The Duckhunters assembled and they were not happy.
The promoters had not done their job properly which allowed the national media to believe that some kind of football game at Wembley the day before was somehow top of the bill. It was therefore going to have to be some performance to wrestle the public consciousness back to the Ian Wallace Cricket Ground. Good news is that is exactly what was delivered, unfortunately from our opponents.
Article 12 subsection 3 of Sods Law dictates that a sunny morning in the cricket season shall give way to rain just as the men in white assemble. Drizzle became a decent shower which delayed the start by 15 minutes but, on the flip side, it allowed our covers to prove their worth.
It's fair to say that conditions dictated that the wicket was more a Greyhound Grand National than a sticky dog and that brought the Duckhunters four early wickets and premature thoughts of 'making a game of it'.
Oh, the (well intended) conceit.
Sam Hill bowled a beautiful 8 over spell 2 wickets for 26 runs. Yakesh obviously fancied some of that and duplicated those exact figures however the quality of the batting increased as time went on and despite some noteworthy catches (Vice Skipper taking one standing up to the wicket and Skipper leaping in the way of a drive to pouch his victim) the visitors had got past 180.
All acknowledged that the target was a challenging one but 25 for 5 was a reply straight from the 'Come On Boys, The Pub Is Open' manual. Cometh the hour cometh Dave Parker and that man Yakesh again.
Dave dropped anchor whilst Yakesh flat out refused to play conservatively , simply not seeing what all the fuss was about. His 44 was the pinnacle of the innings and it was great to see him back.
Sadly with those two gone another mini collapse saw Will and Nimesh blocking out the final three overs despite the playful cat calls of the close fielders for something more entertaining as Fleckney fell short, sadly it was not a photo finish.
The Duckhunters seem adept at losing games but winning friends and Marton were fine opponents we would hope to play again.
Finally, rumour has it Cricket is a Summer game, we've played the game a few times this year and are now waiting for the Sun.
Perhaps next week dear reader, perhaps next week
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