Ten Ploughmen got to the resplendent DSG to help set up the match and have a cheeky pre match pint to quench that midday sun thirst. Our eleventh man unfortunately missed the toss and the first few overs due to having miss placed the car and needing to get a last minute uber across town. In a team containing Giordy, AGW and a man of Greek descent I'll leave it to you to guess who it was turning up for over number 4...

We bowled first (the 3rd time in my 3 games as skipper) and started well. Giordy and Australian Niraj bowled good lines on a nursery pitch that was very slow and slightly variable in bounce. Britto offered sound advice to Niraj, suggesting that bowling 6 ball overs might be easier than 9 ball overs. I'm sure Niraj was particularly amused having just delivered his 3rd no ball of the over.

Early wickets fell however, S. Robinson their opener battled through and displayed some powerful hitting eventually ending with a game high 93.

We cycled through the bowlers with Mo, Harry and Sherry all bowling decent sets but the break through finally came when messers S. Britto and M. Gumpert combined in partnership. More commonly know for their day jobs with a stick of wood, Britto got the big wicket of the Battersea opener and Max snaffled a few at the other end.

A tight closing spell from Giordy with only 60 odd coming off the final 11 overs and we thought a target of 204 was very getable. The fielding effort was excellent and no catches were put down, top work from the boys in the heat of the day.

Britto started brilliantly, carving one of the opening bowlers away for 4 consecutive fours and our Greek Adonis looked solid at the other end. A creditable opening stand of 38 was unfortunately cut short when Yanni was caught out. Yanni's dismissal was the start of a mini collapse as Grant an Sherry departed in consecutive balls. Sherry hit the ball straight to mid wicket and called yes, frankly there was more likely hood of him making it back for two than Stephen agreeing to comit suicide when invited in this manner while in the 40's...

I joined him in the middle and for a while things went well. However, shortly after bringing up his 50 (his 69th in cricket for Ploughmans CC incedently) he departed.

I just want to pause here to appreciate that Britto now has as many 50's as Chris Ovens played games for the club. The stats for this man just get more ridiculous with each year that passes.

Anyway, I scratched around for a while at a strike rate that dropped me out of the fabled engine room sub group eventually getting to 43. The less said about the batting collapse from the rest of our order the better really.

The short version is we lost by 40 odd runs. Everyone had a good day out and once again we were the second best team on the pitch for my 3rd game running. Maybe I should bat first next time. Let me know.

Match report from Max Gumpert