John and Diana Gardner’s hospitality was again outstanding for this Willows away match but as has been the case in previous years the hospitality was confined to off the pitch only. Three times previously the Willows Club has made this trip with the best result being a tie in 1998. Having been the captain on the last two occasions I was made well aware that the clock was ticking on my future as a captain for this game.

The loss of the toss was an omen of things to come. Flaxton’s captain, Roger Sowden, was pleased to have the choice and put us in on a slightly variable wicket. With Brian Ford and Tim Andrews removing Mike Satterthwaite and myself early the start was not a good one. Things only got worse. A steady procession of wickets fell until at 8 for 72 it looked likely that going back to work for a few hours was a possibility. However some lusty hitting by Michael Sharpe (33) and some solid resistance by the only other survivor from all the previous encounters, Peter Devlin, allowed us to close at 131 in the 38th over.

For Flaxton, Sowden had the schoolboy like figures of 3 for 8 from 7 avers and Bob Masefield had 4 for 20 from 6.5 overs. Only Murray Evans (22) of the top order batsmen contributed a score of any substance.

Having listened to their leader passionately and eloquently roll out the usual cliches which follow batting disasters of this nature, such as ‘we’ve got the runs on the board now they’ve got to get them’ and ‘the wicket’s getting worse', the Willows set about bowling Flaxton out. On a wicket, which (as is usually the case) was now viewed with deep suspicion by the Willows players, the Flaxton team had few problems and strolled past our total in 27 overs with the loss of only 4 wickets!

Having survived the shock of learning that Michael Sharpe was only bowling off spinners a spirited Willows attack tried valiantly for the necessary early breakthroughs. Unfortunately the early loss of wickets which has plagued the top order of both sides in previous years was not forthcoming and after a slow start John Masefield (62 not out) and Brian Ford (23) quickly settled the issue. For the Willows Murray Evans (2/16) and Bruce Irvine were economical but Dave Stead (1/29) and Michael Sharpe (1/38) mixed some good balls with some not so good ones.

So once again the Willows had to watch as Flaxton put the Diana Trophy back in the cabinet. With Mike Dormer hovering near by all that remained was for the losing captain to thank all those involved and fall on his own sword, resigning his position before he was sacked. However, if selected, I will be back again next year for one last shot at prizing the trophy from John’s grasp.

Finally I would like to thank John and Diana for their fantastic hospitality over the years and I look forward to next year’s game, with the knowledge that it may be the last, feeling fortunate that I have played in such good company on such a great little ground. Thanks again.