Playing on the same ground the Plough 1st XI rolled Team Mitcham for 70 all out the week before, captain Lewis Wilby, standing in for Tom Lonnen, decided in true bowler-captain decision to field first after winning the toss.

After reminding us that we were indeed a very good looking group of gentlemen and should play this game with a smile on our face, Wilby kicked things off with some tight bowling, removing opener Utsav Patel for 3.

The pitch was a strange one. Throughout the day Plough members oscillated between thinking it was a decent pitch and a dead one. For sure it kept low, especially outside off, with little bounce, making it hard to play shots with confidence. That said, the remaining Blue Wings opener and No.3 Harshal Patel (not that one) looked composed on the peculiar surface, putting on 44 and 52 respectively.

Alex Webster, something of a wicket-taking specialist and owner of the best jacket I’ve probably ever seen, came on and broke the 2nd wicket partnership, trapping Harshal with a gorgeous lowie and bowling the opener Vipul.

Blue Wings had clearly decided to go big for the last 30 overs — something reflected in the way No.4 and No.5 went about their business, swatting anything too full or short for boundaries all over the pitch during a damaging partnership worth 76 runs. One boundary in particular stuck out: a straight drive pawed back from the boundary by George Boughton that very unfortunately struck the leg of the pursuing Sai Reddy and shot over the line.

Tom Elmsie (Elmo) brought some excellent control with his leg spin and broke the partnership, ahead of Wilby bringing himself back on and taking two further wickets, with Plough getting regular scalps towards the end of the innings. Wilby and Elmo finished with three wickets apiece, supported by some solid catching from Benny Cobbett (AKA Nets Daddy) at long on. There were also some drops, but as the Nets Daddy himself said, “we’ll work on that”.

Blue Wings finished on 241 for 9, setting Plough an ominous but doable total.

Openers Leo Nieboer and George Boughton went out with the instruction from Wilby to stick it out for the first 10 overs, runs be damned. Unfortunately it didn’t work out like that. The pitch, which had seen Blue Wings score freely a couple hours earlier, now felt skiddy and lifeless and full of demons. Nieboer (if the author does say so himself) was bowled for 1 (11) by a beauty that pitched on middle and leg and grazed the top of off-stump, while Boughton was bowled by a ball that swung all the way around his legs for 3 (12). Michael Ainslie went for a duck as well, leaving Plough in a spot of bother at 22-3.

Alex Jullienne (AKA Cake) and Tom Ball offered some decent resistance, only for both to also see their stumps clatter for 14 and 15 respectively. From then on the wickets fell pretty regularly. 242 started to feel more like some nice idea, an interesting concept, barely visible on the horizon. The middle and lower order showed some grit and style at times: Elmsie ate up 35 balls for his 16 and Wilby bashed two gorgeous sixes on his way to 16 — a nice warmup for his maiden 50 the next day.

Ultimately, though, the Plough 2nd XI got nowhere near, all out for 138 and roundly beaten by a very strong team. Wilby himself predicted, right then and there, that they would in fact win the division this year, which made us feel better. He captained very well throughout, keeping us positive and energised — apart from one talk when he admitted that the opponent had ‘too many’ at 200-6 after 34 overs, which in fairness was only accurate.

Either way, it was nice to actually play some cricket, despite it ending in abject failure. Lots to build on going forward. More opportunities. More jugs. And hopefully some friendlier batting decks.

Report by Leo Nieboer, a frightened opening batter.

Match report produced by Leo Nieboer