There will be cheers all round when this year’s Bourton Vale Cricket Festival gets under way on Friday 28th June.

That’s because as well as the cricket, the club will also be hosting a beer, cider and gin festival for the first time, something that will take place over the first three days of the annual cricket event which this year runs until Friday 5th July.

The 2019 festival really is the perfect mix for fans of cricket with traditional matches against Worcestershire Gents, Gloucestershire Gipsies and Warwickshire Imps being played alongside a six-a-side tournament, a match against a touring Australian side and a one-off game between Cotswold School and Cotswold School Old Boys that is likely to be 20 or 30 overs a side.

Bourton Vale chairman Kevin Langley is looking forward to that game as he is all the other matches in this year’s impressive looking festival.

And while the festival finale is likely to be a fun fixture, the games against Worcestershire Gents, Gloucestershire Gipsies and Warwickshire Imps are a throwback to another era in which matches can actually end in a draw!

“Yes, they are a bit more traditional,” said Langley, who along with a number of others has worked so hard to beef up this year’s festival. “There are 20 overs at 6.30 so there doesn’t have to be a winner and a loser.”

Gloucestershire Gipsies are the team run by Chris Coley, who has done so much for cricket in the area for so many years, and there might just be a little extra motivation to win that game because there is an annual cup that gets presented to the winners.

And there will certainly be plenty of motivation to beat Wanderers Australia Cricket Club – there always is when England play Australia! – when they turn up at Rissington Road on the Thursday.

“That might be a limited overs game,” said Langley with a laugh, “we might just want to beat the Australians!”

That game has been organised by Rob Langley, Kevin’s son, a former Bourton first-team captain who works for Venatour, a sports travel company.

“I’m really looking forward to this year’s festival, I just pray we get some decent weather,” added Langley senior.

That’s something that Langley can’t control, of course, but whatever happens weather-wise, he is very grateful for the input Bourton have received from Slaughters United, the club with whom they merged operations before the start of the season, ahead of this year’s festival.

“They’ve been holding beer festivals for a number of years so we’ve tapped into their knowledge and experience,” he said.

Bourton Vale Festival

Friday 28th June: Beer festival/Junior training

Saturday 29th June: Beer festival/Bourton Vale 2nd XI v Stone

Sunday 30th June: Beer festival/Bourton Vale Sixes

Monday 1st July: Bourton Vale v The Gentleman of Worcestershire (1.30pm)

Tuesday 2nd July: Bourton Vale v Gloucestershire Gipsies (noon)

Wednesday 3rd July: Bourton Vale v Warwickshire Imps (noon)

Thursday 4th July: Bourton Vale v Wanderers Australia (noon)

Friday 5th July: Cotswold School v Cotswold School Old Boys