The annual friendly between the PCC and Northfields Cricket club is always a pleasant affair, and this year proved no different as Northfields completed their victory comfortably enough, but not without a serious wobble along the way.

Northfields won the toss and chose to put us in. You can see why they did – the previous week's rain making the Gunnersbury Park wicket greener than ever. However, the wicket, which is getting better by the week, didn't play as badly as they hoped, save for the odd mulligrubber; if a batsman is prepared to get forward and play straight, there are runs to be had.

We got off to a fairly solid start, with Wyllie and McEvoy opening the batting in place of the late Parks (by late, I mean he missed his train). A combination of bowling on a good line and length and the slow outfield meant Ploughmans scored slowly. After McEvoy was bowled for 5, captain Lonnen came in, preceded to leave a ball which came in appreciably off the pitch, and watched his off stump get knocked back.

From then on it was a war of attrition, with the bowlers consistently finding a good line and length accompanied by a little swing, which meant the scoring rate never climbed above three runs an over. When Jackson was trapped LBW by Preedy for 6, we were teetering on collapse at 38 for 4.

Baird-Murray joined Wyllie at the crease at this point, and worked the ball around with more confidence at they got used to the Gunnersbury wicket. The score ticked over and more quick singles became available as the field was spread as the innings progressed. With 81 runs on the board and 7 overs left, Wyllie decided it was time to push on, but quickly succumbed, caught at cover for 34.

The lower order added a few late run with a flurry of boundaries, and we finished the innings on 123 for 9, not a bad score given the conditions. There was a feeling that, with no side having chased a higher score yet at this ground this season, we were in with a chance.

However, Ploughmans struggled to find their length early on and a flurry of boundaries came off the first four overs. But once the bowlers had settled, the batsman found themselves tied down, and tried to hit out with predictable results on the slow wicket. Carson and Wilkinson removed the two openers, before captain Lonnen brought himself on and another wicket fell to him. Wyllie came on at the other end to attempt entice the batsmen to clear the boundary, and sure enough their player obliged by hitting one straight to Baird-Murray who took an excellent catch. Before they knew it, tight bowling from Lonnen and Wyllie left Northfields on 69 for 6, needing a strong performance to get themselves anywhere near the target.

They found it in the formindible shape of their captain, who preceded to come in and chance his arm somewhat, showing that if you're prepared to play your shots on this wicket then you can reap the rewards. That's not to say he didn't offer chances, but when he was dropped by Lonnen at slip, to albeit a difficult chance, he knew it would be his day, and he carried his bat as Northfields crossed the finishing line with just over 10 overs to spare.

Ploughmans had given themselves a sniff of a chance after removing the top order relatively cheaply, but ultimately not enough runs were scored to put the visitors under enough pressure, something that is going to have to be addressed as the season wears on.

RW