On a Saturday where only 6 games were completed in the top 13 divisions of the HPCL it was great to see one of those was our very own 2nd XI who did a smash a grab job against Clifton. It must be acknowledged that it was also wonderful of Clifton to ensure the game took place and also played to a conclusion.

Winning the toss was the key and Shiv used his lucky coin to good effect as the Clifton skipper called wrong and Shiv could hardly contain his excitement in asking them to bat (they only had 3 players at the ground anyway). A good start was needed, so a knee-high full toss from Angus first ball should have been a disaster – except the batter hit it straight to Owen. 1 ball, 1 wicket. 2 and 3 dug n for 8 overs and the game was gone when Beb suddenly found his bowling boots. It became a procession thereafter with Bev regularly hitting the stumps and Angus having fun the other end. For probably the first time since the restriction on overs was brought in, in the 1990’s, only 2 bowlers were used for the entire innings – Bev 5-8 and Angus a profligate 4-23 by comparison. Bev’s last 4 overs were 4 – 4 – 0 - 4 . It s not often the bowler of the year is decided in early June!

With heavy rain forecast any moment, Ricky started well with Yash smashing 3 of the first 4 balls for boundaries. Taz came and went early in the push for runs – though he ran well in the jock-strap challenge later – and it was left to Owen and Hassan to finish the job quickly with 11 runs off 8 balls to finish the game in heavy drizzle.

Good fantasy points for anyone with Bev, Yash or Angus. If you want to watch the last 5 wickets and batting highlights then watch here. It's only a few minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uGJM4MYedU

Elsewhere the 3rd team kept Pinner quiet for 15 overs before the rain put paid to their endeavours; whilst the 4th team were going well on 92/3 (Paul 24, Pras 41) before the weather also ended the game.

On Sunday, Ricky took a strong team to Watford Town but on a sticky wicket were bowled out for just 137. Blly May continued his great form with 48, assisted by 18 from Harvey and 17 each by Rameez and Owen. With Ball in hand, Bev went to work as usual taking 3 wickets, but Watford were resilient until Harvey and Rameez came on to rush them out for just 100 and a second win for Ronesh’s team.