The match could be best described as a “strangle” and the pitch as a “bunsen burner”. Any spinner worth his salt would have gladly rolled it up and taken it home with him.

OBHS always offer a tightly contested game. It is not surprising to note they have won the last five encounters at The Willows. So there was plenty at stake.

My philosophy is to always bat first so when I called correctly I inserted ourselves. We were immediately bowled out for a meagre 98 runs. The only contribution of note come from Mark Reid. Lockrose (3/16) and Kindley (5/27) were outstanding and have bright futures.

Great bowlers make captains look much better and with Andrew Nuttall running on all four cylinders we were quietly confident of defending our total. He finished with 4/10 and was well supported by Wilcock, McGregor and Horton who all took two apiece. Reid’s keeping was exceptional and this combined with his gutsy batting ensured he was named man of the match.

Congratulations to OBHS for making the secondary school finals in December.