Days don’t come much better. Under a bright blue autumn sky The Willows XI was invited to bat. It was a daunting prospect having to face 16 umpires and this year it appeared some youth had been injected into their side. Our team was as strong a batting side as could have been assembled and none disappointed. On a grassy wicket the openers laid the foundation, the middle order flourished, and the tail wagged — 295 in 40 overs and we all had a piece of the action.

The question was could the bowlers perform. Hugo Davison went back to his long run, Dave Kelly needed two wickets to reach 50 and the metronomic Andrew Nuttall was hungry. The catches stuck and after finally dismissing eleven umpires The Willows had continued their 2021 winning streak. The gallows were dispensed with. It had been an excellent game and we were fortunate to have very strong officiating including former international Brian Aldridge assisted by Colin Fenwick. Not an LBW in the whole match — now that’s consistency.