“Whoever said that cricket is a summer sport ought to have been at Ashling on Sunday where woolly hats and thermals were in vogue rather than caps and sunscreen. At least the expected rain didn’t materialise although there must have been a fair bit of that given how slow the pitch and outfield were.

In terms of team news, Boxgrove continued their rich heritage of unearthing overseas player with Jez Abbott making his long awaited debut. However, nobody could say for sure whether Legoland was recognised as an affiliated country by the ICC. Other than that some things were different (we actually arrived well over half an hour before the game was due to begin!) and some things were the same (players dropped out at the last minute leaving us with nine but then again I imagine that is how many we played with back in front on the Priory in the 17^th century!).

Boxgrove lost the toss and were asked to bat first but although it was slow going James Thorpe and Tom Lightfoot did well to negotiate a tricky opening bowling spell. The 50 partnership was eventually brought up but just when it seemed that the two were settled Lightfoot mistimed a drive and skewed the ball to midwicket and was out for 11. Thorpe continued to bat well and knocked up his half century although his partners at the other end were starting to get in and then get out. After Holl and Gottesman were dismissed, debutant Jez Abbot strode to the wicket and set about building an innings block by block, supporting Thorpe well along the way. The irrepressible Thorpe was looking in fine form now and despite the difficult pitch and slow outfield was now rattling along at a lightening pace and duly brought up his 19^th century for the club with a crashing shot through cover for four. Tiredness soon set in though and having mistimed a pull shot he was caught in the deep for a fine 108. Abbot soon followed for 7 and it was left to Ockwell and Barrett to see out the final few jittery overs as Ashling were set 186 to win.

After a nice tea, most of which seemed to end up on Sparky’s trousers courtesy of Cracker the dog, the teams re-emerged into the May gloom. However the scene was soon brightened up by the sight of the Boxgrove openers tearing into their Ashling counterparts. Before many of the spectators had even re-taken their seats (OK he was just finishing the washing up!) Ashling had fallen to just 2 runs for 3 wickets with Mant and Langton doing the damage assisted by catches from Holl and Lightfoot. The Boxgrove openers continued to keep things tight and when they were taken off Mant had figures of 2 for 6 off of 4 overs and Langton 1 for 13 off of 5. The change was an inspired one though as Lightfoot joined the party by taking two wickets - one caught and bowled and the other uprooting the timbers. Ashling at this stage were 20 for 5 and away win looked in the bag. They had a brief respite but then Ashling continued to give Boxgrove catching practice as Ockwell added a caught and bowled after a good tussle with the opposition’s top scorer who eventually made 23. At six down Boxgrove scented blood although it ended up being it was just Benno’s trouser leg. Still, the skipper wanted to finish matters early (no doubt so he could get to the pub before his baby was born) and therefore rolled out his secret weapon Wayne Barrett. He took a while to find his range but when he did it was with devastating effect as he took two wickets for 16 via catches from Gottesman and Thorpe. Barrett was ably supported however by Abbot who took a wicket on debut, thanks to another catch from Thorpe, and there was still time for Gottesman to add a final flourish by dismissing the opposing skipper without conceding a run. Abbot completed a fine debut by taking the winning catch.