Having agreed an early start time of 12 noon, seven of the eleven players made their way to Old Alleynians RFC ground (with an eighth player on the way) as per the address listed on Pitchero. However, Pitchero was lying. Duray and two others were at the correct ground, Burbage Road, some 1.3 miles away. Two lime bikes and two car loads of cricketers and bags later, the team assembled at the correct venue with 20 minutes to spare before the start time. Needless to say, the chickens did not get fed before the start of the game.

Duray continued his decision-making success, having been one of only three players to arrive at the correct ground at the first time of asking, by winning the toss and electing to bat. Sean and Angus set the tone in the early overs, making the best of the new ball and short straight boundaries. Sean blistered two straight drives in the first over, with the Plough bench (and the author at square leg umpire) purring with delight as the first over went for 13.

Angus followed suit with some delectable cover drives and clips through the leg side, but he was the first to fall when he chopped on while attempting to leave a ball. This brought Leo to the crease with the score at 54-1 in the 15th over.

Sean departed in the following over, chopping on a short ball from their leg spinner. This was a sign of what was to come…

Barron played some lovely strokes but followed Sean’s example by being dismissed off a short ball from the leg spinner for 9, and Max Gumpert followed soon after when he skied a rank knee-high full toss to long-off for 5.

Connolly had stood firm at the other end, but joined his colleagues in the dugout when he was caught for 21.

Duray and Dom came together with the score at 97-5, in the 27th over and set about rebuilding the innings. Things were scratchy, with some panicky calling and half-chances in the overs following before Duray started to find the boundary. After an extremely scratchy start, Dom joined in on the boundaries to get his account properly underway.

The two spec-wearers put on 54 for the 6th wicket, taking the score to 151 when Duray was caught behind for 28 having skied the leg-spinner 30ft in the air for his 4th wicket.

Dom followed two overs later, pulling another short ball from the leg spinner to midwicket for 36, the 5th to fall victim to the leg spinner who returned figures of 9-0-40-5.

Stanley looked good before being trapped lbw for 7, and some late hitting from Spencer combined with scampering between him and Lonnen (and then CRS after Lonnen was bowled for 4) stretched the Plough score up to 188-9 from 45 overs.

With an incredibly strong batting lineup, 188-9 was undoubtedly below par. Five of the Plough’s top seven got to 20, none going on to make more than 40. This proved to be a critical difference between the two sides.

The Alleyn tea was worthy of recognition, with highlights including coronation chicken sandwiches and enough pork pie segments to keep the Plough’s northern contingent sustained for another three hours.

CRS and Spencer opened the bowling for the Plough and set about putting the pressure on the Alleyn openers. The Plough were electric in the field in these early overs, the volume and intensity supported the two seamers in winning the first 10 over segment. Spencer was the first to break through, trapping the batsman on the crease for 8.

CRS was simply outstanding, bowling his nine overs straight through and securing a much-deserved wicket when he trapped the other opener in front (at which point the score was 37-2 from 9 overs). Side note for the stat nerds, both Alleyn openers had strike rates of 47.06.

CRS returned incredible figures of 9-3-11-1, an economy of 1.11. Simply outstanding. At one point the slip cordon applauded the batsman being able to put bat on ball after a dozen play and misses, which was beautifully captured on the live stream (message CRS for the clip). The cordon of McGurn, Pretorius, and Scott resembled commuters at Euston staring at the timing screens on a bank holiday weekend, gawping open-mouthed in amazement.

Lonnen and Barron stood ready to continue the trial by seam approach and keep the Alleyn batsman below the required rate. Lonnen struggled to find rhythm from the ‘Housing End’ and was replaced by Barron, with a brief first spell from Duray before the drinks break. Barron continued the CRS approach of bowling channel and making the batsman do the work, with continued excitement behind the wicket at every near miss.

Dom came on after the drinks break and took a wicket with his first ball, the Alleyn no.3 spooning a ball on leg stump that held its line back to him for a rare caught and bowled.

However, in the overs that followed boundaries started to flow, the Alleyn no4 started to find his rhythm in his first game after ACL reconstruction and taking Dom for a series of boundaries, with Lonnen replacing the SLA merchant but coming up against some back cut excellence as runs continued to be ticked off.

A brief spell of rapid spin from Max Gumpert sought to find a breakthrough, but it was not to be.

Duray brought himself on for a second spell and took a wicket to keep the game tangentially balanced, and then a second when Spencer caught the ball with a combination of elbow, breast and forearm, but it was in vain. The Alleyn no.4 had fought through a difficult start before finding his range and going on to make 86, in what proved a decisive innings.

Alleyn knocked off the remaining runs in the following few overs, the winning runs coming off Dom in the 41st over.

A tough result for the Plough having gone into the game knowing it was one of the strongest sides the club has put out. While the fielding display was exceptional throughout on a bobbling and hard outfield, the batting and bowling (apart from CRS) was not where we wanted it to be.

After the game, some traditional Plough showering was followed by Spencer spending 20 minutes doing an extensive hair and beauty routine in the changing room while using his phone as a mirror. Deeply questionable behaviour.

Some beers were shared with the Alleyn team, who were excellent hosts and an all-round good bunch. After enjoying the glorious evening sunshine on the balcony, we headed back to the DSG to celebrate the various successes seen in the Plough’s other fixtures with Eurovision in the background.

Go well, and Plough On…

Match report from Dom Scott