The background to this game was that Box had been easily beaten back at the LSCG. This time there were no kids and they meant business - they still had their Chad though who had all the hallmarks of our very own by a) being fat, b) being crap at cricket and c) reluctantly leaving the field after nicking one to the wicket keeper that even Magnus on the swings appealed for. In addition Limpley were scraping around for players, even enlisting a Frenchman called Louis who was about as good at cricket as I would be at blowing up Greenpeace ships.

Still, in strode Smith and Twist to open the innings and given Limpley's depleted resources they needed to make a good start. The early indications suggested that a high total was possible as both set about the Box bowling with relative ease. Twist had left T's just an hour or two before the game and he appeared to be thriving on the WKD still racing through his bloodstream. Smith too was looking dangerous however he was caught going for the big one at extra cover. Next in was skipper for the day Richards S. He was in good touch as the Box bowlers insisted on bowling short, this was meat and drink for the Richards brothers and next in Bush. At the other end it was Twist well on his way to the nervous nineties, a place he was all too familiar with. This time however there were no mistakes and Twist reached his century comfortably. A magnificent achievement for him and the youth policy that finally bore fruit having blooded Twist from such a tender age. Grainger completed the scoring with a quickfire 12, Limpley had set Box a daunting 217.

Tyrie opened the bowling with Hannell, both were expensive early on but soon settled into their rhythm. Hannell eventually took 3 wickets to continue his fine season with the ball. Box however were able to consistently build a score with most of their batsmen making starts. Had any of them converted those into bigger scores they would have won easily. Credit then to the Limpley bowlers who took wickets at crucial times. Particularly Bush who made full use of the slope taking 4 wickets all bowled clean. Man of the moment and the match, Twist bowled aggressively and was rewarded with two wickets. Box crept close to the Limpley total and threatened to complete an unlikely victory but Bush kept a cool head dismissing their last man 7 short of the target.

Simon Richards