Its April 25th and next week the O60s and O70s county championships begin with matches in the 60s 1st and 2nd XI competitions and the O70s 2nd and 3rd XI competitions

We begin the episode with a little look back on what happened in 2024 and we review two carried over finals that have been played this week - the O60s 1st XI Vase Final and the O60s 2nd XI Bowl Final

In our look ahead to 2025 season we remind ourselves of any changes that have been made to both the O60s and O70s competitions and then we pick up on a couple of things that we are both particularly interested in for this season before finishing off with a quick look ahead to the international calendar for the summer of 2025

You can find all the fixtures for the O60s and O70s 2025 County Championship here: https://seniorscountychampionship.play-cricket.com/Matches?tab=Fixture

Here’s the link to the England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship website: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details as otherwise we don't know who the message is from.

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Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.

The Malta Seniors Cricket Festival took place between the 28th of March and the 5th of April at the Marsa sports club under the direction of tournament, founder and director Frank Spiteri and tournament referee Barrie Burns.

Eight teams took part in this event which has been going since 2018 and not only provides a fantastic opportunity to play pre-season warm weather cricket but also raises not insignificant money for local charities and this year that included Ron Hedley's prostate cancer awareness walk fund as Ron organised a walk during the event.

Aidan Dennis organised the Surrey team that took part and Aidan kindly came on the podcast to tell us all about the tournament and make us wish that we had been there!

The eight teams were divided into two groups of four who all played each other and then the top two teams in both groups played in the final the next two in the third and fourth place match etc…

The 30 overs a side matches were played on a synthetic wicket with two matches a day at the same ground. Batters had to retire after 50 balls.

It does sound like a lot of fun and included an excursion to the area known as the Three Cities and special guests Henry Blofeld and John Emburey.

The teams taking part were Norfolk and Suffolk combined, Cheshire, Essex and Buckinghamshire in group A

And in group B Sussex, sorry Kent and Bedfordshire combined and an Australian team known as the Kangaroos.

Our next episode, which will be recorded on Friday April 26th, will be a preview of the season ahead.

If you would like to be mentioned then send us a two or three paragraph email about how you see the season ahead or better still record a one minute audio clip which we can edit into the episode. You can record on your phone and email the clip to us at podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk - we need them no later than Thursday April 25th.

You can find all the fixtures for the O60s and O70s 2025 County Championship here: https://seniorscountychampionship.play-cricket.com/Matches?tab=Fixture

Here’s the link to the England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship website: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details as otherw

Send us a text

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.

Mike Hayden is the captain of Wales O60s 1st XI. In March the team took part in a tournament in Cape Town alongside Zimbabwe (who went unbeaten and won the event), two evenly matched teams from South Africa, USA and USA A. Wales finished 3rd.

We talk to Mike about the tournament which involved playing six matches in eight days and how to manage that workload when most players are used to playing only once or twice a week.

We also discuss the idea of Wales O60s splitting into two 1st XI teams. An idea that came from the league rather from Wales.

Plus we look ahead to the 2025 season with Wales competing in the tough South West regional group as well as playing England at Newport on May 23rd and finishing the season with the tri-nations competition. Wales are also hoping they might get a game against the touring Australians.

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details as otherwise we don't know who the message is from.

The England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship has a relatively new website - check it out here: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Send us a text

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.

Paul Farbrace is the Director of Cricket for Sussex County Cricket Club as well as being a Vice-President of the Seniors County Cricket Championship

Paul makes a welcome return to the podcast. Since we first talked in April 2024 Paul has led Sussex to the County Championship Division Two Championship and the T20 Blast Finals day.

We catch up with Paul on his ambitions for Sussex in 2025, his thoughts on how to re-organise the county competitions, especially given the money going into the county game on the back of the Hundred franchise sale revenues.

Paul also shares some coaching tips for O60s/070s cricketers, particularly around keeping the game simple and for players to enjoy the parts of the game they are best at.

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details as otherwise we don't know who the message is from.

The England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship has a relatively new website - check it out here: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Send us a text

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.

Darryl Woods wears numerous cricket and sports hats including heading up Oxfordshire Cricket Seniors, being an Non-Executive Director on the Oxfordshire Cricket Board as well as being a Cricket Coach and YouTuber via his sports channel Ox Sports Unleashed

And now England O60s trialist!

We enjoyed talking to Darryl about the forthcoming trial matches, his work as a cricket coach, seniors cricket generally and not forgetting the ball he trapped Grant with lbw in 2024. Grant is still waiting for the DRS review to come through!

If you enjoy the show please do tell others about it.

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details as otherwise we don't know who the message is from.

The England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship has a relatively new website - check it out here: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Send us a text

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.

Tony Panecasio played a key part in Australia winning the O60s 2024 World Cup in Chennai and the Grey Ashes in November and December 2024.

