There was a strong ex-MBC contingent in The Willows team that welcomed the young Red Devils to this year’s clash. With thunderstorms forecast for late in the day the match was shortened to 40 overs.

The Willows won the toss, and decided to bat, allowing the father-son combination of John and Jackson Garry to open together. The younger Garry batted exceptionally well to compile a classy 71. Mark Hampton, on debut, also batted positively and ended up on 70 not out with a team score of 223. Luke Holdaway was the pick of the bowlers.

In reply MBC lost early wickets to be all out for 61. Young Englishman Harry Passenger showed his class and made the MBC batsmen work hard with some tight seam bowling. This was followed by accurate and cunning spin from the experienced and talented trio of Tim Petrie, Matt Stretch and NZ Over-50s stalwart Andrew Nuttall. It was a real thrill for the former pupils to catch up with the current crop of MBC cricketers and to appreciate the special coaching job being done by Greg Logan and Mark Mason.