As usual the setting was fantastic. What a place to play cricket!!

Greg Curtain had the boys looking youthful and they were warming up when we arrived. As a group they were impressive in their presentation.

Willows lost the toss and St Bede’s went into bat. B. Hini and A. McCombie opened the bowling to an extremely attacking field . Hini bowled sharply on a very good wicket. There was slight sideways movement for the first six overs.

C. Rennell played very well within himself to the master of spin, Stephen “Southern” Boock. Bockie bowled beautifully with fine flight and turn. He must have been well pleased with figures of 4/10 off 10 overs. R. O’Sullivan and D. Fussell held the St Bede’s team together. They played very well, running between the wickets and regularly turned over the strike.

Lindsay Forde once again showed how important it is to bowl the right length on a fast paced pitch. Thanks also to the substitute fielders, Stephen Boock’s son and a friend, who were outstanding. A. Johnstone was very impressive behind the stumps. He had a great day with three stumpings and one catch.

The result was a total of 1 75 runs which was 30 runs too short.

Willows went into bat with a good first over producing seven runs. At the start, St Bede’s struggled to bowl the right line and length allowing the Willows to make 26/1 off seven overs.

Cricket is a funny game and can turn quickly as happened, with St Bede’s grabbing two quick wickets for the Willows to be 27/3. St Bede’s were now competitive. Boyle and Hamel came together presenting St Bede’s with a left and right hand combination. This unsettled the line of the bowling attack and the score progressed to 122/4. Hini and Johnstone steered the Willows through to a win.

Special thanks to the scorers and umpires and the rest of the team for a great day out.