Washington Cricket Club - 40th Anniversary Year

Arkley won the toss on a beautiful summer's day and elected to bat on a green-topped, but dry pitch. The bowling was wayward in the first few overs with several wides, but suddenly Barrett (11-2-20-4) clicked into the groove and started to bowl with fire. Barrett built up excellent pace and frequently darted the ball back of the seam into the right hander. From the other end Hobern (9-0-29-1) plugged away with less pace but with the batsmen regularly playing and missing outside the off stump as the ball moved away off the slope. Ultimately it was Barrett's greater accuracy which made him the pick of the bowlers as he splayed the stumps several times and sent batsmen no. 1 to 4 back to the pavilion. Gluckman, fielding at first slip, was heard to comment that Barrett's was one of the best spells he had ever seen for the Wash, and, let's face it, he's seen quite a few! There was little resistance from the Arkley batsmen whose major concern was to stay at the crease. The two Knappetts in the team both reached the 20s, but Extras top-scored with 34 including a significant number of byes due to variable bounce and lenient leg-side wide calling. This did not really do justice to the performance of Don Campbell, carrying the gloves for the first time for the Wash, who had a good game. Once Hobern and Barrett began to tire in the heat, captain Irons turned to Stachurski, and Kloss, the token non-Kiwi in the bowling attack. Stachurski bowled a little erratically, going for a number of boundaries, but produced several superb balls to mop up the majority of the tail and finish with 5.4-2-25-4. Kloss (8-2-21-0) plugged away on line and length from the other end, but with no luck - it was a Kiwi bowler's day. Stachurski technically took 5 wickets, running the last man out with a direct throw. Arkley were all out for 115 in 33.4 overs.

After a sumptuous tea, Gluckman (7) and Persaud (12) opened the batting for the Wash. They survived the first few overs but then gave way to Campbell (27) and Robert Tidey (39*) who both stroked the ball around the field with ease against a mediocre attack to take the Wash to the halfway point. Campbell was then out caught, but Tidey continued supported briefly by Harris (5) and Brown (8). The outfield was particularly dry and Tidey was able to stoke several boundaries with proper cricket shots, playing with a maturity beyond his young years. Boundaries were also enabled by the field-placing, set by a opposition captain torn between the need to take wickets and to save runs. Finally Irons (16*) came in and clubbed two enormous 6s to finish the game off quickly at the start of the last 20 overs (field placings irrelevant!).

The Wash were very happy with their win, but Arkley were dejected with their first loss of the season - post-match drinks with the opposition was a subdued affair.

Man of the match: Dan Barrett, for a thrilling bowling spell Packing the kit: Kloss, for not being a Kiwi