Well, the new year did not start with the normal organized approach of the Willows Club. On my arrival at the ground the Match Manager informed me that the skipper for the day had taken ill and that I was now appointed the Captain for the day, which I duly accepted (my first mistake). The toss was made and lost (my second mistake) and the Suburban side broke with tradition and chose to bat. My next task was to decide on a bowling order and thanks to the Selector we had in our armory, one genuine opening bowler, a recovering from injury medium pacer, two part­ time spinners and several other members who hadn’t bowled for seasons. A skipper’s dilemma to say the least. After 50 avers of fruitless toil saw us chasing a mammoth 320 for 6. The only bowler to command any respect was Wade Bu rrell who bowled his 10 avers for 39 runs and 2 wickets, which was highly respectable in the circumstances.

The Suburban innings highlights were a fine century by James Butler and a tidy 54 from Ross Dixon.

The Willows players had a discussion during the change of innings and agreed that with a good start on an excellent batting strip we could give the target a good shot. Talking strategy and implementing it are poles apart it would seem. After the second ball we were 1 down for 1 run and this set the trend for the remainder of the innings. Wickets fell regularly through bad running, injudicious shots and tight bowling and after 8 avers we had slumped to 25 for 5 wickets. A 42 run partnership between Fraser Hawes (28 runs) and myself (21 runs) steadied the avalanche of wickets, but this was only a temporary respite, before the collapse continued , until we capitulated for a paltry 1 20 runs. Under the conditions this was a disappointing effort and has probably expedited the call for my removal from the captaincy duties for future matches.

However it was pleasing for me to see some promising Suburban players perform very creditably under quality conditions and enjoy the experience of playing at the Willows.