Strollers arrived in Whaddon with 10 men, the eleventh making his entry at 4pm. Conditions were overcast and humid. Sandon won the toss and asked Whaddon to bat – probably the first mistake. Whaddon 195 for 6 from 36 overs. Mark Hopley took 4 wickets and 1 a piece for Lucas Gallo and Joss King. The pick of the bowlers though was Joe Croker with an excellent spell of 6 overs. We used 8 bowlers. In the field 4 good catches were taken, 2 from Joe Crocker and 1 each from Ian Bandy and Henry Hughes. A special mention to Keith from Whaddon, who upon fielding for us managed to fall chasing the ball and give himself a black eye. Rarely have we seen such dedication from an opposition fielder.
After a pleasant tea with the sun out, the Strollers chase began. After 10 overs we were 40 for 4 when Amajit Singh and Matt Inman came together. Amajit got a good 35 before being caught. This brought Matts father John to the wicket (in the 24th over with the score on 91) after the first quick single his trousers elastic gave way to much embarrassment – for his son. Together though they increased the scoring rate before Matt retired on 51, his first adult 50. Ian Bandy ran well for 11 and Joe Croker an excellent 20, but the Strollers couldn’t quite accelerate the run rate fast enough and ended on 188 for 6 .
The game was played in a lovely spirit and we retired to the golf club house to thank Whaddon for an enjoyable game .