This year’s fixture included not only some sublime cricket but also some of the more ridiculous action that has been seen at The Willows.

Despite facing former first class bowler Aaron Gale and a fine opening spell of bowling from Mike McGoldrick, The Willows openers were more than up to the task. Ben Yock and Brendon Fahey put on a sound opening partnership of 72 with Ben Yock going on to record a chanceless 102 retired off only 113 balls. Fahey scored at a fast pace and it was unexpected to see him dismissed for 43 off 49 balls. The Willows had a great foundation to build on and the scoring rate was accelerated mainly by Tom Fisher who was not out 73 off 78 balls at the conclusion of the innings. The Willows had compiled an impressive 286 for 8 after their 50 overs.

There were seven London New Zealand bowlers used with a particularly impressive spell from Gale who conceded just 32 from his 10 overs. The other highlight of the London New Zealand fielding effort was the wicket keeping of Singleton who did not concede a bye and took 3 catches behind the wicket.

The Willows captain strode to the pitch with a spring in his stride relishing the prospect of defending 286 runs. The opening bowlers must have felt 286 was a healthy total as well and set about evening things up from the outset. Harding’s first over went for 7, all of them wides. McIntyre took the ball from the northern end and confidently remarked that things couldn’t get worse than that as far as extras were concerned. Approximately 20 minutes later The Willows came off the field for tea, McIntyre having completed his opening over with London New Zealand, having reached 37 without loss off 2 overs. No runs had been scored off the bat. To say that Mr Dormer was in a heightened state of agitation would be an understatement and the “cock up” award was dusted off for presentation later in the day to the hapless opening bowling duo for The Willows.

After much consideration over afternoon tea it was decided to change bowlers when play resumed and fortunately the experience of Jacob Wolt brought the run haemorrhage under control although the bowlers had to toil hard against a strong London New Zealand batting line up. Darren Broom struck the ball with supreme timing and power to every point of the ground making 100 off only 80 balls. Broom may possibly have scored his runs a little too quickly for other batsmen to build the innings around him. The chase, however, continued to be well and truly on with Jason Kilworth chipping in with a typically hard hitting 43 not out. However, The Willows bowling line up was rotated regularly using 8 different bowlers and the London New Zealand innings faltered at 279 with the final wicket falling to a spectacular run out after an accurate outfield throw from Simon Harding.

The Willows fielding performance was an all round effort with tight bowling from Wolt, Julian Marsh and Tom Fisher with Captain McGuire doing enough to only just retain membership after his initial bowling selections. While we all felt considerable sympathy for Mike and Simon, there is no question that they richly deserved the “cock up” award and enquiries are being made of the Guinness Book of Records and Wisden as to the most runs off an over in extras alone.