Congratulations to England's over-70s cricket squad which returns from a month-long tour of Australia and New Zealand having successfully defended both their Ashes and World Cup titles.

The squad, which counts Ashford's president Chris Evans among its number, set-off Down Under at the end of January to contest ownership of the Ashes across a series of three 45-over ODI games.

Having secured the Ashes urn with a game to spare against Australia, the silver lions completed the whitewash.

But little chance to celebrate and bask in the glory for these septuagenarian. Instead a short trip across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand to defend their World Cup crown against teams from India, Canada, Sri Lanka, USA, New Zealand, a Rest of the World XI and, of course, the Australians still smarting from their failed Ashes campaign.

Sticking with the 45-over format, the World Cup round robin stage saw England suffer only one defeat in seven games - a six-wicket loss to... Australia.

The Cup final, played at Hagley Oval, pitched the two Ashes sides against each other once more - a re-run of the inaugural over-70s World Cup played in 2024 in England at Wormsley. Batting first England posted a formidable 288/3, thanks largely to an 183-run opening partnership between Ashford’s/Surrey’s Chris Evans (79) and Kent’s Jim Phillips (118). Australians spirited chase fell 15 runs short

Throughout both competitions our own Chris Evans made several significant contributions with the bat - notably 42 and 80 in the first and second Ashes matches. In the World Cup Evans recorded six innings of 35+, including a highest of 91 against the Rest of the World, and that valuable 79 in the final. Across the two competitions Evans amassed 473 runs from 9 innings at an average of 59.

At the time of the writing Evans was unavailable for comment. But this reporter has assurances that with a pint at the bar Evans will be happy to give a full account of his successful tour.

Certainly, I look forward to raising a glass to Chris’ achievements and those of the England over-70s team. Maybe the current crop of younger England internationals would do well to learn a thing or too from these seasoned veterans…?

Reader can enjoy more detailed reports on the individual matches here. And scorecard for all matches are available here.