On June 3, the Officers of 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment played the Warrant Officers and Sergeants from the same Battalion in their annual twenty 20 memorial match.

The entertaining contest ended in a crushing defeat for the Sergeants at the Old Swinford Hospital School.

The Officers looked like the more legitimate cricket team as they played in Notts PKF kit kindly donated by Paul Ellis.

“We are happy to help activities in the community in any way we can,” Ellis said.

“It is pleasing to see that the shirts we weren’t able to use due to our merger to BDO have been put to good use,” he added.

The event takes place annually to commemorate one of the Regiments many battle honours, but was even more pertinent this year following the death of one of the Officers last year.

The game was in memory of Captain Rupert Bowers who was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) just days before he was to return home after sixth months in theatre.

Captain Bowers was on his third deployment to Helmand Province in 5 years, having been ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ in 2007 and being previously injured during an explosion in 2009.

The match itself was one that highlighted the ethos that soldiers like to work hard and play hard.

The 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment is the local Infantry Battalion to Nottingham, Derby and Worcester and the majority of the soldiers descend from the heart of the country.

The match was scored and umpired by volunteers from the school and the Officers were sporting their brand new whites provided by the cricket club.

The game took the shape of a t20 with all outfield players bowling two overs, the Sergeants batting first and scoring 151 off their 20 overs.

Whilst some of the batting and bowling didn’t dazzle the Nottinghamshire kit, the Officers chased down their total in just 12.5 overs.

After the game Major Nik Lygo expressed his delight at how the game went and the link they have with the club.

“I have attended two events at Trent Bridge being a local lad and enjoyed both of them,” he said.

“We will do all we can to strengthen the bond between the club and the Battalion.”