Bashley (Rydal) cricketers have been nummed by the loss of their 23-year old team-mate Dale Middleton, who was found dead at his Lymington home on Friday evening.

Middleton was an talented and extremely likeable all-round sportsman, who also played soccer for Pennington in the Bournemouth League. He had been due to play for Bashley 2nd XI at New Milton on Saturday.

He represented Hampshire Under-17s and Under-19s as a left-arm spinning all-rounder and in recent seasons had developed into a useful `pinch-hitter' in limited-over matches.

"Dale was hugely popular around the Bashley club and in his Pennington footballing circles," said club captain Matt King.

"We talked about postponing the South Wilts and New Milton games on Saturday as a mark of respect, but the players felt they just had to go out and play."

All the Bashley teams - and their New Milton rivals - wore black armbands as a mark of respect to Dale this weekend.