The first weekend of June is traditionally the time when the Tipton St John cricket team venture off on their Cornish weekend.

Indeed, five years ago this weekend the club’s annual tour proved to be a very special occasion for, in the second game of the tour, the Saturday fixture at Nancledra, David O’Higgins made his 600th appearance for the club while team mate Justin Quick chalked up outing number 100 in the same match.

On that 2015 tour, Tipton won all three games.

They opened with a Friday night six-run win over Falmouth-based Sea View Old Boys. The Nancledra match – one that saw O’Higgins bagged his 790th wicket with the ball – ended in a 75-run win. This match also saw half centuries from Dave Jessop, Alec Pace and Joe Birch, the latter then claiming a bowling return of 3-7.

The final game of the tour saw Mount Ambrose beaten by 51 runs. Paul Williamson top scored with 44 in a Tipton total of 156 and then another three wicket haul from Birch helped to bowl the Redruth-based team out for 105.

Sadly, owing to the Coronavirus pandemic, there’s no Cornish tour for 2020, and any form of cricket is ‘off the menu’ until August 1, at the earliest.

Clubs are now able to offer net time to members, but with strict controls in place vis-a-vis social distancing and hygiene rules.