Andover Cricket Club began the season last Saturday, like most clubs, in freezing conditions.

The town club had three fixtures, with the first team playing at Thatcham, the seconds at home to the same opposition, and the thirds away at Steeple Langford. Good workouts were had by all three teams, but with three defeats.

Toby Radford was the first team's star, unbeaten on 99 as Roger Miller's side fell 10 runs short of their target. The seconds lost by five wickets at London Road while the third team, led by John Baxter, went down by six wickets. Richard Channon was the star of the side with an excellent 90.

The friendly matches continue next week with an interclub match at London Road. First and second squads will go through their paces in front of the vice presidents, who have been invited to the club captain's cheese and wine party for the afternoon. The 3rd and 4th teams are also in action. Miller and Keighley will captain sides at London Road, with the 1st team batters and second team bowlers in Miller's side and the reverse captained by Tim Keighley.

The match will provide very useful practice and the players will have an eye on the league, which commences a week later with the first team entertaining Havant, the premier league champions, at Andover's headquarters. 2nd X1 vs Thatcham

Despite defeat, there were good performances. Nick Dancer, making his debut for the club bowled his eight overs for only 16 runs, but remained wickletless.

Ali Hooper and Mike Adams showed good form with the bat, while Oliver Goss showed that he will be a good player with a gutsy performance. Andover's 122-8 was never going to be enough, and Thatcham eased home with six overs to spare. All the bowlers had a good workout, and skipper Tim Keighley hopes the cobwebs have been blown away for the start of the season on 10 May.

4th X1 v Steeple Langford Andover's fourth team got their season under way with a trip to a cold and windy Steeple Langford.

Winning the toss and batting, the visitors got off to a steady start with John Copleston (23) and John Baxter putting on 25, while Richard Channon with an excellent 90 held the innings together and was supported by Chris Hadfield (6) and Alan Ellwood (31) in stands of 61 and 66 respectively.

The innings closed with a score of 169 for 5. Channon's innings included three sixes and nine fours as he fell 10 short of the magic figure.

New member John Walsh took the bowling honours with a fine spell of 12 overs, during which he took 2 for 16. Unfortunately the other bowlers found the conditions very difficult, as the home side reach their target with three overs to spare and with six wickets intact.