THE RAINBOW INN couldn’t get a team so cancelled at midday on Friday. Several phone calls later, your correspondent found a team called Winnadune (Anglo-Saxon for Wimbledon as any fule kno) in Surrey looking for an away fixture (they too had been let down) so it was a perfect match. They described themselves as ‘medium standard’ which was true. A mixture of veterans and youth, with some damn good bowling – particularly their Pakistani contingent – and one very good hitter. A very pleasant team they were, buying a jug in the pub after the game, always a good PR move if teams want to play us again. One of their regulars is a six-foot seven West Indian. Luckily he wasn’t playing. There was a queue on Remenham Hill so kick-off was delayed until 2.40. The late start dictated a 30 over game. They won the toss, batted and started […]

JACK MUNRO WAS Man of the Match, with a commanding 51 and some fine bowling. All the more admirable for his palpable lack of match fitness. That the game was played at all was due to Sarah Jenkins’ dogged work on the telephone to get a quorum. In the event we played nine a side, with subs in the field (we gave them Adam, a sort of Trojan Horse). The V&A batted first. Openers Jack and Adam Jacot de Boinod (proper, respectful title) scored at 7 an over and reached 80 odd before Monsieur Jacot de Boinod was out, merde alors. The run rate was admirable because their opening bowler, young Jamie Cobb (son of the combative Patrick) bowled serious stuff. Others were not so fearsome and Rob Noble, their captain, was rather expensive, his two overs were perhaps two too many. It was nostalgic seeing Richard Cowley behind the […]

A FINE DAY, after a miserable early morning. We were within a minute of cancelling. A call was made at 9 to ascertain local pitch and sky conditions, and the prognosis was grim, rain looked set to persist. But we took the gamble to play and it paid off, by 11.30 blue sky appeared over Stonor and the sun came out for the rest of the day. Marvellous. Olly Bamber captained and he and Terry Blake, the Hermits’ skipper, decided on a 35 over game. You might have expected the day to end at 6 or so, given that we started at 12.15 but no, what with the ball getting lost and the opposition captain frigging about with field changes we didn’t finish until 7. The last 5 overs of their innings –they batted first – were both wearisome for older players, and expensive. They scored at 10 an over. […]