This was the second time Diana was being played for, again on the hallowed ground of “The Willows", and thus there was an automatic advantage for the Willows side.

In a very shrewd move by the Flaxton team they once again asked us to bat thinking they would have a better chance to win, by chasing runs.

The Willows was fortunate to have in its team the likes of Tom Mills, a young lad from England, who was spending time at Christ’s College. He held the top of the order together with a fine 47, and with Andrew Nuttall scoring 42 from number eight in the order, the Willows scored a modest 171/9. Quite a let down from the 270 scored in the previous game against Flaxton. Heslop, Gardner and Rhodes put in good bowling spells for Flaxton conceding only three runs per over. The latter picking up four wickets.

John Gardner’s Flaxton team had good reason to think that they had every chance of victory, until their innings commenced. At 24/3 they were struggling and at 118/9, it was almost over, but a 39 run partnership between John Gardner, the Flaxton captain, and Ron Dalley had some Willowers worried, paricularly Arthur Pitcher (Christchurch Casino Manager). Paul McEwan, the Willows captain, thought Arthur would be one who could handle the occasional gamble, but his three overs for 31 found him wanting. We eventually won the game, with a run out, by 14 runs.

All in all, everyone had a bat and almost everyone had a bowl, so once again it was a most enjoyable day; with the Diana Trophy remaining at “The Willows”. Over a few beers, there was the usual banter of “What might have happened if I had done this ... or that ..?"