting or fielding performance

Grant and Trevor will be looking for future guests who can provide insights, tips, advice and inspiration to those playing cricket at this age and beyond!

To be a guest on the show or advise on someone who would make a great guest please drop an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk

If you like the show please press the subscribe / follow button on your podcast app and every new episode will there ready for you to listen to as soon as it goes live.

And it would be great if you left the show a rating / review - this is easily done via your podcast app and would be much appreciated.

Please also share with your cricket mates and talk about on social media.

Thanks for listening!

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60 Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s cricket.

In this episode of the Silver Stumps podcast Mark Shepherd captain of the 2023 O60s Championship winners Surrey joins hosts Grant Timms and Trevor Lee.

We talk about how Surrey went from being 9th seeds in the last 16 draw for the championship to the eventual winners and their journey along the way including removing co-host Grant Timms in the last 16 match for 0 and on his home ground at Rushden!

In fact getting their opponents top players out for nought was a pattern that Surrey established removing the dangerous Arthur Worthington for 0 in the quarter-final against Suffolk and then Mel Hussain for 0 in the semi-final versus Essex and then both of the Hertfordshire openers for 0 in the grand final.

Mark also talks about captaincy and how much enjoys it and the challenge of integrating new players into a championship winning team and ensuring that there is a pathway to the first team from the four over 60s championship sides that Surrey run and fifth team that they are launching in 2024.

Grant and Trevor will be looking for future guests who can provide insights, tips, advice and inspiration to those playing cricket at this age and beyond!

To be a guest on the show or advise on someone who would make a great guest please drop an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk

If you like the show please press the subscribe / follow button on your podcast app and every new episode will there ready for you to listen to as soon as it goes live.

And it would be great if you left the show a rating / review - this is easily done via your podcast app and would be much appreciated.

Please also share with your cricket mates and talk about on social media.

Thanks for listening!

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60 Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s cricket.

In this episode of the Silver Stumps podcast National Management team man and Warwickshire player Dave Murphy joins hosts Grant Timms and Trevor Lee to explain the new look formats for 2024, in particular the phase two group stages for the O60s 1st and 2nd XI competitions.

Here’s a summary of the formats:

O60s 1st XI : 33 teams in 6 groups (it was 5 in 2023) - North (6 teams) - East (5), Midlands (5), South East (5), South East Midlands (6) and SouthWest (6).

The top 2 teams in each group progress in the Championship Cup phase 2 league which will be geographically divided so the 6 teams qualifying from the North, East and Midlands will be in Group A and the 6 teams from the other 3 regions in Group B

The six teams will play each other home and away but teams won’t play against the same team that was in their original group, which means there will be eight matches in this phase 2 group stage

The top two then in each of the groups qualify for the semifinals with the winner of group A playing the runner-up of group B and vice versa

An identical structure will apply to those finishing third and fourth in each of the six groups who will qualify for the Vase tournament with those finishing fifth and sixth, which will be 19 is in total, going into the Bowl tournament

A similar structure will be happening for the O60s 2nd XI competition although in phase 1 with 30 teams there will be five groups of six

The top two in each group go through into phase 2 league, with one group featuring three winners and two runners-up and the other group featuring two winners and three runners-up – the decision about replacing what group will be determined when the first phase is finished and geography taken into account

In phase 2 teams will play four matches so once each against the teams in their phase 2 group with each county playing 2 home games and 2 away games

The identical structure applies to those finishing third and fourth who will go into the O60s 2nd XI Vase competition and those finishing fifth and sixth who will go into the O60s 2nd XI Bowl competition

The O60s 3rd XI competition features 17 teams who will play 12 matches prior to a quarter-final stage and in the O60s 4th XI competition there will be seven teams play each other home and away

In the O70s 1st XI competition 25 teams will play 12 matches before going into the quarter-final stage and in the O70s 2nd XI competition five teams will play each other four times

Grant and Trevor will be looking for future guests who can provide insights, tips, advice and inspiration to those playing cricket at this age and beyond!

To be a guest on the show or advise on someone who would make a great guest please drop an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk

If you like the show please press the subscribe / follow button on your podcast app and every new episode will there ready for you to listen to as soon as it goes live.

And it would be great if you left the show a rating / review - this is easily done via your podcast app and would be much appreciated.

Please also share with your cricket mates and talk about on social media.

Thanks for listening!

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60 Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s cricket.