Turbid skies and mizzle misled the feint-hearted into imagining that this match might not be able to go ahead. They were much mistaken as, in Graham’s words, we’ve got covers now. Nevertheless, the persistent gloom, damp and cold led both captains to agree on a shortened game of thirty overs.
O’Brien (c) won the toss and elected to bat.

Alsop and Nyren (snr) opened the batting for Napton with a watchful spell which got going in the 7th over when Alsop began to open his shoulders and find the rope through cover and midwicket. The damp outfield was not entirely kind to a fielding side who made no attempt to keep the ball dry. This inevitably led to misfields, especially as the fielding side were tempted into rushed throws by Nyren (snr)’s economical running. Both openers made shots which might have been deserving of a boundary if they had not been halted by the damp outfield. A satisfying contrast was observed with Nyren (snr) often scoring with flicks behind the wicket while Alsop punched the ball back down the ground. Both batsmen appeared unruffled and composed.
49-0 after 10 overs.

As play continued into the eleventh over, a sharply rising ball nearly met Nyren (snr)’s skull. The groundsman was quick to lay the blame firmly at the feet of wormcasts. Nyren shrugged off the distraction with a pleasing straight drive for four.
In the next over, Nyren confidently left a ball going down leg side only to discover that the top of leg stump had inconveniently decided to get in the way.
Cooke strode out to bat and went busily after the ball, swatting a couple of singles before clipping a ball that kept a little lower and glimpsing it glancing into his stumps.
Hancock came in with the rate slowing a little. He watched the ball carefully and the spectators were treated to a riotous LBW appeal, the first of many, from the opposition captain, perhaps over-excited after taking a wicket.
The new batsman soon found his rhythm and both batters made good shots which were slowed by the turgid, sodden outfield. The batters did their best to make up the difference with determined running and were aided by another flurry of misfields. The groundskeeper even saw fit to describe Alsop as ‘reminiscent of David Gower at his finest’, although this was after cracking open a cheeky bottle of red.
In the twentieth over, Hancock faced several lofted full tosses which leapt well over his head. After watching the first, he employed his hockey skills to swat the second bouncer to the boundary with the bat held vertically above his head.
92-2 after 20 overs.

It was at this point, with both batsmen well set, and Alsop having passed fifty runs, that the score began to accelerate. O’Brien (c) had requested that Napton score at six an over and the batsmen seemed set on earning his approval. Hancock struck a six into the gabions and increasingly found the boundary while Alsop struck back-to-back fours straight past mid-off and mid-on.
With the batsmen meeting every ball cleanly, the fielding side were in a little disarray. This disarray somehow turned in their favour as some confused ball-juggling around midwicket tempted the batsmen into going to for an ill-advised extra run. Alsop found himself stranded as Southam’s wicket-keeper swept off the bails.
Fortunately, Alsop left the field to be greeted to lavish praise from his son, I hope you will excuse me if I paraphrase a little:
Alsop jnr. “What did you get, Dad?”
Scorer: “He made sixty-one.”
Alsop jnr. “Wow, you only got fourteen last time.”
Speller stepped up to the crease and slid his first ball down fine leg for a single. Then another lofted no ball allowed Hancock to reach into his repertoire of hockey shots for a second time. As Tom continued to score freely, Speller patted the ball back to the bowler.
What followed was perhaps the most controversial moment of the season, perhaps of any season, as Shillitoe took guard after having browbeaten the captain into moving him up the order. Obviously keen to prove his value as a batter, Shillitoe proceeded to play a series of quick singles to get Hancock back on strike.
In the 28th over, Hancock, having made his fifty, scored a further eleven runs, including a deftly glanced one-handed four to deep fine leg and then an even finer, two-handed version of the same shot.
With the drizzle having picked up a little, the opposition, concerned only for the safety of young players in trainers on the slick surface, called for an end to the innings. O’Brien accepted, after some deliberation, and the players came in for tea.
171-7 after 28 overs.

Tom Hancock 67 runs not out 13 boundaries
Joe Alsop 61 runs 9 boundaries
Mike Nyren 17 runs 2 boundaries

After a hearty, satisfying tea that included a sumptuous coffee cake, Napton took the field as the drizzle began to dissipate. Sullen, grey clouds continued to loom over the pitch and would occasionally break into further flurries of light rain throughout Southam’s innings.

Southam’s openers were a contrast in ages but were very similar in style, both playing defensively and mostly looking to score behind the wicket, especially on the leg side. The pair proved stubborn and were aided by a few slips in the field as nicks went down and fielders struggled with their footing on the slick surface. Sensecall and Nyren (jnr) kept the openers contained without prising apart the partnership.
29-0 after 10 overs.

The real change in Napton’s fortunes began with the introduction of Shillitoe to the attack. In his third over he took two wickets, bowling Southam’s senior opener and his replacement in short order. Shillitoe’s bowling seemed to improve with each over he bowled and he was one of four Napton bowlers who concluded their spells with a maiden, alongside Nyren (jnr), Sensecall and Cooke.
Southam’s senior batsman came out at number four and took to the crease with some swagger. After a great show of rehearsing his defence to O’Brien (c)’s teasing googlies, he slapped some confident boundaries. His performance was soon cut short when Sensecall bowled one that lifted unexpectedly and the batter nicked behind, smartly taken by Nyren (snr) behind the stumps.
The replacement for Southam was rather steadier and more conservative with his shots. The junior opener had also retreated further into his shell after a whistling beamer from Shillitoe smashed his hand and brought tears to the young man’s eyes. Indicative, rumour suggests, of Shillitoe’s approach at St. Lawrence’s.
As the game drifted, your hapless correspondent was taken by the spirit of the Jubilee and entertained his fellow fielders with some improvised morris dancing. This failed to distract from a dropped catch two balls later, one of several that we all hope to blame on the tricky conditions. Most spectacularly afflicted of all was Sensecall, who raced along the boundary to cut off a possible four, only to overshoot the ball and, unable to stop, slide past with a despairing backwards dive.
63-3 after 20 overs.

After this the game meandered to a close with little of note to report, although those with an eye to the future will be pleased to note that Speller (jnr)’s first over for the club was a well-executed maiden over: an excellent start and undoubtedly the first of many. I would honestly advise that you stop reading here but, for the completist, a brief summary of the final eight overs will follow. Honestly, not worth your time.
Needing some wickets, O’Brien had turned to Napton’s premier strike bowler and, in his third over with the ball, Cooke struck. Southam’s stubborn resistance yielding as an optimistic swing left a gap between bat and pad. Cooke is to be congratulated on a wicket maiden, after which the game somewhat petered out. That really is the end of the report for all but those obsessed with the minutiae of village cricket statistics. Really.
For those with a tedious need to record every moment, it might be noted, in passing, if we really must, that Cooke then bowled the next two batters leg before wicket for a supremely satisfying hat-trick. There can be few merrier moments in the field than the ensuing celebrations.
Cooke took his fourth wicket thanks to sharp glovework from Nyren: whipping the bails off as the batsman stepped out of his crease. The five-for proved elusive as Southam’s Baby-Boycott retreated further into his shell and runs dried up almost completely.
71-7 after 28 overs.*

Wickets:-
Sam Sensecall 5 overs 1 maiden 1-15
Max Myren 4 overs 1 maiden 0-4
Ed Shillitoe 6 overs 1 maiden 2-19
Ollie O’Brien 4 overs 0-12
James Cooke 6 overs 2 maidens 4-9
Harry Speller 3 overs 1 maiden 0-2

Napton win by one hundred runs.

*This score was not accurately reflected by the scoreboard but I am assured by the scorer that it is correct.