A record number of pairs, nine, for some time turned out on a blustery afternoon. After some hasty adjustments to the pairs to get the competition underway and a reduction to eight overs batting per pair, play commenced at about 2:30.

First pair up was Chris and Danish (new player courtesy of Nikesh) – there were not many cobwebs to be blown away here and they set a daunting target of 81!

Praba & Jerry, defending champions, were up next. There were however early season rustiness was in evidence and mistiming several times led to a number of dismissals. So in spite of some classic strokes the pair only managed a total of 10. The target of 81 looked even more daunting.

Mike and Tanzeel (also courtesy of Nikesh) were not daunted by the 81 and attacked from the off. Once again however, the early season timing was not yet up to standard and a few dismissals ensued leaving them with a total of 53.

Ravi & Tony were confident but again the eyes were not yet tuned to keeping track of the red “thing” that was supposed to be dispatched to the boundary each time. How did that ball from Chris hit my stumps? The target was still safe after this pair as they managed to accumulate a total of a mere 17. Could have been 21 if Laurence hadn’t managed to stop one the few decent shots I played – hope your knee is OK.

Next up was the pair, Robert & Laurence, that on paper could have been the bookies' favourite, if there had been any bookmakers covering this prestigious event – will have let Ladbrokes know about it next year! They too did not view the 81 as too difficult a task and set about it with some vigour – many quick singles. Once again the beginning of season rustiness led to a few dismissals but still managed to accumulate a respectable 40.

Andrew and Raheel (another courtesy of Nikesh) were 6th pair up and with youth on their side, went after the target with mean intent. However, some ambitious strokes led to dismissals which ate into their total but still left them with a tidy 53.

It was now Nikesh's turn, having watched all his invitees achieve various degrees of success. Nikesh was paired with Christian and although they put in committed effort, too many dismissals eroded any chance they may have had of getting near the total and they accumulated 27.

The penultimate pair, Richard (brother of Andrew) and Jey came out to have a concerted effort to exceed the target. They too were let down by the early season lack of timing and the eyes still getting used to the movement of the ball and were dismissed too many times to make any serious challenge on the target. They accumulated a mere 3.

The last pair up, the time now being about 7:15, was Greg (played a few times last season) and Tom Worms. Tom thought he was just going to be a spectator, but hell he was wearing a white jumper and there had been a “no show” so he padded up. Quite a smart move really as by this time fielding standards were starting to be influenced by thoughts of beastly cold pints of lager! They set about the task purposefully and looked like they just might get there, but did not capitalise fully on the declining fielding standards. They made a very respectable 49.

Well done Chris and Danish (81). Also well done Mike and Tanzeel, and Andrew and Raheel who were joint runners up (53).

With eyes and muscles now attuned, we look forward to a successful season.

TONY BRUGGEMANN - 08.05.05