It used to be said that there were two certainties in life, death and taxes. After today we must venture a third, Stoneygate's Will Earland will rain on Fleckney's parade whenever the two sides meet and today's effort of scoring 116 out of his side's 172 was special even by his own standards.
Not for the first time Fleckney had started well. Andy Loomes has taken 4 wickets in an eye catching opening burst, the patent 'claw' delivery accounting for two of them. (Thanks to opener Morley for 'walking' when feathering one behind). Yakesh only went for 16 off 7 overs too. Enter then 6 foot plus of Fleckney Kryptonite.
He said he was tired, he said he was out of form (all things we have heard before from him) and then he simply took the game away with a chanceless century. If you are an avid match report reader you may as well copy and paste from the last encounter. Even Dunkers parking his car right on the boundary edge in prime 'damage the bodywork' position couldn't tempt an indiscretion
Frank got an LBW decision, James Sheath 'leapt like a salmon" (his own words) for a one handed caught and bowled and the skipper chipped in but an easy run chase had taken a distinctly more tricky turn.
Ok, this is another hard luck/what might have been match report but a 90od opening partnership had raised hopes. Both Mike Dunkley and Brij Barot scored 41, the latter playing some lovely straight drives to demonstrate a return to form, but when the turning to Mid Order Collapse Crescent was reached the team couldn't resist the opportunity.
The swift departure of Sam Gomez and Naimesh Khetia left the team behind the rate and they would never catch up finishing 29 short of their hosts. Or put another way, Stoneygate beat Fleckney by Will Earland.
Please don't take any of the above in a less than generous tone. Our opponents are a good bunch and Will is a great bloke and a fine player, but we live in hope one day he might miss a straight one, take a wrong turning on the way to the ground or take up intergalactic space travel during the Summer months.
Maybe, just maybe