Washington Cricket Club - 40th Anniversary Year

It was a day when everything went right for skipper Demetri. With a hot sun overhead, a flat track ahead of him, and a strong bowling attack to back him up, he had no hesitation in batting first when the toss fell his way.

From the start Washington batted aggressively, and the Mill Hillians' wayward bowling got the treatment it deserved. Cragoe (8), Coleman (2) and Brown (22) all looked comfortable, but got out: nevertheless, 96-3 after 16 overs seemed an encouraging position, with Demetri going great guns at the other end, letting no single slip his grasp and ruthlessly dispatching the bad ball to the boundary.

At this point, Paul Irons marched in to join his skipper, and things got even better for the Wash. The carnage that followed was like watching Ian Botham in his pomp. In just 19 overs, Irons cracked an unbeaten 123, including eight huge 6s and eleven 4s. He reached his ton in the 33rd over, and in the next it was the skipper's turn: Demetri's century included fourteen 4s.

With 280 on the board after just 35 overs, Washington declared, and an early tea was taken. The Mill Hill inings was under pressure from the word go. Mick Kennedy (1-18) and Richard Minion (2-2) immediately found their rhythm, and it took Mill Hill five overs to score their first run. By the time they had, Johnny Roche had taken the first of three very good catches at the wicket, a haul to which he later added a sharp stumping.

Demetri rotated his bowlers and they all joined in the party: Gary Evans took two, as did Justin Gurney, and Eric Stoughton wrapped up the Mill Hill innings in the 20th over having skipper Warren Breen caught at mid off. Of Mill Hillians' 40 runs, Breen had scored 36!

So a memorable victory for the Wash, on a day when the sun really did shine at Alexandra Park.