Just received my Membership Card and fixture list for this summer

I notice that we are using 7 Seconds Home venues:

Kidderminster in April, May and June
RGS Worcester for 3 days in May
Ombersley in May and August
Bromsgrove for 2 days in June
Barnt Green in June and August
New Road for 4 days in August

Sadly, no Black Country venues again...but here's an interesting pair of facts for a cricket quiz in years to come:

Kidderminster and Barnt Green are being used by us for Home and Away matches this year ; Kiddy as a Home Seconds venue and as an Away venue for the Unicorns League match. Barnt Green- even more bafflingly- as a Home Seconds venue for us v. Hampshire and as an Away Seconds venue when the Bears will be our 'hosts'.

...if the Bears can use a Worcs. ground as a 'Home' venue- can we use Bournville for ourselves sometime?? Just a thought...

Which ground in the black country (which is a Worcestershire club) could we play at these days?

Well, we've heard the stories on here in the past about Stourbridge and Halesowen being out of fashion- and the new ground at Oldbury may not be competition standard.

But that still leaves no explanation as to why Old Hill has dropped out of favour. Lye was used by Smudge for a benefit match last year- so that must have some infrastructure.

Bromsgrove is a 'new' ground this time- so I will try and visit that or RGS. And if its inclusion is as a tribute of sorts to the Mitchell family's contribution to this County's cricket, then I have no problem at all- very well deserved.

I think that Barnt Green are affiliated to both the Worcs and Warks Cricket Boards, so presumably that explains why both 2nds are playing there. As for Lye, it's certainly not up to 2nd X1 cricket. Bromsgrove and RGS are both good wickets.

Thanks Hotels - very useful information.

What do we think is 'wrong' with Pershore, Kempsey or Elmley Castle- access/egress issues?

Small grounds and crap pitches ?

Lye is barely up to Worcestershire lge standard! Many a benefit match has been played at small grounds because someone knows someone or because the club themselves approached the benefit committee...hope we arent saying Twyning or Hanley Castle should host matches!

Stourbridge would probably see an interesting game on their deck but the facilities are diabolical. I think the grounds selected generally are good Worcestershire grounds (Ombersley, Barnt Green and Kiddy certainly have excellent surfaces).

Kempsey?! Its a football pitch! A good seamer would kill someone. Pershore is ok, decent deck. They have the right grounds though...we need our young players playing on good wickets not just playing somewhere to give that area a game.

In the Worcs County League, the games with Umpires ( generally all those in the top 3 Divisions ) get the pitches marked on various criteria.

http://www.worcscl.org/forms/Umpires%20reports%20analysis%2009.pdf

Stourport's pitch was deemed the best - it's just the funfair and Pikey's that are the problem !