Crowds pack church in Dale Middleton honour

Over 400 New Forest sportsmen packed All Saints Church, Hordle, on Tuesday morning to pay their last respects to Bashley (Rydal) cricketer Dale Middleton, who was found dead at his Lymington home recently.

Many of Dale's Bashley team-mates, along with fellow cricketers from Lymington and New Milton, and his footballing colleagues from Pennington, squeezed into the tiny church for a moving and tearful half-hour service.

A lively, personable and extremely likeable sportsman, Middleton, 23, had represented Southampton Schools at Under-14 and Under-15 level before going on to be selected for Hampshire YC's.

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

"Dale worked extremely hard at all aspects of his game," reflected Hampshire Under-17 coach Colin Beer.

"Always seen with a smile on his face and ready for a bit of fun, he was a very popular member of the squad and a significant player in his two seasons with us.

"As a batsman, he had a flair for quick runs and was an exceptionally good fielder."

A midfield player of some repute with local Bournemouth League soccer side Pennington - he picked up countless performance awards at the end of the last soccer season - Middleton made his best Premier League score of 62 for Bashley last season - a quick-fire knock which seriously dented BAT's chances of retaining the Division 1 championship.

His best bowling figures of 7-43 came against Winchester KS in 1997.

"But for a spilled catch on the boundary that day, Dale would have won the award for the best Southern League bowling performance of the season," mused his uncle Shaun Lilley, a Bashley clubmate.