On the plus side, a very old friend of your correspondent lives round the corner from the ground, so it was nice to see him (Ploughmans cap #112) and catch up. It was also incredibly humid and muggy as Captain Nair strode out to lose the toss. We were in the field.

What followed was, in truth, some pretty pedestrian cricket. Not from us particularly (although we bowled more than enough wayward stuff) but after approximately 30 overs most of us in the field had barely moved at all, Old Nutfield content to score at about 2.5 runs per over. They eventually pushed the button in the final ten overs and got their score up to somewhere near a competitive total.

Ashish Paul opened and was typically metronomic and frugal, with the other five bowlers all doing their stuff respectably. Ihtesham bowled nicely and picked up four wickets, Giordy took two, one of which was courtesy of a fine catch as 'Puff', in his own laconic style, maneuvered from Mid Off round to deepish Extra Cover to pouch a brilliant one handed grab. Niraj Thakker also took a very sharp caught and bowled as he looked to preserve his teeth.

Tea was taken, shade was sought...

A target of 167 never felt enough but, of course, you can't truly judge these things until both sides have batted. Turns out Old Nutfield's efforts with the ball weren't much better than with the bat. Rob Mead and Ean Smith opened and both started aggressively. Ean was particularly savage on the erratic lines and lengths on offer, cutting and pulling plenty of deliveries to the fence. However, he blotted his copy book somewhat by effecting the biggest barbecue of the season so far, leaving poor Rob utterly stranded when running for an easy second.

As noted later that evening, if Rob were on said barbecue, he'd have been that one sausage that gets left there far too long, eventually going rock hard and black. Perhaps incinerated is a better adjective than barbecued for this particular act. Anyway, Bharat joined Ean and went stratospheric, striking at 240, before being caught, quite spectacularly, at Square Leg. Lonnen joined Ean at this point, with most of the damage already done. We'd scored nearly 100 off the first ten overs! Ean got to a well-made 50 and then dutifully retired before Lonnen and the Skipper, graciously and purposefully, knocked the runs off in timely fashion but without taking the piss or damaging the confidence of an 11year old.

To Old Nutfield's eternal credit, every single one of them was amicable and approachable and they were very keen for us to visit their home ground and buy us a jug or two. So, various lifts were arranged and we were glad we did as our hosts showed off a quite stunning ground, hidden away in the Surrey countryside. If we could arrange a Sunday fixture there, our XI would be in for a treat.

Yeah, it took me over two and a quarter hours to get home but Messrs Ramesh and Thakker shared half that horror, and between us we put the world to rights as the train slowly rumbled back into civilization. A timely reminder of why we bother. Yeah, the cricket may be a bit pants, yeah the facilities may leave a little to be desired, but the company kept is always top notch.

Plough on!

TL