What a bad toss to lose. Overnight and morning rain not only left the outfield looking really damp, but also the rainwater had somehow got under the covers and left a significant patch on a length at one end. Holme 1st XI were the beneficiaries of the toss and last year's 1st division side asked the 3rd division side to bat clearly expecting a comfortable day at the office.

It all looked to be going to plan when Sharpy offered no shot and was plumb LBW, Bernard was run out, skipper was caught by a blinder at 2nd slip area and Sedgwick were floundering at 33 for 5. The middle order all chipped in with Ali, Chris Norman, Matthew and Ian Wilson making double figures with Matthew being the mainstay sticking around for a good number of overs before being run out for 17. 92 all out in 43.5 overs was the end result, with wickets shared amongst Weiss, Betley, Barnes and Hunter, but this was a good recovery from the poor start, and whilst the pitch and outfield was improving all the time in the sunny conditions, at least it was a reasonable total to bowl at.

Holme seemed pretty confident of chasing this down and with an extra over to bat, all they needed was 2 runs an over taking into account the extra over they had gained, which was to prove pivotal. Dan Portmann and Chris Norman opened the bowling and kept things tight with 14 runs coming off the first 9 overs before Dan trapped captain Teasdale LBW for 7. Lee Barnes announced his arrival with a 4 before Herron and Duckett were both removed by Dan in the same over to leave Holme on 19/3 from 11. This then became 26 for 5 by the 16th over ads Dan took the prized wicket of Barnes by rearranging his stumps with a beauty followed by Chris Norman accounting for Sudders with a catch taken by Dan Lawson. This brought Mike Halhead to the crease and a collective sigh as he has proved extremely difficult to remove over the years and must be averaging over 50 at Sedgwick.

He didn't disappoint either as he started to repair the damage with Outerside as company. The overs ticked by and the runs crept up and Halhead's bat looked rather wide. D J and Chris had been replaced by Dan Lawson and Sharpy but neither could make the breakthrough. 64 for 5 from 33 overs and the balance had swung in Holme's favour. The game had gone flat and the skipper gambled on Bernard's spin. Instant result as he trapped Outerside LBW for 11 and it was 64/6 when Weiss joined Halhead. The temptation was too much for Weiss in Bernard's 4th over as it looked like he was trying to smash Sedgwick House swimming pool window, but had a fresh air shot instead and was bowled. 71/7 from 37 with 9 overs to get 22 runs and Mike Halhead still there the odds were still with Holme. Wright didn't last long as the return of Chris Noman accounted for him with another LBW and 73/8 from 39 overs was the outcome.

Betley joined Halhead and hit a couple of fours which helped their cause taking their score onto 85/8 from 43. Just 8 runs required from 3 overs and 2 wickets left, now you would have thought that the opposition would squeeze Holme, but Sedgwick aren't ones for going down without a fight these days and everyone played their part in a brilliant fielding performance, Runs were hard earned but Halhead seemed to be pacing his innings perfectly until quite inexplicably he went for cow corned off Bernard and holed out to Sharpy in the deep. It turned out he didn't realise that Holme had an extra over and thought they needed 8 from 2. Off he went and number 11 Hunter came to the crease, but Betley was batting quite well. However they took a run of the final ball of the penultimate over to leave Hunter facing the final over, which they had gained , from Bernard, needing 5 to win. First ball, straight as you like, missed, bowled, it was all over.

A fantastic win against tough opposition having endured the worst of the conditions. It doesn't get better than that. 4 wickets apiece for Bernard and Dan and 2 for Chris. In summary, an excellent all round team performance once again.