Apperley head to Poulton on Saturday in good spirits after making a bright start to the season.

They overcame Cam by 20 runs in their opening 45-over game of the County League Division Two campaign, with new signing Jack Bilsby taking centre stage.

The medium-pacer was the sixth bowler used by skipper Matty Williams as the home side defended 213 and the ex-Woodpeckers player came up trumps by taking 4-23 in 4.4 overs.

“He bowls wicket-to-wicket, all his wickets were bowled,” said vice-chairman James MacPherson.

“It was a good spell because it was getting a bit twitchy.”

Bilsby took the vital wicket of Edward Paddock, who top-scored for Cam with 53, to end a seventh-wicket partnership of 45 and then took the final three wickets to fall.

Earlier opening batsman Luke Smith had top-scored for Apperley with 44, sharing an opening partnership of 70 with Williams.

The score was 113 when he was second man out and MacPherson said: “We should have scored more runs.

“We made a good start but then lost two or three wickets, it was a 250 wicket.”

Apperley have dropped down the divisions in recent times but there is plenty of ambition at a club who played at Lord’s in the final of the Village Knockout back in 1998. 

“We used to play in the WEPL so we have slipped down a bit,” said former player MacPherson, who has been vice-chairman for the past decade.

“But our captain Matty Williams wants us to be the best village side in the county, he’s a good lad.”

And the club, who have a strong women’s and girls’ section, are also fielding three adult teams on Saturday afternoons this season.

The 3rd XI are playing in the newly expanded County League and play their home games at Newent.

MacPherson, a hard-hitting batsman who also opened the bowling back in the day, played in the aforementioned final at Lord’s.

He opened the batting with Hugh Leeke, who is still playing for Apperley today and also played for England Over-50s in the World Cup in South Africa in 2020.