The Willows were on a five game losing streak so when captain Andy Ellis arrived at a cold Willows ground on Sunday he was feeling the heat — especially with Mike Dormer waiting at the gate. The Northwest XI won the toss and choose to bat. Openers Turner and Smith put on a hard fought 34 together before the fall of the first wicket. Willows bowlers Adrian McFedries and Taylor Holland hit good lengths and applied plenty of pressure. The former was rewarded with a wicket on the first ball to the new batsman whereupon McFedries was heard to say “not even Don Bradman could have played that”.

Soon after, rain interrupted play (and stopped some momentum). The umpires decided to take an early lunch. Thankfully the weather cleared and the match continued. All bowlers used did their thing sending the NW XI into the sheds around the 35th over mark for only 114 runs.

After a 10 minute cup of tea The Willows were ready to chase down the target. Darin Cusack was chomping at the bit to open so the skipper allowed this and paired him up with Kelvin Scott. This was the right choice — Cusack pushed for quick singles and fed the strike to outstanding player of the day Scott. Kelvin didn’t miss a beat and his stroke play and power was impressive as he smacked a quick 81.

In all it proved a fantastic day with a great group of men. It was nice to see some ex-NW players playing against the new crop; connecting, rubbing shoulders and sharing the traditions of the game together. Another bonus was having Sir John Hansen in attendance to enjoy lunch and to share some stories also.