As the table of Captains shows, Roger Dando led the Woodpeckers Cricket Club for many years and was a major force in the development of the Club enabling it to obtain a very high reputation for good cricket and fair play.
Roger came to live in Ashleworth in October 1949 and in 1950 joined Gloucester City Cricket Club playing the odd game as a guest player for Ashleworth CC. In 1951, Woodpeckers' first season, Leonard Vowles asked Roger to play for the works team. A meeting took place in 1952 between Roger, Ossie Robinson, George Crease and Leonard Vowles with the objective of trying to strengthen the Woodpeckers, this with positive results.
In conjunction with this objective fixtures were strengthened with a view to playing strong opposition Clubs on good pitches. These included Ross-on-Wye First XI Monmouth and Tewkesbury First XI's, Chepstow (for the Woodpeckers' Trophy), Bridgend CC, South Gloucester CC Gloucester Civil Service CC, Cinderford St. John CC, Huntley CC, Thornbury CC, Old Patesians CC, Mitcheldean CC Gloucester Strollers CC, Upton St. Leonards CC, Ledbury CC, Lydney CC, Bream CC and Ruardean Hill CC.
The influence of Mr Vowles upon the cricket club ended around 1956 leaving the members of the Woodpeckers CC to their own policies. The days of the benefit matches were gone.
For various reasons many members of the 1950's teams no longer played for the Club on entering the 1960's but these were slowly replaced by new younger players coming through the second XI and therefore giving them an opportunity to play in high standard cricket. Mike Edge and Henry Dallman became well established opening bowlers and the Nicholls brothers, Bill, David and Chris developed into consistent and at times high scoring batsmen. John Southall became a leading batsman during the early 1960's. The Club won the Tewkesbury Knock-Out Cup in 1959 and 1961 with Roy Parker skipper in 1959 and Keith Francis in 1961.
The high standard of opposition clubs was maintained through this period with Henry Dallman leading the side through the years 1965 to 1968.
A devastating fire around 1964/65 burned down the clubhouse overnight. The present clubhouse was previously a pre-fabricated turkey house at a turkey farm in Wickridge Street run by Club member Jim Saunders.
A small anecdote around this time relates to a match versus Gloucester Hospitals at the Coney Hill Hospital ground off Horton Road. Three Woodpeckers players wore glasses and each had them knocked off by a Mr. Shackleton, a fast bowler who was pitching deliveries in short of the length. Woodpeckers battled it out and eventually won by one wicket with only Mike Edge waiting to go into bat, no doubt reluctantly, as he had previously retired hurt and received treatment in hospital. Unfortunately he was treated in the mental section fof the hospital but there is no evidence that this had any long term effect.