Tony had combined figures across the World Cup semi-final and final of 10-45 with his 4-32 in the final including a couple of stunning caught and bowled's. He won the trophy for most wickets at the 2024 O60s World Cup.

In the Grey Ashes Tony took 10 wickets in the series bowling a full compliment of 9 overs in 4 of the 5 matches including 2 when he wasn’t in the batting XI.

We talk about both the World Cup and the Grey Ashes with Tony or TP as he is widely known.

Tony tells us how his Australia O60s adventure began with an out of the blue call in November 2023 from selector Eric Higgins.

We also talk about Australia's O60s forthcoming tour to New Zealand and the changes to their squad for that. We also look ahead to Australia being back in England between June 24th and July 25th when once again the Grey Ashes will be at stake.

Thank you to everyone who provides feedback. If you use the 'send us a text' option at the bottom of these notes don't forget in your message to tell us who you are.

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details if you wish as we can’t reply direct to the text messages.

The England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship has a relatively new website - check it out here: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Send us a text

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.

Who would've thought that just over a year since we launched we would be already pushing that quick single into a gap in the covers to get to our 50!

Thank you to all our listeners and guests who made our first '50' such an enjoyable experience. We're taking fresh guard and looking to build on this foundation.

In this 50th episode we talk about some of the highlights of a just over a year of podcasting.

Episode one went out on February 4th 2024 which was a short introductory episode to get us onto all the various podcast apps and platforms.

Four days later we had our first proper episode with then England over 60s captain Richard Merriman previewing the forthcoming over 60s World Cup in Chennai.

In episode six the wonderful Ron Hedley came on and talked about the amazing walks he was organising to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer - £55k + £7k gift aid so far. Ron was followed by Lamby and Farby.

Sybil Ruscoe reflected on her time as the first female cricket presenter when Channel 4 won the rights to broadcast England Test Cricket in 1999

Chris Lowe popped up to tell us about the over 70s World Cup and three weeks later, John Evans the England over 70s skipper came on to tell us about how England had won the O70s World Cup.

We were thinking that we might struggle for content once the domestic season had finished but the O60s Grey Ashes in Australia gave us lots to talk about.

Immediately after Christmas Rash and Mel Mahmood came on to talk about their experience of being Ashes scorer and state game umpire respectively for the Grey Ashes. We kicked off 2025 with Chris 'Noddy' Dearden followed by Paolo Iorio who offered some great tips for 60+ cricketers for their winter fitness preparations.

We got to 49 with Scotland Over 60s captain Clark McConnachie talking about the plans and ambitions for Scotland Seniors Cricket.

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details if you wish as we can’t reply direct to the text messages.

The England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship has a relatively new website - check it out here: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Send us a text

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.

Clark McConnachie is the captain of Scotland O60s.

In this episode we talk to Clark about what's going on domestically as well as internationally for Scotland senior cricketers.

Clark explains how for many years Scotland Over 60s and 70s have been under the banner of the Scotland Forty Club District but that all changed in the autumn when Scotland Seniors was set up to cover the current range of international age groups for Seniors Cricket: Over 40s, Over 50s, Over 60s and Over 70s.

Clark explains how Scotland are currently preparing their application to be part of the International Masters Cricket organisation which if successful would then enable them to enter competitions such as the 2026 Over 60s World Cup in Canada.

Clark also talks about the O60s international matches that Scotland have played in the last couple of years particularly the tri-nations tournament which involved England, England Lions and Wales. Some of the players including Clark did get international level experience by being part of the Rest of the World team at the 2024 O60s World Cup in Chennai.

Being part of the O60s England and Wales County championship is something on the future radar and this season Scotland O60s will be playing friendlies against the northern based England counties on a mini tour at the start of the season.

You can follow the development of Scotland Seniors via their Facebook page.

Silver Stumps now has a small website which you can find at https://www.silverstumps.com/ - it features all the episodes and a little bit about Grant and Trevor, the co-hosts of the podcast.

If you've got feedback or observations about the podcast or ideas for future guests please drop us an email to podcast@trevorleemedia.co.uk or press ‘send us a message’ at the bottom of these notes - please include your name and contact details if you wish as we can’t reply direct to the text messages.

The England and Wales O60s / O70s county championship has a relatively new website - check it out here: https://6070cc.co.uk

Here’s a link to the England O60s Facebook page

The scorecards for England matches, including the Grey Ashes, can be found on the England Seniors Play Cricket site

You can follow all that’s happening across the Seniors Cricket world via https://masterscricket.org and their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/internationalmasterscricket

Send us a text

Silver Stumps is the podcast aimed at Over 60s and Over 70s Cricketers. Hosted by Grant Timms and Trevor Lee it aims to be entertaining, informative and topical as Grant and Trevor combine a mix of guests with their own take on what's happening in the thriving world of over 60s and 70s cricket.