The opponents for the Sunday 1sts on Sunday 7 July at home are Clock Tower CC, from London. Upton member Tom Wilcox formed the Club as a way of keeping in touch with a group of friends who had studied together at Queen Mary College in London’s East End.

From the year 2000, they played most of their fixtures in the thriving South London wanderers club scene (clubs without their own grounds) in which Upton’s Clive Moore also played for years.

As many of the original Clock Tower members started to leave London over the years, fixtures became less frequent and the standard of cricket (which was never the best) started to drop. More recently, the Club has been able to carry on by asking a few friends who played in the professional game to raise the average ability a bit. Ex-international and/or county cricketers who have made appearances for Clock Tower include Norman Cowans, Martin Bicknell, Chris Lewis, Darren Bicknell, Martin Speight and more locally, Brad Donelan.

Clock Tower, Captained by our own Tom Wilcox, are expecting three of four ex-pros to play on 7 July including both Bicknells. Also in the visitors’ team are a couple of former Upton players, Shaun Woof and Jonny Hodgkinson, making a playing return after many years’ absence.

Commenting, Martin Bicknall (ex Surrey & England) said, "I had the pleasure of speaking at Upton Cricket Club’s annual awards night last year and was impressed with what a friendly and vibrant club it is. I’m looking forward to returning to play against them with a team that includes my brother Darren, Brad Donelan – once of Sussex CCC and now at Neston CC – along with one or two more former professional cricketers and a few other friends”

It promises to be a good game of cricket and a fun day at the Club. Please do come down and watch.