“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

This the opening line of a Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. Well on Sunday it was the Tale of Two Clubs as the two protagonists, BLCC and Knighton on Teme went through the whole rollercoaster of emotions in another cracking match at Bartestree.

Frankly it is tough to believe that B&LCC 3rds eventually came out on top, because for large portions of the game, an excellent Knighton on Teme side deserved to win. Boasting arguably the best bowling attack seen at a 3rds game this season, and definitely the best keeper, they put the 3rds through the wringer until Lloyd and The Hamster pulled us over the line by 1 solitary wicket, having posted a stand of 52.

It was indeed a game of ups and downs, highs and lows and ebbs and flows.

Knighton, winning the toss and electing to bat, galloped to 103-1 off the first 20 , the powerful Matt James (69) and and Lyndon Caldicott (48) seemingly taking the game away from The Tree with an array of shots all around the wicket. This was in spite of an early wicket courtesy of a juggling type catch by Alfie McAnespie off Jay Acharya (1-43). But after drinks, Ben and Alfie pulled us back into he match with accurate bowling, aided by smart catching (apart from the skip). Started by Lloyd, who took a good running catch to dismiss the dangerous James, Bradders, Ed, Alfie (again), Jay and Eckers all held on well to curb the scoring. A smart run out by Craig and a clean bowled by Charlie meant that no-one else really got a start for Knighton except Neil Passmore for 27.

What was so impressive was the way the bowlers stuck to their task despite the early onslaught. Charlie Botwright continued his stellar debut season with 2-19, Ben had 2-35 (of which 15 came off one over) bowling straight through, Alfie 2-37 and Craig 0-25. However, the standout spell was actually wicketless. Lloyd, who has earlier claimed that he feels naked without his sunglasses, shed his sun sunglasses (but thankfully not his clothes) to bowl a closing salvo of 0-15 off 4 to put an end to the late acceleration. He bowled with pace and accuracy and almost had his deserved wicket thanks to a leaping attempt by Craig at fly-slip.

So, 181-9 and all to play for. A win would make sure that the 3s had a chance to be promoted next week should they beat Upton. Ifs, buts and maybes……

What followed was a terrific spell of bowling from the Knighton attack. Captain Owen Edwards, Matt Harber, Gareth Edwards, Neil Passmore and Dave Chance tore through the top order. Eckers yorked first ball, Ed yorked for 16 and Alfie falling to the first of two stunning catches by keeper Rob James. Matt Harber was swinging the ball with the flair of an orchestral conductor and The Tree had little or no answer. There was a glimmer of hope with a partnership of 35 for the 4th wicket as Charlie and Dave tried to rebuild but Dave was bowled by Matt Harber around his legs with a big outswinger that he left, Charlie was brilliantly caught at midwicket for 21 and Craig gone for 8 after a debate over bump ball or not. 85-6. We were looking down the barrel. The skipper, having survived a cracking yorker first ball and 2 other ripsnorters rebuilt with Jay, taking the score to 123-6 and keeping up with rate. Disaster struck then; both fell on the same score; Jay caught and bowled for 17 and the skipper gloving down the legside to be caught a sprawling Robbie James. Frankly superb ‘keeping. The skipper trudged off, grabbed a beer and set off around the boundary in a sulk, having been admonished by Fawbert Senior for not opening the batting.

So we awaited the coup de grace. Lunty went cheaply, adjudged LBW again, by Ed, again. Only The Hamster, released from his cage, and Lloyd who had looked rusty against BGCC three weeks previously stood between victory or surely defeat. 52 needed and Ben , by his own admission, had only ever been a slogger. “We’re going to need a miracle” said the guy in Die Hard to Hans Gruber as he tried to reach the pot of gold in the vault of Nakatomi Plaza. Hans was confident; Fawbert wasn’t. 30 agonising minutes later however, Lloyd smote the 7th of his 4s to bring us a victory and deliver the said miracle. It was an innings full of hard hitting boundaries and dogged defence. He finished on 41* and Ben, transformed into a sensible batter 10*, having himself batted with resolve and and self control. A demonstration of determination, confidence and application. What a win! Promotion still on the cards.

What is clear though, is that Knighton did not deserve to lose that match. They outplayed us for 55 overs of an 80 over game and were undone by individual brilliance rather than overall team performance. They are a great team with great players for this Division and gave everything. Without a doubt, they were the best collective attack to turn up and perform at Bartestree this season; there were very few bad balls and the fielding tight. As last week, no one shot home after the game and a few communal beers allowed everyone to digest the result. We seriously wish them the very best for next week.

Thanks to Dickie for scoring and all the guys who turned up to support at various stages; Fawbert snr and Annie, Goph, Stan, Jeff and Graham, Calvin, Nicky and sorry if I missed you.

Roll on next week...it is in our own hands now.