The Shirley XI stepped out on The Willows oval for what is one of the last fixtures of the season against a strong Willows side. The home side got off to a great start with T Hampton-Matehe (61) and J Pawson (60) putting on 115 for the first wicket inside 20 overs. The Shirley bowlers showed some resistance lead by C Sheahan and A Philpott, taking three and two wickets respectively, to slow the scoring rate of the Willowers. Containing a powerful batting line up to 214/7 at the 38 over point, before an explosive display of hitting by K McClure (69), took the hosts through to an imposing total of 306.

The Shirley batsmen had a tall order in front of them chasing the 307 needed for victory. The visitors got off to a steady start to reach 34 for the first wicket. Scoring at over six an over was made even greater thanks to some economical spells from D Grocott and J Pawson both only going for 20 runs off their six and eight over stints. An exceptional spell of medium pace bowling by G Stewart (7-3-20-3) really took its toll on the batting side falling to 89/4. This set the stage for the Shirley coach N Marsh to take the ball and cause dismay for his son (bowling him for a duck while he left the ball), but a gentle reminder for his team mates that he still has ‘it’ claiming 3/5 off two overs to wrap up the day’s play with only B Mayo (49) showing any defiance with the bat.

Overall it was an excellent day’s cricket by The Willows and a tough lesson for the Shirley XI.