27 June Headstone (Away) Won by 112 runs

It's been a long time coming but finally Fat Bloke managed to make it past three figures after almost 20 years trying !! As the years went by there seemed more likelihood of his waistline hitting the magic ton before his bat ever did.....

The day started off fairly damp with the "al fresco" changing facilities at Headstone taking on a completely different light as semi naked men were seen scurrying for cover (sounds like an MP's day trip to Hampstead Heath !!) before we finally headed off into the drizzle to start the match just about on time.  We should have known that history was in the making as Fat Bloke got off the mark first ball with a four followed by a single - 5 runs and it wasn't even tea time !  Skippy played a lovely shot to the boundary before being bowled by a shooter and that meant the out of form Roll On had to come out from his covered position in the Blue Van...and two hours later he returned to the Blue Van gasping for a cigarette having helped Fat Bloke to his ton and been part of a record second wicket partnership of 160.

Whilst the partnership was probably not too pretty to watch it proved to be the key part of the match. Another wicket down early doors in the rain could have left the Iver batting order a little exposed given the current lack of form.  True - at times even the batsmen could be seen nodding off but with Fat Bloke milking most of the strike what could you expect ? However the pace of the innings was picked up at exactly the right time with the run rate jumping from just over 2 an over up to almost 8 an over for the last 15 and this passage of play saw Fat Bloke reach his personal milestone with a typical quick single.

In fairness the lads from Headstone came up against us with a point to prove. The season has been fairly in and out and we wanted to come back in the best possible style and the batting of Fat Bloke combined with the penetrative bowling of Mr V and Strawb (sporting a double hard bastard haircut) proved to be too much.

With a large total to defend the two Iver openers ripped into the Headstone top order and gave very little away. Most of the runs of Strawb were edges through the slips as the batsmen tried to come to terms with some quick, accurate bowling with Mr V at the other end mesmerising them with some great variation. With the rain having stopped and the sun coming out to dry the pitch both bowlers worked hard to get the mis-shapen ball to work for them and their figures reflect an afternoons work well done. Oh....and Stick got a lucky LBW at the end to deny us all a chance to drink a Strawb jug.....git !

Man of the Match : Ian Mitchell (Fat Bloke) - 99 points