NETHERTON Cricket Club is set to celebrate its 150th anniversary year this season.

Celebrations for the campaign ahead will commence on Sunday, May 1 when a club XI will take on a president's XI from 1pm.

The club side will be captained by Russell Oseland and the president's XI by Nigel Davenport. The game will be a 40 over match at the Highbridge Road ground. All past players and members are invited to attend the game or join the teams in the clubhouse afterwards for a reunion. A number of past players have already been contacted.

Other activities have been planned throughout the season including a day match against the MCC on Wednesday, August 31 at 11.30am.

The season will conclude with a Club Dinner at The Village Hotel, Dudley, on Friday, September 16 with guest speaker Jeremy Coney (ex New Zealand Captain) in attendance. To offset the costs of some of these celebrations the club is looking for sponsorship from local business enterprises.

Anyone interested in sponsoring any of the matches or functions please contact Dennis Lewis on 01384 861625 for further details.

Meanwhile, on the field, Netherton are hoping that the first team can achieve promotion to Division Two of the Worcester County League after finishing just outside the promotion places for the past two seasons.

The squad of players for the season ahead consists of mainly home grown talent with the addition of a couple of new faces.