Losing the toss, The Willows were inserted on a typical October track. While the weather was more like a February summers day, The Willows batting was definitely an early season display. Other than a well composed 43 from Robbie Dunne and an unbeaten 46 by James Tapper, The Willows failed to fire, losing wickets consistently throughout their innings.

CBHS bowled very well from the outset with a demanding line and length from their opening bowlers, backed up by some very tidy spin bowling during the middle and latter overs (M Ross 3/16 from ten overs). This was supported by some fine fielding including some superb catches. The Willows were restricted to 169, which was never going to be enough against the current national Gillette Cup champions.

CBHS batted as well as they bowled and fielded, and chased down The Willows total in the 43rd over, losing only five wickets. The star for CBHS was opener Daniel Stanley, who backed up his 2/37 with the ball, to score a very good 87, dismissed with 158 runs on the board.

While The Willows never gave up hope, wickets were hard to come by, and in retrospect a few more spinners would have been handy. Matt Parr as usual steamed in and took 2/29 from his ten overs, the other wickets shared by messieurs Hawes, McGuire and Nuttall.

All in all, the home team was convincingly outplayed in all facets of the game. We must be better prepared next year! It was great to see new CBHS Headmaster Nic Hill in attendance; perhaps next year he can be persuaded to bolster The Willows batting stocks!