''The day and match of Firsts''
I guess I have the pleasure to talk you through it and please let me know if you have the patience to finish reading it!
 
12:05pm:
Imran arrives to pick me up for Cricket (thats not a first, he often gives me a lift and I am as grateful as ever), but there was a surprise, in amongst the usual Cricket bags and bats and everything else he brings, I spotted a tray of sandwiches. Imran explained that he was doing the teas today,,,,,,,,,,,,Long pause..............which could possibly be the shock of the decade as he has pretty much avoided it for the whole of the last decade and well into 2011. But as we know you can only run for so long and you definitely can't hide, just ask Osama and the proof wasn't in the pudding, it must have been in the sandwiches. Since we ate them all, I guess we are back to square one, did that really happen today??? Who knows? 

12:20pm:
We pick up Indy, make a brief stop at Asda and drive like maniacs to try and get to the game for a PROMPT 1:00pm start, nothing new there we always stretch time, but just as a precaution I thought about padding up in the car!

12:55pm
We run out the car, drop the tea off and make a big fuss over nothing. It turns out the pitch was too wet and our new Skipper Alan thought it would be wise to wait for a pitch inspection at 1:30pm. 12:55pm onwards, for an eternity we sat around doing little, made fun of each other and finally got around to doing the new fielding drill which I am now in charge of (we do them I promise). Just to show you how seriously I take the role, I have even come up with an official title. Call me Field Marshall Ahmed of 3rds.

Alan managed to win the toss and elected to bowl in what would be a reduced over’s game of 42 - 38 over’s. 

When we finally got under way on what was a damp pitch there was a sense of relief that we would at least get some Cricket. Indy and Jordan opened the bowling and kept it very tight. Both bowling at a decent pace with good bounce with Jordan especially pushing the batsman onto the back foot and hitting Bradbury with a stinger on his forearm which he felt for the next few overs. But it was Indy who got the early breakthrough with a ball which cut back sharply to take his middle stump. Well I switched off at that point knowing things were cool, clear and under control. The rest of the innings was a bit of a blur, I was looking on from the fence for the most part (Cheers Alan, you didn't think I would let that slip did you you?). But from what I do remember, Imran bowled a tidy spell and it was Roger who really kept things tight with a good spell of bowling backed up by some great fielding by the rest of the lads. With Jordan, James and Rob Why showing off their throwing, Lakeish came to the party and managed to throw a ball in from the long boundary with one bounce (unless anyone else has seen him do that before, it counts as another first). Rob Why bowled another good spell and enjoyed his reward with some well-earned wickets and also managed to take two good catches. Tim Beck then took his first catch in the 3rd XI and not to be out done Alan also held a good low catch at slip. Robbo came on to make quick work of the tail and we managed to bowl them out for the first bowling points of the season. It was a good effort all round and we didn't need all of the seven bowlers we had on the field, but fear not there is a whole season. I can't wait to see you all in action!
They posted what looked like a decent total of 113 all out given the conditions etc. But it all depends on who you ask. I always thought it needed a score of 170-200 just to be safe especially against the awesome fire power of the 3rd XI batting line up.

The best part of all, great tea! Lakeish was a bit confused when he found out he was batting at Seven. I told him it wasn't a bad thing with all of our firepower and accident prone line up which has historically collapsed all through the last decade, there would be a good chance his experience would come in handy lower down the order and who knows he may even have the honour of hitting the winning runs. He didn't look convinced and dismissed my blue print.
 
This was our second opening pairing in as many weeks. But there was nothing to fear except the looming clouds and the threat of heavy rain, with this in mind James Bozarth settled in well early on. However he was the first to go to what was a very good ball which kicked off the surface and took a knick. At this point Umpire and Skipper Alan (yes he’s big enough to be two people at the same time) shouted for Lakeish to be promoted up the order to number 5. This brought Roger to the crease at 3 and he looked in good touch after playing a solid on drive and a few pull shots. But he was also dismissed shortly after. Then Paul ''Dangermouse'' Robinson walked into the middle in his new found number 4 spot, which he has made his own over the last few weeks. He played the only cut shots of the day and managed to judge the bounce very well in doing so. Having watched Paul play some beautiful cut shots I decided I had been limiting my scoring options down the ground for no reason. I eyed up a nice short ball outside the off stump and smashed it as hard as possible into to the chest of the biggest and widest looking fielder on the pitch who managed to catch it. The score was up to 82 and it brought Lakeish to the middle. Imran then joined him as Robbo departed; he got off the mark in style with a crunching 4 down the ground but was out soon after. Just as I predicted earlier it would be Lakeish who would hit the winning runs and seal our first victory of the season. Have faith.

Thats enough talk, lets post the stats and let’s get this done with. There you have it’s my First match review and our First win of the season!
Now I need a name to sign off with.


Sincerely Yours
Anonymous
 (in case I get dropped next week, maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh on the skip, good job)