BCCC 118 v Powerstock 120 for 4  (23 overs). Lost by 6 wickets
BCCC 231-3 (30 overs) v Mapperton  175 Won by 56 runs
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​The bare facts. Played 2, won 1, lost 1.

We were a slightly weakened touring party, as J-Lo, no longer a Peter Pan it seems, fell ill on Friday and was unable to travel, and there was a misunderstanding about Monday, leaving us one light on both days, and a bit short of bowling.

I do not have the scorebook in front of me, so Stato St Ather can fill in the gaps.

Sunday 29 August. BCCC 118 all out off 35 overs. Powerstock 120 for 4 off 23 overs, so a loss by six wickets.

The pitch was, to put it politely, a challenge. They hadn’t played on it since May. The bounce was very uneven, putting our highly coached sophisticated line-up at a competitive disadvantage. Only Keith, with 46, and George with 27, coped at all well, and even then did not score rapidly. Henry was bowled for not very many. We lost momentum in the middle, and struggled to get to 118.

Over tea our consensus was that we might be a bit light, but that it was a competitive score, and after 10 overs that looked to be true. Graeme and Andy Hurn bowled well, and we took three early wickets for not very many. But then Billy Walbridge, who has held us up in the past, played very sensibly, hitting the bad balls hard but taking few risks. He found a couple of people to stick with him and run fast between the wickets, which he also does well. Wal, Howard and Henry were never taken apart, but we just didn’t have enough runs, and some embarrassing fielding contributed to him taking the game away from us, so they won with more than ten overs to spare.

We usually win this fixture, so we could think of this as tactical loss to keep them interested in the fixture, but the truth is that we were well beaten. We held our own in the Marquis of Lorne afterwards, however, and later filled our Dorset council-supplied bottle bank with wine bottles, including a bottle of Botham Shiraz (undrinkable by non-Strines) which is no doubt the reason he has been appointed as trade envoy to OZ.

Monday 30 August. At Broadwindsor. BCCC 231 for 3 of 30 overs. Clive’s XI (formerly the Earl of Sandwich’s XI) 175 all out off 30 overs.

Clive Stafford-Smith organised the opposition, but in August he went to Guantanamo bay, where he legally represents detainees, and tested positive on the way, so was in quarantine in Miami. However, he had assembled a half decent side and organised to play in our village for the first time. The attractive pitch is overlooked by an old people’s home. Wal and I have lined up rooms with a view of the ground for Peg and Prue. Important to plan ahead.

The early bowling was not at all bad, but the ground has short boundaries at point and square leg, so scores are likely to be high. Graeme and Justin again missed out but Keith got 53 before damaging his knee and retiring. (we may need a winter whip-round for a new Juriansz knee). Henry rediscovered  his rangefinder,  and a display of controlled hitting produced 95 runs. George scored 45* and phil chipped in at the death. It looked a good score.

Graeme and Andy again bowled very well and they were struggling at about 45 for 6, but Ali Crawford, who might well have scored more runs against Barnes than anyone else over the years, batted brilliantly and for a short time it looked possible that they might get close, but wickets fell at the other end and he was eventually taken by Henry- a catch of the season. A leaping salmon one-handed dive at deep mid on, and he clung on as he collapsed in a heap. Off his Dad’s bowling. It almost compensated for the previous over when a drive went past him as he was pointing Percy at the pansies when dad began his next over.

For reasons not clear to anyone, Tim fielded for both sides and batted for them. He demonstrated the reasons he is so well-suited to the role of scorer.

They laid on decent food in a local pub which was welcome to those beginning the drive home afterwards.

It wasn’t as warm as it was supposed to be, so we had to eat mainly indoors both evenings, but at least there was no rain. And the weekend was marked by the presence of the first of the third generation of players- Sebastian Davies (15 months) and Sidney Walpole ( minus 3 months).

Howard