Cowdrey lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Confidence was high as CJ and Alex strode to the wicket. However, the opening bowlers had great success and we began to worry when Cowdrey were 29 for 5 before the 7th over had been bowled! In stepped Johnny Beale and Ollie Shimmin to stem the flow and then when Ollie was out, Conor Skillen took over. Johnny was finally out for 22 which really saved the day.

With a target of 88 to win, it looked as though Castle Hill were in with a good chance – but that was before demon Devlin (Tom) came in, storming through his 4 overs , taking 2 wickets from his first 2 balls and then another 3 wickets with figures of 4-2-5-5 (watch out James Anderson!). The fielding and catching were exemplary with Ollie Shimmin taking 3 catches, Ali Gullan 1 and Alex Park 1. We still had demon Denton (Sam) bowling good length and taking 3 wickets along with Conor Skillen taking a wicket on his first ball and Ben Browning tidying up the tail enders with a wicket. All out for 44!

Result: Cowdrey beat Castle Hill by 43 runs

Castle Hill – 44 All out

Devlin 4-2-5-5

Denton 3-1-8-3

Skillen 1-1-0-1

Browning 0.2-n/a-1-1

Cowdrey – 87-8

Beale 22

Pilkington 11

Shimmin 9

Skillen 9

Browning 7

KP