After having been sacked as captain for this fixture for eternity when it was last played, it was with a feeling of relief that I returned to John Gardner’s ground for this annual away match. However, the late withdrawal of my successor and a notable lack of volunteers for the job meant that the full weight of Mike’s considerable expectations for success in this fixture once more fell on me! Being the holders of the Diana Trophy only increased the level of interest.

Not wanting to break a tradition I lost the toss and we batted. On the previous four occasions this match has been played the Willows have never made a good start. So, although not stunning at 76/2 after 21 overs, some satisfaction was discernible among those who had played in previous fixtures. The satisfaction grew to outright confidence as Paul Rutledge (49), Peter Devlin (42) and Troels Nielsen (37) carried us through to 199 for 8 from our 40 overs. Hamish Loe (3/30) and S.Anderson (3/43) were the best of the Flaxton bowlers on a flat wicket.

With the sun shining brightly on our confidence it soon became apparent that our bowling resources were based largely around an extremely efficient Wade Cornelius. Early indications were that a close match may have evolved with both sides at 37/1 after 11 overs-but early indications are not final results. While Wade (1/14) was treated with considerable caution by the Flaxton batsmen, Phil Harris was the only other bowler to go for less than six an over. The beneficiaries of this bowling were Hugh Wright (80) and John Masefield (57 not out). Their third wicket partnership of 82 sealed the match and allowed Flaxton to win with 13 balls to spare.

The continuing poor run of results in this fixture has one recurring note-my participation. 1 may well be the only member of the Willows to have played in the same fixture every year and to have never won!

Thanks again to John and Diana for their hospitality and to John and his side for another good tussle. See you next year (if selected) .