THIS past Sunday, myself and a group of friends took part in a cricket match to raise money for St Michael's Hospice.

It was organised by two brothers (Adam and Rob Matravers) who wanted to give something back to the charity for caring for their late father Richard who sadly died 11 years ago.

Richard loved his cricket and used to play with Adam and Rob, as well as their friends, at the Quarry near to their Tupsley home, so it felt apt that a charity cricket match would be the perfect way to remember him.

When Adam and Rob first mentioned the match, we all said yes in a heartbeat, even though that most of us had hardly any cricket experience.

We all joked that we would be out first ball or drop an easy catch, but knew that it wouldn't matter as at the end of the day, it was for a good cause.

That's not saying that we didn't exchange a lot of banter before, during and after the match, especially Adam and Rob, who each captained a team.

I was in Adam's team and we we were delighted that we managed to last the allotted 30 overs, even if we only made 77 runs - although Robbie Symonds worked tirelessly for his 12!

Rob's team featured more gifted cricketers shall we say and they only needed 17 overs to get the required runs, although they were helped with a lot of extras.

Fellow Hereford Times reporter Paul Broome battled valiantly though to get two and I was pleased with my fielding, especially my Joe Hart-esque dive :-)

Fair play to Nick Ashton though who produced some cracking shots, but of course it had to be Rob who got the winning run, even though we all crowded around the wicket in the hope that one of us might catch it.

In total, we raised £761, which included a raffle and an auction, which we were very pleased with, especially the people who won a raffle prize (or in Adam and Rob's mum's case, about ten).

It was all about making money for a worthwhile cause and a week doesn't go by when I don't write a story about some charity fundraiser.

Yes, some of the things we do for charity means that we have to go through a bit of pain or embarrass ourselves in some form, but if it means that money is going to help improve the quality of lives, then it is all worth it.