In weather more reminiscent of Frodo Baggins heading for Mordor (very dark, grey and foggy) we welcomed Thongsbridge to ‘sunny’ Cartworth. To be fair it didn’t rain at any point, but nor were hats and sunglasses particularly necessary.

Thongsbridge won the toss (I don’t think we’ve won one yet this season) and asked us to bat. A very sensible, well-controlled Girls innings then followed, with everyone playing extremely sensibly, and only a late run out cost us. Eve had one particularly good over, hitting 14 from the first three balls, the third being a superb six over mid-wicket. Of particular interest was the debut of ‘the tee’. Rather than award the batsman two runs for a wide or no-ball (as we’ve done for the past ten years) we are trialling the batter getting a free hit off the batting tee. This seems to be extremely popular, although one or two of the girls may need to have a little more practice at it yet! The Emma Walker T-signal was not used, but I suspect it’s only a matter of time.
A net Holme Valley score of 238 was fairly challenging, especially without the usual chunk of extras that used to be available. Thongsbridge gave it a very good go, but lost wickets steadily. Several mighty swipes helped, but a final net score of 196 was a little way short. An excellent bowling performance all round from the Girls, with no one going for many runs.
All in all, a thoroughly pleasant evening played in an excellent spirit. Well done everyone.