Promotion is slipping away

Saturday's six-wicket loss at home to Hagley was the club's fourth defeat of the campaign and only one short of what their captain Ian Duggan believes is their quota for the season.

"We can only afford to lose a maximum of five games," Duggan said before Saturday's fixture.

Duggan, aged 28, is now in his third season as captain at the St Peter's Field club and he has spent each of those in the Worcestershire County League division one.

The team has been in the league since 1998 and knows it will have to win division one outright if they are to be promoted to the Birmingham and District Premier League division two west.

But the fact the club is still playing its cricket in division one is not through a lack of trying.

Last season the club endured an indifferent start before going on an unbeaten run, which saw it propel itself to a third place finish, and in 1999 had promotion in their grasp.

Duggan said: "The standard has improved since we have been in this league.

"We had a good back end to last season where we finished third and won 10 or 12 games on the trot.

"The first season we ran away with it but we lost three or four games at the end."

There is no doubt in Duggan's mind that Droitwich Spa has the skill and resources to win back their place in the Birmingham and District Premier League.

In Adrian Field and Mike Rogers, Ian is convinced he has two of the best bowlers in the Worcestershire County League.

He said: "We could bowl any side out. I think Adrian Field and Mike Rogers are as good as anybody in the league. Adrian has taken 16 wickets already this season."

And when it comes to resources, the strength in depth of the squad is there for all to see.

"Our seconds are top of the table so we have strength in depth," Duggan added. "I wouldn't hesitate to bring any of those in.

"We have a lot of players with first team experience in the seconds. All round we are in a pretty healthy position."

But given the present form, Ian's hand might be forced into bringing some of them in as he openly admits the club is struggling in the batting department.

Duggan said: "We are struggling batting wise - we have not been good enough."

So what does the captain think he can do to change his side's fortunes around?

"I try to get the players to take a bit more responsibility for themselves," he said.

"We must make sure we don't give anything away. It's ok going for the win but if it's not there then we must take it easy.

"If we pick up points then we will be there or there abouts."

The challenge is one Ian relishes and he believes his promotion to captain has made him a better player.

He added: "It's certainly helped my game. I have batted well in the last two seasons and it makes you concentrate more."

The team trains for two hours on a Tuesday evening and then the selection is made for the coming Saturday's fixture. And Ian has a lot of young players to pick from.

"The side has changed a little but it's been a case of replacing some of the players with younger players. We have got a good nucleus of players in their mid to late 20s," Ian said.

With that in mind, the club is ensuring that its squad base remains in place through their youth development programme; something Ian has benefited from directly.

He said: "I have been playing here for 15 years and came through the youth set up."

The man currently charged with nurturing the youngsters coming through the club is 29-year-old Karl Goddard.

"My side is more the seven-year-olds to 13-year-olds," said Karl, who has been part of the club for four years."

The club also does a lot for cricket in the community.

Karl added: "We have recently worked with the high school to raise awareness of cricket in Droitwich because so many people in Droitwich do not know we are here.

"We got at least 10-12 playing members through that, as well as their parents into the club."

Karl runs sides for U11s, U13s, U14s, U15s and U16s.

The club has 50 to 70 youngsters who attend on Saturday mornings.

80 years in the Spa

Droitwich Spa Cricket Club was founded in 1923.

Although a club did exist in the town at the beginning of the 20th century, it was disbanded during the First World War.

In the early years, the club played its matches on a pitch adjacent to the one it uses now at St Peter's Field.

The ground, now houses on Littleton Road, was the home of cricket in the town until the end of the Second World War when the lease expired. The land was then sold to property developers and houses were built.

Having spent nearly a quarter of a century in the same place, the club moved across Droitwich. Home matches from 1945 took place on King George's fields and then Poplar's Meadow, the current Leisure Centre site, from 1960.

The club remained there until 1971 when, nearly 50 years after being founded, they returned to St Peter's Field and to its present day pitch at the bottom of St Peter's Church Lane.

Success has been limited down the years but the club does have the Banks' and Silvers' League, won in the 1980s, to its name.

It is only in the past 25 years that leagues as we know them were formed. In 1996, Droitwich played in division two of the newly-formed Birmingham and District Premier League.

But two years later the club's relegation coincided with a re-structuring of county cricket. Four teams were relegated and Droitwich were the fourth from bottom team.