CALLUM Maher can justifiably lay claim to being an all-rounder in more ways than one.

The 25-year-old is believed to be the first sportsman to compete at Southern League level for Bashley - at both football and cricket.

Goalkeeper Maher has had a tough baptism since joining Bash at the start of this season with the club languishing in the lower reaches of Division One South & West.

It has been a far cry from the heady days of the summer when Maher helped Bashley win Division Three of cricket's Southern Premier League.

A supervisor at Hoburne Naish Holiday Park near Highcliffe, top-order batsman and right-arm bowler Maher has also represented Bashley in the top flight of the SPL.

And although runs and wickets have been easier to come by than clean sheets for the village's two clubs, Maher is loving (almost) every minute of his time at Bashley Road.

“We have done okay. It is hard being in goal, the ball has been coming straight back but it is good practice for me. I have played a few good games and have been enjoying it.

“When you are basically fielding a reserve team, it is hard. We know we are going to have a few more difficult games but we will try to pull through.”

Maher, who also represented Dorset under-15s and under-17s at cricket, added: “There are no expenses and nobody gets paid.

“It is basically grassroots football playing at a decent standard. It is tough when you come up against teams and they have really decent players who are being paid. But it is good experience for us and it is a great opportunity for me being in goal because I am kept nice and busy!”

Local boy Maher, who won the Bournemouth Premier League with Sway, joined Bash from neighbours Brockenhurst.

He added: “I used to watch Bashley as a nipper when they were a really decent football team and have played cricket for Bashley since I was eight.

“It is great for such a small village to have the best possible standard of cricket and a really decent standard of football. I am proud to have played first team for both.”

Maher has recently been joined at Bashley Road by his brother Dan Maher, who has also signed from Wessex Premier Brock.

Boss Graham Speechley-Price has the left-back available for Bashley's trip to Didcot tonight (7.45pm), together with defender Tom Hammond, a Bournemouth University student who is a team-mate of Bash striker Clive Makoni.

However, Speechley-Price has missed out on the signings of Sholing's Dan Miller and Blackfield & Langley's Brazilian player Virgilio Pinto.

Bash: (from) C Maher, Rose, Morris, Moore, D Maher, Hammond, Hall, L Speechley-Price, Makoni, Dunne, Bosma, Dugdale, Crook, Kinley, Petty, Lambourne.