It was a lovely day for this annual match. We had a solid line-up. Having a appointed a skipper who had failed previously, the management were taking no chances.

We batted first. Michael Hastings and John Mitchell got us off to a brisk start with an opening partnership of 40 in five overs. Joe Bennett and Mark Savill consolidated, then Lance Cairns (46), Doug McMillan (54) and Andrew Nuttall (66 not out) took charge. Towards the end Peter Wallace picked up a few and we finished with a very formidable 297/9 in our 50 overs. The Cavaliers were not at full strength but their bowlers toiled hard with ‘ring­ in’ Adrian McFedries having the best figures of 2/21 from eight overs.

The Cavaliers got off to a bad start with their opening batsman charging Lance Cairns second ball and offering a lofty catch to Andrew Nuttall at cover, which he had to accept because everyone else was going in the opposite direction. Lance finished with 2/11, Doug McMillan bowled ten on the trot to take 1/29, Andrew Nuttall strangled the life out of the middle order with a measly 2/15 from ten, Michael Hastings cleaned up with 4/55 and Andrew Davidson had a long spell and took 1/55.

Joe Bennett kept energetically as usual, taking three catches and generally making first slip a good place to hide. He also entertained everyone with various observations on a wide range of subjects and was most polite to the umpires, particularly after a vigorous but unsuccessful appeal. John Mitchell brought the match to an early close, taking the final wicket with his only delivery. J.Faulks, Bruce Irvine and Dave Sharp batted valiantly for the opposition with Adrian McFedries also making a contribution, but although they managed to bat 12 by special arrangement, their final total of 175 was well short.

A most enjoyable day for us with the skipper grateful not to be on the receiving end again.