01 August St Johns Wood (Away) Won by 134 runs

The great "Is Skippy a Useless Tosser ?" debate rages on. Technically speaking he didn't actually win the toss as the SJW skipper gratiously gave us the option as we were lending them a couple of players (Bird Brain Crow and Man Mountain Martin). However, Skippy still insisted on going through the formalities after already having decided to bat......

Anyway, it was an absolute scorcher at Uxbridge CC - one of the hottest days for a long while - and we made the under strength SJW boys feel every minute of the 2hrs 37 mins they were fielding in it. Definately a non-toss to win !

Fat Bloke and Skippy certainly got going right from the off scoring at 10 an over for the first 5 overs - perhaps Skippy thought we were still playing against West Drayton ! The first wicket fell at 73 in the eleventh over and we suffered a mini collapse as Frank Skinner and Alien fell in the space of a couple of overs. Stanners helped to consolidate the middle order with Fat Bloke and the pair of them put on 67 for the fourth wicket partnership during which time Fat Bloke got his second fifty of the season. He eventually fell trying to push the run rate up (it had dropped to 6 an over by this point) which meant the out of form Roll On had to come to the crease.

The partnership between Stanners and Roll On was a strange one with only half the 40 runs coming off the bat as SJW tinkered with their bowling attack leading to a whole heap of byes and wides. The turning point was the introduction of Bird Brain Crow into the attack and, sure enough, he managed to bowl Stanners with the only ball he got within a yard of the stumps ! It wasn't a day for quick singles but Roll On's inability to hit the ball off the square meant that Stanners and Stick had to run like buggery to keep the run rate up.

Roll On eventually fell swinging at a straight one having put on 35 for the 6th wicket with Stick who was run out the next over leaving DHB and Rocky to blat a few to the ropes before Skippy declared.

DHB got an early breakthrough getting the dangerous veteran Mike Swannell out and bowled with great pace to dismiss Dorman with a yorker having softened him up with an absolute doozy of a bouncer just before. Stanners toiled away at the other end but ended the day wicketless for the first time this season.

The fielding performance by the Iver boys was straight out of the top drawer with everyone having a great game, most notably Stick. The two run outs were excellent pieces of fielding by DHB and Roll On particularly the Exocet Missile that DHB threw in from the boundary - not the kind of thing you expect to see at our level ! We must have saved 40-50 runs on a lightning fast outfield - once it went past you it was a boundary - and that probably won the game as we were able to contain the attacking shots of Leggett and Jihad that on another day may have made for a tighter game.

Rocky bowled well picking up three wickets (including the Brucie Bonus first-baller of Man Mountain) and the wily old campaigner Sunbed picked up the dangerous Leggett with a ball that did everything (pitched - turned - swung - oh....and hit Ray on his trailing leg onto the stumps). Bird Brain batted very well and kept us out in the field for a bit longer but eventually was bowled by DHB to complete a comfortable win against the old rivals.

It was disappointing to see the under strength nature of our old foes and I hope that next year they will be back to their best as they are a great bunch of guys to play against and the bext XI's from both sides would lead to a fascinating game of cricket.

Man of the Match : Ian Mitchell (Fat Bloke) - 84 points