After a liesurly breakfast and a bit of a lie in, the convoy heads off in the direction of Apperley.   First stop along the way is the Cheltenham race-course, located at Prestbury Park. The racecourse, well known for jumping races, has a scenic location in a natural amphitheatre just below the escarpment of the Cotswold Hills.

Next we stop at Odda's Chapel . Its a surviving Anglo-Saxon church at Deerhurst, Gloucestershire. Earl Odda had it built for the benefit of the soul of his brother Aelfric, who died on 22 December 1053. Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester consecrated it; an inscription dates the dedication to 12 April 1056. The chapel is partly incorporated into a 16th or early 17th century farmhouse and was being used for accommodation when in 1865 its historic significance was realised.

St Mary's Church in the village of Deerhurst, nine miles north of Gloucester on the River Severn, is a fascinating mix of English architectural styles ranging from Saxon to Tudor. The Saxon details include the spiral-carved font - one of the oldest in England. Other notable details include ancient Saxon sculptures, two fine brasses, Early English capitals, and some medieval stained glass. We also wander around the old cemetery with some grave stones dating back many hundreds of years.   The church grounds are protected from the Severn flooding by a large mound that surrounds most of the village and an electronically-operated flood-gate .   It seems out-of-place in a setting that is over a thousand years old.
  
On the way from the church to the ground Brian has a minor scrape with the van as he gets too close to another parked on the side of the road.   The result is a smashed mirror on our van - no damage to the other.   The ground at Apperley is another lovely village ground, looked after by another of Stirling's contacts, Brian Leeke.   The Apperley club has hosted many touring sides in recent years and will be hosting the famous Lashings All-Star XI on the 22nd August featuring names like Gordon Greenidge, Inzamam Ul-Haq, Desmond Haynes and Courney Walsh.

The opposition today was to be an Apperley Over 60s team however they have had to travel to Wales to play in a village knock-out competition, so the club has had to trot out a mixture of the first and second grade teams. Oh joy !!   We lose the toss and the opposition bats on what looks like an absolute belter of a batting track with a lightening fast outfield .   Their openers tee off, their middle order tees off and it was very quickly apparent that minimising the number of boundaries is the order of the day. I thought I was finally keeping for a whole game so I am disappointed to be told I'm only doing 15 overs with Murray Harrison and Peter Howes to also do 15 overs each. I snare one catch off Col Cooke before its time to hand over the gloves and run/limp around the outfield again.   Its a hot day - even for Aussies - and the opposition ends their 45 overs at 8/275.

After the usual sumptuous lunch, its time to go face the music.   I'm opening today with Dennis Axelby and there are thoughts of a good score if we get through the new ball.   Unfortunately, its not to be. I hit a straight drive right out of the screws first ball of the innings but instead of moving one side or the other, my batting partner turns his back and wears it right up the clacker.   Not happy, Jan. Second ball hits the middle of the bat but straight to a fielder . Third ball, I play a little too early and am horrified to see it going straight back to the bowler.   Out for a duck on that road !!

The rest of the lads feast on the bowling, Ross getting a rapid 30 retired, Vince Bulger also makes a stylish 30 retired and in the last few overs Peter Howes also makes it to 30, much to the bemusement of most of his team-mates. Ross mutes Peter's celebrations by telling him that he can open next time.......sounds good to me!   The only down-side is an injury to Bill Rowe who appears to have hyper-extended his knee in another dive/fall/collision while running between the wickets. I hope it not serious - we all love having Bill around. He always has a smile on his face and although not possessing an athletic build, is willing to throw himself into everything for the team.
 
We finish on 6/202, not a bad result considering the age of our opposition.   The usual speeches and presentations take place after a wonderful meal is provided by the ladies of the local club .   Its a different scenario to what we are used to back in Australia.   Here in the UK our matches are generally starting around 1:00pm so the home club supplied a light lunch before play, an afternoon tea full of sweety-treats and pork pies etc. around 4:00 and then a supper after the match finishes around 7:30 or 8:00pm.   Of course it is light here until very late in the evening.  

Cranham tomorrow and we are all hoping for opposition of our own age again - these youngsters are starting to wear us down. We arrive home to news of the shooting down of MH017 over the Ukraine - terrible news.   And of course, the Queensland contingent have flown Malaysian Airlines to and from this tour and flew over that same air-space.   Very sobering.