As expected the Willows XI ‘won’ the toss and ‘surprisingly’ elected to bat on a slow.pitch with heavy overhead conditions.

With the late arrival of the usually reliable Paul McEwan, Neville Perkins rose to the occasion by opening the innings scoring a compact 48. Entering the fray at number three Paul McEwan’s innings was unfortunately cut short when ‘swinging’ a full toss to deep square leg. Paul’s excuse for arriving late was that he had to borrow a trailer to deliver a donated children’s swing for “The Willows” Club – a fine gesture! More practice swinging to leg is required however.

The Willows XI was precariously placed at 136 for 7 but thanks to the controlled hitting of the Under 17 coach, Kit Perera, the team managed to stutter to a mediocre score of 180. Kit (50) was ably supported by Phi! Harris (15) and Ryan Burson (17). The Canterbury boys are to be commended for showing generosity to their respected coach, knowing that to do otherwise may have been unwise, especially with .an arduous tour of Australia looming. Steady pace bowling from Tom Blakely (3/34) and Ben Blair (3/30) helped to restrict the Willows score.

The visitors made a slow start against the lively opening attack of Sam Davis (2/19) and Ryan Burson (3/20), but an excellent partnership by Gareth Brooks (49) and Stephen Flanagan (40) gave the advantage to the opposition. With afternoon tea arriving at a strategic time The Willows XI managed to regroup and gradually wore the youngsters down, restricting them to 157/7 after 50 overs. Thanks to the rigorous interpretation of one day wides by umpires McHarg and Barker, ten extra deliveries were required to be bowled, however the visitors fell well short after promising middle order batting.

The Willows XI was happy to restore honour to the Club after the previous loss to Christ’s College and it was obvious that the Higher Being agreed, with the ground bathed in sunlight at the conclusion of the game.