Astwood Bank were runners-up in the first National Village Cup final (1972) and again in 2003. #NVC17 pic.twitter.com/oR8I9f2OBP
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) February 17, 2017
Bredon play Harvington Cricket Club away in the first round of the National Village Cup on Sunday, April 30, following the draw today.
Victory would put us a step closer to playing in the competition’s final at Lord’s, the home of cricket.
Clubs across the nation, including Bredon, will battle it out for a place in the National Village Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday, September 17.
You can follow the draw live below on the feed from The Cricketer magazine’s Twitter page on Friday, February 17.
The first round of the competition will be played on Sunday, April 30. Dates for the remaining rounds are here.
The list will be available in full on the nationalvillagecup.com website straight after the draw.
Every year about 300 clubs from villages across the British Isles battle for the chance to play in the final at Lord’s, the home of cricket.
The competition has its origins in a meeting in the committee room at Lord’s.
Aidan Crawley, chairman of the National Cricket Association, looked out of the window and remarked that he had always wanted to see village cricketers play on the hallowed turf.
Ben and Belinda Brocklehurst formed a plan of campaign with The Cricketer.
They agreed what constituted a village, deciding that it should be a “rural community surrounded on all sides by open countryside”.
By the end of the 1971 cricket season, 785 clubs had been divided into 32 regional groups, whose local knock-out competitions would provide the starting point of the inter-group stages and thereafter the national rounds.