Paul McEwan brought his team of ‘fresh-faced’ youngsters to The Willows to take on the might of the Willows XI – a mixture of youth, through to ‘senior’ age.

On winning the toss, the Willows batted first on a wicket that looked inviting for the seamers, but gave away nothing as the game went on. Openers Cameron Stone (changing teams this season) and Corey James got the side off to a good start, averaging four runs an over against a very useful bowling attack of Boyle, Rowse, Harding and Moore.

Wickets did start to tumble and even with some rollicking stroke making from the top five batsmen, no one went on to make a big score.

Paul McEwan rotated his bowlers well, not allowing the Willows batsmen to settle. Moore 2/27, Boyle 2/55 from 10, while Harding was the unlucky bowler, finishing with 0-16 from 10 overs. All the Willows batsmen blamed the lush green outfield for the lack of runs and not the tight bowling and poor shot selection!

It was obvious from the opening Willows overs that a determination was there to preserve the reputations of the Willows players as the Secondary top order failed to come to grip with some tight bowling.

At 15/4 after 13 overs, the writing was on the wall, but then the fight back started for the Combined team with Rowse leading the way with a classy 44. The team reached 142 which was a great effort from players who did not let the big occasion get to them.

Pick of the Willows bowlers were Jason Pawson and Brandon Hiini while Malcolm Ellis would have considered his figures of 0/32 from 5 overs unjust in the context of the match.

At the conclusion of the game over the customary bread, sausage and fizz, the Combined team were all presented with the book “Merv Wallace – A Cricket Master” as a memento of the match which was an excellent way to end a terrific day.