An excellent performance in the field saw Birchfield skittled for a mere 22 runs on a warm day at Abberley. The overnight thunderstorm had left the pitch desparately slow but Birchfield won the toss and batted. Matthew set the ball rolling with his best new ball spell since joining the 1st XI last year. He was ably supported by Max, but the star of the show was Arthur. His slow stuttering run up looks innocuous but he has a great knack of pitching the ball up and bowling straight. He took 5 wickets , including a hat-trick which were all bowled. There was genuine delight from his team-mates that this genial cricket nut had achieved a feat that he will probably remember fondly for ever.

In reply the aim was not to lose a wicket but Ed, Nick and Francis again refused to play straight and it took a couple of lusty blows from the captain to see us home.