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Result - St Paul’s ‘All Stars’

Wed May 16th The Grannies won by 8 wickets

Match report

Rough winds shook the darling buds of May as this evening performance on the south bank of the Thames unfolded - but there was little by way drama as the Grannies, despite the cold, eased to an eight-wicket win and their first taste of success this summer.
Indeed before the captains had even walked out to the middle for the toss there was a victory of sorts - that the game was going ahead at all, having fallen foul of the weather in the two previous years.
Unusually in this fixture, the Grannies were asked to bowl first and in the blustery conditions the All-Stars' opening batsmen would have felt the odd extra gust; six to be precise, as Dan Maroske's first over whistled past them and through them. One could sense Bob's relief behind the stumps as none of the deliveries caught the edge; sadly none struck the stumps either.
With those six warning shots, Dan was duly removed from the attack and it was left to the other left-arm opener, Andrew de Mestre, to make the early breakthroughs, taking three for 19 off four tidy overs. One wicket fell to a superb catch by Dan, who took a steepling effort over his shoulder at midwicket (off a thigh-high full toss).
Replacing Dan, the skipper failed in his attempts to find either line or length and so turned to Jono Garforth who, after his one over of spin went for 12, switched up to some tidy medium pace, taking a wicket and finishing with figures of one for 20.
Chris Good's off spin was always likely to prove enticing for a batsmen whose strength lay in hitting to cow-corner, so the job of bowling at the death fell to Matt Withers, who had been billed as a wicketkeepr-batsman.
It turns out that he also has a third suit and the skipper's gamble paid off as Matt took three for 17 from one end as Dan returned with some left-arm tweakers from the other to ensure that the All-Stars posted what always looked like a below-par score of 122.
Larry Brennan fell early in the chase, ballooning a catch to cover; Mark de St Croix also went cheaply as he and Jamie Williams played the 'yes, no, wait' game to predictable results.
The only threat to the prospect of an easy victory was the fading visibility - and the threat of frostbite - but Garforth and Williams effortlessly upped the rate, with the former compiling a delightful unbeaten half-century, including a lovely straight six into a neighbouring house's garden, to wrap up a well-deserved victory with eight wickets and a handful of overs to spare.
The skipper retired home to warm up, but the legal background of many of his troops was shown as the bar called once again.

Match info

A gentle (at least until the Aussie gap year TA comes on to bowl) early season run-out a stone's through from the Thames.

Location
Lonsdale Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9JT