Damn weather! Although we have had a very hot January and it has rained on only two days of this month, one of them was on this day. Accordingly, after a wet morning, lunch was taken early and play eventually commenced at 1.20pm.

On winning the toss, there was no hesitation in asking our young visitors to bat, on a naturally fresh looking pitch and with The Willows ranks bolstered by the firepower of Black Caps opening bowler Andy McKay. He was on the comeback trail from injury, so had come down with our visitors for some match play and was soon causing problems with his pace and lift. As was fellow hostile opening left armer Hamish Cooke with both soon splaying the stumps. There was no let up when they came off, with Matt McEwan cleaning out another batsman in his first over and Jacob Wolt maintaining the pressure at the other end. But with the score at 26/3, we were forced off the field by more wet weather.

We then had a lengthy break, during which time the always inspirational Mike Dormer gathered both teams in the pavilion for a talk and question and answer session, featuring some of the very prominent guests who had accompanied the Wellington Wanderers. These included the legendary Don Neely, also former New Zealand and exceptionally well performed Wellington player Evan Gray, plus naturally Andy McKay. There were some real pearls of wisdom for our young guests to absorb, not least Mike’s own message of BY (Back Yourself) and HY (Hard Yards).

Play eventually resumed but the weather was always threatening and it deteriorated again, although we stuck it out as long as we could before the game was eventually abandoned with the Wanderers at 58/4 (off 21 overs). So it was a pity this game had to be abandoned, given the time, work and expense of getting the Wellington boys down for the match.