On another gloriously fine Willows morning the North Canterbury Secondary Schools XI (NCSS) won the toss and decided to bowl first on a wicket that promised plenty of runs. The Willows players were visibly distraught at hearing news of the toss and the thought of attempting to field in the mid-afternoon heat made some swoon.
Early on, the respective willows of Burrell and Earnshaw earned plenty of gasps and claps of acknowledgement from the rest of the team. Although the run scoring was of course responsible for the majority of the gasps there was some thought that maybe the older members of the team were in need of oxygen so drinks were offered, not to the batsmen, but to the expectant Willowers.
We lost our first wicket at 1 23 then sought to make fools of the saying, ‘start as you intend to continue’. At 206/7, a mini collapse happened and the hopes of the young NCSS side soared. However the test of a team is its depth and we were exceedingly deep – both in our batting and our thoughts on the game. The indominitable Peninsular Reaper, Masefield, joined forces with the younger Dunnett and 264 was the final score.
Highlights of the batting were a beautifully struck hundred by Burrell, a well compiled 41 by Earnshaw and a snicked 1 from Malcolm Ellis. For the NCSS side Simpson bowled very well to take three wickets.
With such a large score to chase against a varied bowling line up, the NCSS side required a good start. Unfortunately they lost a wicket without a run on the board when Ellis Jr extracted bounce from the wicket where his father had slipped going for his quick single. They rallied somewhat but in the face of bowling that consisted of fast, medium, slow and earth warming speeds , the batsmen struggled. The opener, Duncan, batted very forcefully striking the ball very hard and fully deserved a hundred for his efforts.
Finishing 43 runs short of the Willows score represented a game effort from the younger side and they certainly stuck at the task of batting and bowling in difficult circumstances very well.