A beautifully prepared pitch on a sunny day at the Tree, saw the Thirds welcome Barnards Green (BG) 4th XI. It was a vision of an aging but effective BLCC team v a young quality outfit. A top of the table clash.

We lost the toss and were put into the field, preceded by the best 3rd XI fielding warm up seen for a while, unfortunately we didn’t transfer that into the main affair. This was due to an incredibly firm surface that saw BG take advantage from the first ball. BG certainly looked imposing from the get-go with classic cover drives, cut shots and flicks off the legs sending the fielders into a frenzy of ball chasing and field changes over a difficult surface. Scratching heads and trying to work out what to do was hard on the Captains committee but we somehow managed to keep them from achieving an unbeatable score, they made 263/4.

In the field we’re hampered by injuries to Ben (hammy), Tim (back) and Mark (hand and UN Code of Practice), some difficult drops for (Lunty and me), the bouncy surface playing mayhem, and their ground shots rarely hitting the fielders. Incredibly the bowlers kept their heads where others might have been rattled, pitching up against pure class batsmen, of which three were 67, 76 & 69. Kalwaites with a beautifully delivered slow ball to knock off one classy bat, Matt’s numerous wides but kept his head to take 2. Elliott ‘Windy’ Gale, very classy spell for 2, backed up by the Doctor (Agent Jay) and the Teacher (Monsieur F). Kalwaites 8/1/38, Elliot 8/1/38, Matt 8/2/62, Tim 8/0/66 & Jay 8/0/44. Footnote: Fawbs took a catch!

So we go to bat, an imposing 264 to win. Tim and Jay with a solid opening start, both playing their usual stuff, Jay’s hitting, cuts and harassing of the bowlers. Tim is solid but struggling to get the ball away. We start ok but fall behind the run chase but always keep it within touch. Plenty of nerves and watching from the terraces, burgers and sausages getting ravaged and great support from the other XIs. Even the wives took some notice (mainly of the fit looking BG XI). Tim and Jay steady the chase, Chappers getting more and more impatience, please get out someone, I need to demonstrate my prowess to ‘Hot Pants H’.

Now it’s BG’s turn to experience the field, where they struggled to match our earlier efforts, some average bowling was pounced upon by the Dr & Teacher, Jay going for 49 (such a shame). In comes a rampant Chapman, soon catching up with Tim both on 54. HEY on the terraces, this is on, we can win this, 157/1 off 25 overs! Tim realises this too and starts to pile the pressure on, surprisingly scoring quicker than Chappers. They’re off and the BG fielders become despondent and flat, they look worn out by the B&L old guard. Mark Chapman eventually falls for 82 and Bradders comes in with Tim needing 5 for his century, I feel sorry for the old man, try to help him to a Ton, Tim he gets frustrated for the last 5 run (steady on Tim, Bradders thinks), Tim nearly runs me out, steady on again, we’ve got 4 for a ton and 7 to win off 5 overs (I’m chuckling away inside, slightly unprofessionally I must admit). Tim, at 96, goes for a cracking shot over the top but the young bowler snatches it out of the sky. Unlucky Tim, a supreme Captain’s effort.

We WIN by six wickets!

Special notice to our resident UN Special Envoy aka Terry Waite for turning up more red faced than ever! sunscreen Chapman, sunscreen. Awarded his UN hat and medal, to bring his RAF service medal haul to a total of x2.