We lost the toss and were put into bat. The pitch, while very green, was firm and true.

The James’ (messers Frost and Morris) took to the wicket, looking resplendent in Frensham’s new kit. Cooper (M) immediately made the first delivery deviate off the seam, Frost unable to withdraw the bat in time, could only edge to second slip, who obliged by dropping a rather straightforward slip catch (if there is such a thing). And we were underway for 2025.

The Cooper brothers bowled very well. Back of a length on a pitch that offered some significant lateral movement off the seam. There were a number of plays and misses in the first five overs, and Frost could only push a length delivery back to Cooper (M). Warren was the man for such an occasion. The crowd were sure there would be no expansive stroke play, Warren had other ideas, stroking an imperious on-drive for four. He could not repeat the trick and was bowled by Cooper (O). Morris walked in front of a straight one and was trapped bang in front, Scribe was at the non-strikers end and it looked very dead.

Scribe and de Mierre resisted for a while, but runs were hard to come by. Scribe muscled a few boundaries before being caught and bowled attempting a rather ambitious drive. De Mierre was next to go bowled by a very good delivery from Robinson.

Evans, Bixby and Farncombe followed not long after. Skipper Findley hit perhaps the shot of the day, a languid drive through extra cover, before being bowled by Burt. At this point, we were in a dark place, 44-9. The crowd agreed, WinViz would have given Frensham a 1.5% chance of winning at this point, which was perhaps generous.

Cricket is a funny game, as Casali and Clayton-Jones put on a crucial 27 run partnership. Casali scored the bulk of the runs, think Stokes and Leach at Headingley. But Clayton-Jones’ one run, and more importantly, time at the crease, was crucial.

We ended up 71 all out. The pitch was fairly blameless, a combination of good bowling and bad batting.

Defending 71 is difficult, there was little doubt about the size of the task that faced us. Starting well is a necessity, and this is where leaders can really step up. Findlay did just that, cleaning up the opener with a brute of a ball that cut back in from outside off stump and clipped the top of middle stump. De Mierre did as De Mierre does, full, straight and relentless, the kind of bowling you’d hate to face. He soon trapped the number three bang in front, then clean bowled Francis and Robinson. When Croucher was run out backing up, after some excellent work from Farncombe, we were well at truly in the game.
A few lusty blows from Cooper and resolute defence from Moulds, saw Kingsley edge their noses in front. Findlay summoned himself for one more spell and produced the over of the match. Fast, full and straight was the order of the day. Bowling Moulds, Cooper (O) and Spurling.

It was left to De Mierre to finish the job, bowling Cooper (M) and Wheatley to claim a famous victory by three runs. De Mierre finished with 5-12 and Findlay 4-21, they were backed up by some excellent fielding. The third team retired to watch the thrilling conclusion of the first XI match.

So WinViz proved incorrect and 25 points from the first game of the season. Onto Grayshott next week.