THIS year marks the 160th anniversary of cricket in Bromsgrove.

It is also the fifth season in six years that Nick Husbands has skippered the side.

The club are currently sitting in mid table and, although not assured of safety, are likely to remain a Birmingham division one side next season.

Indeed, with seven fixtures still to play, they could even make a late challenge for honours at the top end.

And, it's at that top end that the skipper believes his side should had it not ben or a woeful start to the campaign.

"The start was poor," Husbands said. "If we had not have had such a poor start, where we lost the first three games, drew against Shrewsbury and lost again, I think we would be in with the chasing pack and be in with a shout of promotion.

"It was frustrating seeing good players perform badly. It's disappointing because ultimately we have a good side and we should be a top of the league side."

Nick took up the captaincy in 1996 and held it every year until last, when Paul Duffy took over for a season before handing back to Nick this year.

In that time he has seen a lot of changes and has tried to lead the team his way.

Husbands added: "The main thing I do is lead by example. Most weeks I perform well and if players have a skipper who does well it helps them. I lead from the front. It creates a nice atmosphere for the team.

"Paul Duffy and Jamie Campbell are the only two players still in the side from when I first started being captain and the rest have joined us over the last six years."

Being a bowler, Nick has forged a solid bowling team and he admits that's where his side's trength lies.

"We are a strong side of bowlers and the batting has improved," he said. "We have got 11 players who are all capable first team players. Four of the first six batsmen bowl.

"We have the balance right this year because we have got some extra batsmen."

Unlike most clubs, this season Bromsgrove's first and second teams do not shadow each other and Nick strongly believes this should not be he case.

He said: "This league is all about first team cricket. The second team should always follow the first team and be a grounding for up and coming players to get experience ready for the first team.

"But this year is one of the first seasons we have been able to mix between the firsts and the seconds."

The club also has a thriving youth set up, under the wing of Dennis Duffy since 1979, with U13s, U14s and U15s teams all running. Next season they aim to make youth development one of the key focus areas.

It is also an aim of the St Godswald's Park club to put some of the first team through coaching courses so they can target ten to 16-year-olds.

Jamie Campbell is a level three coach, which means he can go anywhere in the world and coach cricket, while Simon Keyte is level at two and Mark Evenson at level one.

But much of the past season has been spent getting the club's finances into a stable condition so they can build for the future.

Nick added: "This year our focus was finance and next season will be youth development.

"We have got things in place so that in the next few years we should become financially solvent and be able to look after ourselves. When we have money coming in we can improve our facilities.

"Ground facilities go before paying any players."

The journey to St Godwald's Park

BROMSGROVE Cricket Club was founded in 1842.

During that time, games were played on what is now the recreation ground next to Asda, in Market Street.

Back then, the ground was a traditional village cricket venue and it was not home to club for very long.

In the late 1800s, the club moved to play its matches where the Harwood Park housing estate now stands.

It stayed their until 1973 and a year later the club moved to its present day home of St Godwald's Park.

In 1994 the club invited the town's tennis and hockey clubs to share its pavilion facilities (pictured, below).

The club celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1992 and in 1993 won the Midland Combined Counties league.

They were relegated to division two 12 months later but bounced straight back in 1995 before being voted into the Midland Club Championship a year after that.

In the restructuring of county cricket, that championship became the Birmingham and District Premier League division one, where the club has played ever since.

As far as major honours are concerned, the club won the Worcestershire Club's Championship in 1986 and has enjoyed consistent seasons in its present league.