Blog Post

League preview

Simon Vigar • 14 April 2025

1st XI Captain looks ahead

The first Saturday in May means the return of men’s league cricket to the Rec, with the 2nd XI at home to Brook and the 1st XI travelling to Worplesdon. The I’Anson League is the oldest, continuous village league and was a closed shop for many years, before opening up in the mid-1990s, which is when Fernhurst joined. Frensham, Grayshott & Headley are among the opponents and, much more recently, Haslemere have joined the fray.


2025 will be the third season in charge for 1st XI skipper Joe Unwin, who led a successful promotion campaign in 2023 before consolidation in Division 2 last year. Joe says "Our aim for this season is to build on the strong platform we have created and continue to compete with all teams in the league. I have a feeling each and every game will be competitive but I believe we will succeed this year! To Improve - we want to solidify our top order to allow us to make a strong start that our (many) middle order batsman can enjoy.”


One of the top bowlers in the league last year was Fernhurst’s overseas player Saveen Gunarathne from New Zealand and the club is delighted he is returning for 2025. Joe says “To have Saveen back is incredibly exciting. He fits in so well with the team and is a great help on and off to pitch to myself and everyone at FCC. Div 2 was tough last year, however I did not feel that we struggled in many games. We finished middle of the table which is a very fair reflection. This year let’s aim for the top!” The 1st XI and 2nd XI alternate their home games and, on a sunny afternoon, there aren’t many better places to enjoy village cricket and everything the Fern Cafe has to offer. If you can’t make it down there the games are now streamed on YouTube with live scoring and results on Play-Cricket.com.

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