9 Players, Mansfield Woodhouse on a dreary Tuesday night, 4th choice umpire (me) and no scorer. A dream prospect surely?  Well Scilly Isles is still our holiday destination – sorry Mansfield Woodhouse Tourist Board (if there is one).

We won the toss and chose to bat. It was a strange innings. Jake and Johnny opened and looked comfortable for an over, then a shot to mid on from Jake – two called and two ran, but not quite as Johnny was run out from a good direct throw. Look, listen and don’t run maybe?

Zac joined Jake and they built a useful partnership before Zac played “the worst shot in my life” to be out for 16. Good description son! Nice moment with three consecutive boundaries though.

From then it was down to Jake. Having made his first 50 at adult level at the weekend, it was clear he was in form. Obviously over the “in Cider trading scandal” from last year. (Sorry Jake and sorry Carin J)

Jake retired on the obligatory 35 but the rest kept going, using the overs, to allow him back in to reach an unbeaten 53. Possibly the best innings I have seen at this level.

We ended on a creditable 116 for 7 and even though we were two fielders down it felt a good score.

Last year their opener, Connor Hall, had batted well for them and he was once again their stand out player. He played well for his 21 but lacked support as our bowlers were able to offer more control than theirs. It’s fair to say they had a very young side and our team spirit and experience from last year was very evident.

Both teams showed elements of poor sportsmanship that we need to look at but we should not let that spoil the fact that restricting them to 68 for 8 gave us a very convincing victory.

Bowling summary - all of whom made a contribution

Zac 4 overs 0 for 10, Josh 4 overs 2 for 21, Greg 4 overs 1 for 16, Joe 4 overs 1 for 14, Jake 2 overs 1 for 0 and Rive 2 overs 1 for 0.

Team
Johnny Butler
Jake Saleh
Zac Ashworth
Matty Bowles
Greg Behl
Josh Cottam
Joe Stutchbury
Rive Matik
Matty Gleeson
plus two to never be confirmed