First Game of the Season

Well, the rain did stop. Sunday morning dawned bright and breezy and it all looked very positive until fifteen minutes before the scheduled start. It began with a smattering of drizzle, which we confidently predicted would blow over quickly. It didn't. In fact, it's still raining now, almost 24 hours later.

We started the game anyway. I lost the toss and was condemned to fielding. It's not really that the opposition chose to bat, it's more that they chose to get wet two at a time rather than all at once. Although the game didn't go the full distance, there were positives to take away: Some fine bowling in testing conditions from Messrs Hellewell, Gabbatiss, Whittingham, Fremlin and Charno; Great commitment in the field, particularly from the Brothers Cross; A pair of brave cold-handed catches by Neil Grady; A soggy cameo with the bat featuring some lustily-clumped boundaries from Judi Paul and I. The day's most unfortunate incident was Andy Hellewell's bloody and broken finger, resulting from a courageous attempt to catch a tracer-bullet cut shot from Nad Sadiq.

So we got soaked, fell over and spent more time than we'd have liked plodging about in muddy fields looking for the ball. Yet through all this, the team spirit never flagged once. The smiles and banter kept coming all afternoon and I have to admit that in a weird way I had a good time.

Full match report to follow.