Saturday arrived and the 4th XI headed down to leafy Isfield in baking hot sunshine (30deg+) to play our final game before the mid-season bye next Sat.

Despite losing to close rivals BYG narrowly, last week, we picked up maximum losing points of 15 & remained top of the pile. We came into this game still confident & aware there was a double top of the table clash, as near rivals Linden Park & BYG were playing each other.

Isfield seemed to have blown hot and cold this season from there results, so we were hoping to catch them on a “cold” day to consolidate our position in the league. This variation in results probably is due to them only having two teams which can cause a problem in our division as players that drop out of their first team, currently in Div 4 (along with MCC 2nd XI) drop all the way down to Div 11 brining their considerable skill and more relevant, their athletic agility with them. OK so that’s most of the excuses out of the way let’s talk about the match!

We love him, but unfortunately Capt Vosloo lost the toss again and not surprisingly we were put into the field where track temperatures were probably touching 40 deg in direct sunlight with no shade or wind. And as if by magic a couple more excuses have slipped into the narrative. Our opening bowling spell was spearheaded by Beecroft & Treherne, two of our strongest colts and they excelled as the oppo suffered the ignominy of 3 straight maidens. 0-0 off 3…. First blood MCC.

Slowly they found their rhythm and started to utilise the huge gaps in the field. (ALERT! Another excuse coming) The pitch we played on is probably the best we’ll play on all season, as it is up to Div 4 standard; larger than any other pitch we play on, beautifully mowed, the strip was like a road so things were starting to err towards one of the key weaknesses in the 4th XI. Owing to the age of most of our team we are not as agile as we once were. I fear Isfield may have picked up on this as they started to regularly find gaps to the boundary. They smelt blood; however, overconfidence may have got to them as the younger of the two openers smacked a low drive straight to Nicklin at short mid-wicket who took a glorious catch low to the ground to send him back to the hutch.

Sadly, that did not spell early collapse. A stand of over 120 meant at drinks they were well on their way to a big score only 1 wicket down and after drinks this got worse as the hot weather was getting to old and young in the field with 3 or 4 very gettable catches being put down. Even “Bucket-Hands” Eates had his fingernails taken off by yet another boundary which another day he would have taken. Finally the breakthrough came with Treherne back in the attack, seeing off the number 3 who was 7 short of his hundred….shame! This too did not spell collapse - Quite the opposite. A young buck came to the crease, wearing all the latest gear, beautifully washed & pressed and set about our bowlers. Playing like he was in a T20 game, running prolifically between the stumps, something told us that he might not play in Div 11 every week. In between his hitting all the bowlers to all corners of the ground, Vosloo Jr (Jake) managed to bamboozle the opener who foolishly ran down the wicket only to misread the turn enabling Wickham behind the stumps to send him off on a worthy but very slow 57. By now the damage was done and no further wickets meant after 40 overs they finished on 258. There were not really any bowling figures worth talking about as only one of our 7 bowlers had a sub-5 economy (4.9) but the three wickets we did take were all by colts so well done to them it was not a bowlers’ wicket at all!

Ever-optimistic, especially on this pitch we genuinely believed we could chase this down. We simply needed our top order to give us a great start keep up with the achievable 6.5 run rate and this could be a fascinating game. Well; we could not have dreamt of a better start with 19 runs coming from the first over which included 3 front foot no-balls and 3 wides but also Cooke had his eye in early. After 3 overs we were on 40 (you may recall they were on ZERO) this was looking very interesting. First to fall was Stillwell wafting at one he probably didn’t need to, caught behind. Cooke followed shortly afterwards, a leading edge popping straight up to mid-on after he had been dropped earlier with what can only be described as the easiest catch in cricket history. Young Beecroft joined Old Nicklin at the crease and the fireworks started to ignite. Nicklin had his eye in very early and was spanking the ball to all corners. Beecroft was playing a very mature supporting role, remembering that even though he may run like a gazelle, his batting partner has the speed of a 3-legged tortoise on Ketamine. When Beecroft was despatched on a worthy 24 (bizarrely trying a ramp shot) the end was in sight. Several quick wickets including Nicklin for a fantastic 79, meant we required 54 off the last 5 overs. Josh Hughes made a great effort to steer us home with a smartly played 29 n.o. but by now the support was not there with us finally being bowled out for a very close 225 in the 39th Over.

Sadly, one of our highest scores of the season did not result in a win but it proved we can get it. Rather more disappointing though was our low overall pts score meant we have been replaced at the top but are still in second place. But I will finish on an encouraging note. We have 3 games coming up against the bottom 3 teams after another top of the table clash next time out so we are still very much in the hunt for the league title, our ultimate goal this season.