Sunday came and all the players and spectators were enjoying the lovely views of Ticknall CC. The bar was open, the BBQ was fired up, and their overseas pro was raring to go. Willoughby won the toss and Nikesh decided to bowl first in the extreme heat! A good opening spell from Jake and Callum deserved wickets but sadly they didn’t come until the experienced Joe Oliver removed one of the openers. The bad news though was that this brought in the pro, who a few balls later calmly danced down the wicket and hit the top of a 50-foot tree with a six. Nikesh then turned to one of our experienced and overseas players Bonnie Stu as he is known, who was bowling spin, and he managed to outdo the Aussie following a fantastic catch running round the boundary by Louis Judd. A few more wickets fell at regular intervals, shared around the team that meant the home team finished on 193 – 6.

Nikesh decided to go with the youth in the batting line up, so some of the more experienced players could ensure they were properly hydrated in the heat, and what a great decision that was. Louis and Jake opening the batting and were scoring boundaries for fun! Ticknall then decided to bring on the pro bowling at around 80mph but both Louis and Jake took it in their stride. Louis making a superb 51 not out off just 31 balls, with 11x 4s before retiring. Will Hartfield then joined Jake in the middle and didn’t see the first couple of balls! Jake carried on and made his highest score of 40 before being bowled out. Will was then out for a good 16. This brought Tej and Callum to the crease and they both enjoyed their time out there scoring 27 not out and 23 not out respectively, seeing Willoughby to the win in just 23 overs.

A huge thank you to Martyn Norman for their hospitality, the drinks and burgers were flowing well into the evening