The Lonely Mongoose

A fierce shower of rain and sleet didn't bode well for the Midweek XI's opening match of the season. Newly returned Ben Hollis sat nervously in his car, accompanied by his minder, patiently polishing his Mongoose in anticipation of a match winning performance. However as players started to arrive the skies gradually cleared and by the time the teams walked out to the middle the wintry showers had given way to cloud and occasional sunshine.

Braunston Paddox won the toss and put themselves in to bat. Scoring steadily at 6 an over for the first 5 overs only Hassan Nawaz was able to snatch a wicket thanks to a stunning catch from Willoughby legend John Gregson at slip. Ben Hollis bowled a tight 3 overs for only 13 runs but consoled himself with dreams of smashing the ball into the next village with his Mongoose.
Kishan Parmar then replaced Hassan and was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets thanks to yet another catch from John at slip and the safe hands of Willoughby Groundsman, Fergus Deery, who seemed to be a magnet for the ball in the field.
Another new signing, Dinesh Reddy and John Gregson both bowled steadily but with no success before captain, Simon Nicholls, came on and grabbed the wicket of former Willoughby Junior, Aston Shingler, who hit a respectable 19 before being bowled. Opener R Haynes finished 28 Not Out leaving Willoughby chasing a modest 95 runs off 16 overs for victory.

The ever-enthusiastic Ben Hollis excitedly put his pads on and got in a few practice swings with the Mongoose as Ashley Rayner and Sean Thornton strolled out to the crease. Sean rode his luck to finish on an unbeaten 36 and none of the bowlers ever looked like taking Ash's wicket. Ash has now batted 3 times in the last week and been not out every-time. Will anyone get him out this season?

As they cruised towards the winning total Ben became more and more animated in his shouts for one of them to retire but alas it seems the wind was blowing the wrong way and they couldn't hear him. Ben, having patiently explained to his minder that even though his bat is half the size of everyone else's it can hit the ball much further will have to wait for another day to put the theory in to practice.

A comfortable win for Willoughby and we are now through to the next round of the Knockout Cup. Apologies to those who didn't get to bat or bowl. It doesn't happen very often!

Well done lads!

A good start to the Midweek Season.