Cricket can be very challenging but today the nor'west was at its best. The toss was made into the wind and the coin landed 4 metres behind us. Hawkswood won the toss and batted. After an early wicket, Hawkswood settled down and scored quite freely with Phil Dickson making a quick 46.

The Willows pulled the scoring back with Simon Harding bowling into the wind and with Mike Mclntyre and Hayden Shaw taking 7 wickets between them. Troels Nielsen bowled well late in the innings and with a late flurry by I Reynolds got Hawkswood to 1 81 all out. The Willows were happy at chasing 1 81 but with 3 early wickets and tight bowling by Reynolds and Nuttall the task got harder until solid contributions by Mclntyre, Pavey, Shaw and McMillan saw the game change back in our favour.

The young Reynolds came back for a second spell and cleaned up the tail collecting a 5 wicket bag. This fixture is always played hard with neither side giving in. The telling factor of today’s game was the wind, with the youngsters having to bowl into it and the oldies with it.

Robbie Deans had a good day behind the stumps with 4 catches also Hayden Shaw with 2 outfield catches. And so a close but good win for Hawkswood Wanderers by 7 runs. I look forward to next year’s game.