It was a dull but warm day as our merry bunch of Strollers gathered in the wilds of deepest Essex (well a few miles north of Bishops Stortford actually) to play the mighty team of Manuden CC.

Twelve souls led by the portly and aged Bandy took the field (I won the toss and put them in !?)

Manuden are always positive in their play which does them credit, but on this occasion it was also their undoing. The opening bats held out against Harry Jarman and Joe “ami dos Jarman but it was when Henry Hughes came on that things began to happen. In a blistering spell of variety bowling, Henry took 4 wickets including a good catch by Nick Pain as keeper, so Bandy could play captain in the field. Lucas Gallo, Peter Haselden, and Joe in his second spell weighed in with two wickets a piece and Manuden were all out in 25 overs of a 35 over game for 130 runs. A great performance by all in the field, no dropped catches and a good friendly but determined and competitive attitude all round. Mr Heath recorded the happy events in the score book, happily taking the role of scorer.

After a magnificent tea (the bread and butter pudding was stand out !) we sorted ourselves out to go out and bat. A great opening partnership between Harry and Amarjit “Ammo” Singh saw us knock off nearly half the runs before Ammo was bowled by a ball that did all sorts as I saw it from my position at square leg umpire ! Harry was eventually out for 49 after some sumptuous drives.

Peter went controversially LBW very quickly, but Paul Wastell and Henry steadied the ship, backed up by Nick towards the end. Strollers reached the target with time to spare.

A great game of cricket between two sides with, in my opinion, the right village cricket attitude. That is, play to win but it is a game played primarily for fun. As captain on the day, I would like to thank all who played, the scorer, and the odd parent who came to support, for a very enjoyable game and a great attitude and support for an old “sweat” who hasn’t run the show in a long time. Thanks Guys !