The Nelson College match carries a special significance for two of the Club’s senior statesmen, Mike Dormer and John Gardner who are both Old Boys. John was to captain The Willows but was unable to play due to injury (unheard of in the 1950’s)!

The Willows won the toss, batted, and soon had the Nelson College bowlers working hard. Matt Fielding, with a forceful 81, combined with Oliver Hutton (22) to put on 81 for the first wicket. A consistent batting effort from The Willows saw the very competitive total of 264/6 posted from 50 overs. Mike Johns, new to The Willows, made his mark with a stylish 61. Richard Hayward, former Hampshire, Somerset and Central Districts player, and now Canterbury Cricket’s coaching director, gave us a glimpse of his playing ability reaching 13. Peter Woods and Doug McMillan combined in the latter stages of the innings to add 31 and 28 respectively.

The Nelson side fielded and bowled with spirit. A young side, they showed much enthusiasm in the field. Particular mention should be made of the young leg spinner Peter Younghusband. He bowled his 10 overs for 42 runs, a fantastic effort l given the good batting conditions. All of the Nelson bowlers finished with respectable figures, given that the run rate threatened to get away on them at any time.

The run chase was a daunting task for a young and inexperienced Nelson team; they struggled losing wickets regularly. The final total of 83 in many ways did not reflect the application shown after tea, in particular Lubrensky and Matthews applied themselves and played sensible cricket.

One of the features of the day was the inclusion in The Willows side of two Christchurch Boys‘ High 1st XI players, Henry Nuttall and James Stevenson, Henry, an off spinner, James a fast medium opening bowler, both had excellent retums, with Henry taking 3/10 from his 10 overs and James 3/19 from just 6 overs.

So a convincing win to The Willows, perhaps leaving Nelson College to reflect on some work to be done. The Nelson side were a credit to their school, in the way they dressed, approached the day, and in general lefl us all feeling that we had played a match against an excellent group of young men.

Special thanks should be given also to Jim Law, who travelled from the Wairarapa, via the Rod Stewart concert, to spend the day at The Willows. Jim and his wife Marilyn have been wonderful supporters of the Club over the years and we look forward to seeing them both next year.