Thanks to some bright spark from the Vine holding on to the keys, the day got off to a great start with everybody locked out. Due to this and the annual late arrival of Buckhurst the start was delayed until 14.30.

Beechwood batted and the old faithfuls Freeman and Kelly opened the batting. They scored steadily before Kelly was bowled off his trailing foot. Warner joined Freeman and after a slow start took a liking to the bowling, 25 coming off one over. Unfortunately the gentleman who owns the adjacent field was not as generous. He politely informed us that we were not allowed to retrieve any cricket balls that ended up in his field. I think the time has come to kiss Otford goodbye.

Warner passed his fifty (no jug) but was finally bowled for 63. Tony who was now playing some uncharacteristic cross-batted slogs was joined by Val. Val took no notice of our neighbourly landowner and despatched another six deep in his territory. Beechwood’s innings ended on 222 with Tony 91 not out, a fine effort.

After a hearty tea donated by Herd and Freeman Beechwood took the field. Our skipper was then summoned by his wife which led to the comical sight of 10 people trying to set the field. It was finally left to our new vice vice captain Cooksley to complete the job. 

Buckhurst started brightly but soon lost 3 quick wickets to McCrea and Hill the latter taking a smart caught and bowled. One of our new potential associate members who was guesting for Buckhurst Dave Williams then steadied the ship.

Savory and Boss were called into action just before the 20 overs to tempt the batsmen. Boss quickly removed Williams but runs started to flow with a mixture of good batting and a certain amount of luck. Cooksley changed all that with 2 wickets in 2 balls, one a well judged catch by Hill in the deep. What a difference a week makes. Herd then denied him a hat trick with a refusal.

Savory then picked up three wickets but we were denied by the last pair although fortune was on their side. The match ended in an entertaining draw. I think Bradley should be commended for the way he skippered the side. Was our regular captain’s leadership qualities missed? I’ll leave it to team members to answer that.

Pervert of the Week goes to Cooksley who was the allegedly giving members points for taking cold showers. This was apparently innovative idea from Woody for Fantasy Cricket.

Team: Boss, Cooksley, Freeman, Herd, Hill (c), Kelly (w), McCrea, McLachlan, Savory, Valentine, Warner