Spectators loved this one!

Having viewed only the very last part of the WV inns, I saw only its last two or three overs. They were on their way to 250-plus after over 44, but in the 45th the admirable George Stow took 3 wickets: the first (bowled) with a slower full-toss, the second (a batter who'd made 97) snaffled by Biff as he tried a hoick and the third thanks to a fine catch in the deep by Will Kriehn, who'd initially misjudged but whose swift reflexes ultimately took the skyer.

[I'm noting this final over because it was possibly what swung the match, though nobody could have guessed at its significance until right at the end of OUR innings].

SO, 246 required in 45 overs.

It didn't start well. Dependable Dom Dawson seemed never quite at ease, and his best shots seemed always to find a fielder but Ieuan Jones went first (LBW on the front foot.....). Ollie Baker looked good, but dollied a drive up to mid-off. Then Will K departed v early, bowled by one that he (and later Shambler, the bowler) said turned sharply..... Monty Cox too went quickly, stumped like Dom off Shambler -- nice bowling. By this time, your unreliable reporter began to lose faith, though Stow (30) joined skipper James Clarke (henceforth Biff) in a partnership, of 70 and with good running between the wickets provided some advance towards respectability though we were still miles behind the run rate. George's dismissal preceded Will Hern's 30-odd partnership with Biff but when Will was out the bar was being readied, so Biff's secure and swift 50 had barely been applauded/noticed. Now we were 7 down, 95 behind, overs running out.

Time for a snifter, to numb the inevitable sorrows.

Then came Tom Hickey, who'd hardly scored a run this year. His innings was not pretty -- he started as a 9, 10, jack is expected to -- but off he went with two thrashed fours through mid-on, and Biff was still there.

[At some stage around now, the Whiteley fielding deteriorated, not helped by an injury to their deep-square-leg, a chap who had not had the happiest of afternoons [nor had his mother, struck by a ball which one of our players -- no name and shame here -- misdirected while mucking around in front of the pavilion. The injury forced him (not her, fortunately for our insurance policy) out of action].

I digress. Now to complete my incomplete narrative, which is probably unreliable, here goes:-

On Hickey's entry, Biff continued to bat WELL. There were plays and misses, some leg-byes and byes, but in the main the ball was struck nicely. They ran excellently, hit hard, took advantage of more than one overthrow and though the required rate seemed never to drop below 13plus per over we heard shouting from the fielding side which seems always to demonstrate growing panic.
My recollection is that with 3 overs remaining, and over 40 runs required, our question had become not merely "by how many will we be beaten?" but "what's the requirement per ball to win?". Thereafter, my memory is blurred, except that there was some dangerous but profitable running, one superb straight four, Tom's 6 from a no-ball and another 6 in (I think) the final over, a later 4, much hared running and ultimately a ridiculous pushed single into the onside from the penultimate ball, then ARMS ALOFT by Tom (62*) and Biff (80*).

WHAT A FINISH!

Not to forget that during the partnership of 96, George Dukes and Tom Batch had been waiting for the call to duty. It won't have been fun for them!

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Thanks to all, along with umpire Rocky and scorer Ali.

Among my companion spectators was Gary Sewell, club secretary, a GOOD cricketer who has given up cricket because he is TOO OLD though he still plays regular soccer.....so which of the two sports is the more demanding?
Gary's sad defection from the king of sports notwithstanding, his company added to the pleasure of my afternoon, as did that of an absurdly healthy Judi Allen. They shouldn't make me laugh so much!

And, crucially, Pete Mayne and Roger Cornelius ensured we survived what could have been occasional spells of dehydration. All in all, I came home reckoning I'd had an enjoyable afternoon. Worth the journeys, exhausting though they were.