By Ben Horler
The August bank holiday Sunday saw the return of the Annual Shepperton Cricket club six-a-side tournament. Rebranded as “Shepfest”, the day took on a much bigger, and more ambitious, format. The event saw 15 matches unravel over a nine-hour period, followed by live music from two bands later in the evening. Shepfest’s aim this year was to raise funds to invest back into the playing facilities at the club. It was also an event aimed at increasing the awareness of mental well-being and sui-cide prevention through cricket, supporting “Opening up Cricket”, a charity which pro-motes positive mental health within the sport. The days play started off at a frantic pace with all 8 teams (some in fancy dress) playing a minimum of 3 group games. The top two from each group then progressed to the semi-finals, with winners of the semi’s then pro-gressing on to the final. The weather held, the beers flowed, and the cricket did not disappoint. Last year’s runners up, Le Banter Bus, were the days eventual winners, winning all five of their games. As a team, they managed to amass 394 runs in the process, with David Sheward contributing a whooping 136 at an average of 27 runs per match! Another notable performance was Tom Pilk-ington, who managed to take three wickets for no runs in the opening over of the semi-final. What a performance!
After a successful day of quality cricket, guests enjoyed a hog roast and a well-deserved ‘boogie’ on the dance floor.
A huge thank you to the Shepfest commit-tee Jack, Hayden and David for all there ef-forts organising the day. Thank you to the Macken Brothers for a delicious BBQ and thank you to Kevin Wheeler Film Prop Hire for supplying us with the additional seating and freezer.
Overall, a fantastic day enjoyed by many, with good sport and a great atmosphere!
If you are interested in joining as an adult or junior playing member for next year or would be interested in hiring our function room, or would like to find out more about sponsoring the cricket club, then please go to the clubs website for further details https://shepperton.play-cricket.com
Save the date for next year….Sunday 28th August 2022.