Division H of the South Notts Cricket League regularly serves up a feast of riveting cricket. This game was no different. Southwell looked stronger than in recent weeks with the return of Stuart Grimley, Devon McCarthy and Tom Clarke to the lineup and the level of experience was boosted as a result. Should a Saturday come around when Southwell 2nd XI are unable to give a first appearance of the season to at least one player then the world will stop turning, and Roohan Mahdoomi, making his senior debut, and Alex Jan took the total number of players used by Southwell this season up to 33. Chilwell had started the season in a middling fashion, winning three and losing three of their six games so far. Grimley called correctly at the toss and decided to send Clarke and little Adam Gell to open up the batting for Southwell.

Sometimes it is not possible to do anything else but front up and admit you're in the wrong and this is exactly what this reporter must do. As a result of an 'off the field' incident, the first hour of play was not able to be covered as effectively as possible. Or at all for that matter. Upon arrival at Top Ground at two o'clock, the score was 43-2, with McCarthy and effervescent Matt White at the crease. The scorebook politely informed yours truly that both Clarke and Gell were caught behind, with the war wound Gell suffered in fending off a bouncer being the only thing that was able to provide any form of relief for a truly horrific hangover.

White and McCarthy batted sensibly and in a restrained manner. Both are able to find the boundary with some lusty blows but this was not evident as they gave the Chilwell attack the respect it warranted. It was only when they started to up the ante, evidenced by some intelligent running between the wickets and the odd well placed shot through the gaps in the fielders for four, that chances started to come. Disaster struck when McCarthy set off for one risky single too many. Sent back to the non-striker's end by White, he was unable to recover his ground as a direct hit from Naveed Zafar saw him run out for 25.

Mahdoomi replaced McCarthy at the crease and showed a high level of maturity as he dealt with the Chilwell bowlers, with one leg slide flick being particularly pleasing on the eye. A combination of his natural quality and having White coach him through the innings ensured he was at the crease when the score passed 100, which prompted White to shake of the shackles and start looking for a few big shots. Mahdoomi was plumb lbw to one that possibly kept a little low for a well-crafted 13 but there was still a fair bit of batting to come and Southwell were in a good position as they entered the final third of their innings. White passed 50 for the first time in his Southwell career but was dismissed not long after, playing on to the stumps off the bowling of the economical Syed Tauseef Hossain for 54. Although Southwell were able to see out their overs, numbers 6-11 didn't provide too much work for the injured scorer Matt Clarke as they averaged less than four runs between them. Nevertheless, the third batting point was reached and Southwell had accumulated their highest score of the season, reaching 161-9 at the end of their innings.

With Abin Mathew and Rahul Rajan away on international duty, new ball duties fell to the guile of McCarthy and the extreme pace of Grimley. The opening bowlers started well and pushed Chilwell back, going at under three runs an over for the first ten overs. Grimley accounted for both opening batsman; John Adams being adjudged lbw and Peter Kendall falling to an exceptional catch from Mahdoomi at mid-on. Chilwell had their rock, Maqsood Ahmad, out in the middle attempting to steady the ship and looking to lay a foundation from which to chase down the Southwell total. He was partnered by Shehryar Taj who played in a more liberal fashion, striking the first six of the game and looking to score off every ball. This approach did not pay dividends however as Richard Maloney dismissed Taj for 17, getting one delivery to sneak under his bat and scatter the stumps.

Ahmad still carried on in similar fashion and was beginning to look dangerous due to his ability to accumulate runs without any big shots being played. Southwell experienced a huge bonus, and great joy, the ball before drinks as Clarke was able to get one to turn and take Ahmad's off-stump, leaving Chilwell 83-4 at the halfway stage, with a really gripping game unfolding before the eyes of the spectators. The excitement proved too much for Alex Jan, who had to leave the field for his much-appreciated shift at The Rodney. This gave Grimley the perfect chance to use his 12th man, with the youngster Phil Clarke replacing Jan and gaining some valuable experience in adult cricket.

McCarthy made a breakthrough in the field and then with the ball. Sharp work at cover saw him run out Sajid Saleed for just four, before he returned with the ball from the Brackenhurst End and witnessed Gell take a smart catch behind the stumps as Sarosh William nibbled one behind. With over fifty runs to get to secure victory, Chilwell had the overs to score the runs but did they have a strong enough lower order? Sadly for Southwell, they did. A lot of effort was put in, but Naveed Zafar batted particularly sensibly and Abdul Haseeb rode his luck effectively to get within one strike of the Southwell total. Gell stumped Haseeb off the bowling of Grimley for a fortuitous 20, before Zafar saw Chilwell home, reaching 32 not out as Chilwell won the game by three wickets.

Huge positives can be taken from the performance and perhaps the lack of nous in how to win games counted against Southwell. On another day they could have conceivably defended the total but it was not to be. The highest batting score of the season, an energetic display in the field and some disciplined bowling were improvements on previous weeks and they should take this into their next game at Clifton. 5 points were gained but it could have been so much more. The search for the first win of the season goes on.