Whitminster Cricket Club are proud of the fact that, in numerical terms at least, they are the strongest club in the Cheltenham Indoor Cricket League.

That’s because they have three teams in the four-division league, no other club have more than two.

“We’ve got one team in Division Three and two in Division Four,” said Whitminster's Jim Hyland, who is also the indoor cricket coordinator for the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation, previously known as the Gloucestershire Cricket Board.

“The club have been playing indoor cricket since 2001, but this season is the first time that two of our teams have played each other.”

That was the Division Four match between Whitminster B and Whitminster C, a match won by the Bs by 18 runs after setting their clubmates 87 to win.

Hyland, who captains Whitminster A, is a big supporter of all things indoor cricket.

“We played an inter-club Christmas match followed by a meal afterwards,” he said.

“We find that the indoor season which runs from October to March – it’s actually longer than the outdoor season – is great for the club socially.”

The start of the outdoor season isn’t too far away now, of course, and for the first time the club’s flagship team will be competing in Division Five of the County League.

“We’ve had three successive promotions,” said Hyland, now an umpire who stopped playing outdoor cricket in 2018.

“Our first game of the season is away to Cheltenham 3rds, we’ve never played at the Victoria Ground before.”

Whitminster’s 2^nd XI play in Division One of the Stroud and District League.