tim writes, "The remnants of the Indian summer saw a good day out for Cambourne in a last game of the season friendly against St Giles. Following on from the development league game a few weeks ago, we returned to Dry Drayton to play an informal game that gave everybody the chance for a last hurrah."

To ensure that everyone had more than one chance to contribute to the day we played an unusual format of two 20:20 games back to back. It meant that there was less pressure on batsmen to perform as there was always the chance of a second innings and bowlers got to bowl in two over spells up to four times during the day.

The St Giles ground looked a picture and they fielded (like us) a team made up from their 1st and 2nd teams plus a few more.

St Giles batted first and their openers showed the gulf in class between the Tucker and the Junior leagues, with a scintillating display that saw 55 runs off the first 5 overs. However, a freakish run out slowed the runs down and saw them pegged back by tidy bowling and sharp fielding from Cambourne and it wasn't until the 15th over that St Giles managed to double that score. A few lusty blows in the next few overs moved the score on until Chris Cundell (arriving just a little late) bowled a superb over at the death. Despite taking nine deliveries to complete, there was not one run off the bat and two wickets fell for just three wides. By this time St Giles had posted a massive 160 or so.

So then Cambourne had their chance to test their mettle against some bowling that would more than match the challenges they had faced this season.

A really solid team batting display, launched by Danny G and Marc C saw Cambourne reach about 110 at a very steady but good rate. St Giles young leg-spinner was a real test and bowled several "Warne-like" deliveries, including a vicious dipping leg-break that had the (until-then) comfortable Vivek comprehensively bowled.

So we effectively lost the first half by about 50 runs, but we had the chance of a second innings to build on the positives of the first.

Some very tight bowling and fielding during the second innings meant that we restriceted St Giles to just under 140. That total was heavily dependent on their Aussie who came in with 2 overs to go and managed to get within touching distance of his fifty.

This left us 202 to win overall and a total of 140 to "win" the second 20 overs.

Again really solid batting gave us a good basis for an assault on the 140 and despite a few mini collapses we batted the full 20 overs and fell about 8 runs short of what would have been a more than creditable performance. Congratulations all round.

There were two absolutely standout performers on the day. Nick Patel and Ollie Vale both bowled really well against senior batsmen helping to stem the runflow in each innings (although Ollie MAY have been the beneficiary of some dubious umpiring in one particular case!). But, on top  of that, both of these two battled at first in the first innings and then put on a great partnership to help us see out the first 20 overs. They then followed this up with big contributions to the second innings and Ollie almost pulled off a great reflex slip catch. Definitely both these guys kept up their intensity through the game and were a credit to the club.

Everyone else made positive contributions. Vasu bowled well and took a remarkable catch over his head. Danny G and Marc C used their nouse and experience to make good contributions to both innings. Harry kept well in the first innings and held the latter part of the second innings together. Ali showed good bowling composure. Pete showed good good captaincy skills and made sure everyone had a good run during the day. Chris C bowled well in both innings with his superb last over and worrying their openers in the second innings. Vivek was out to a corker and unlucky to come up against an in-form No.4 in the first innings whilst bowling, but showed good quick reactions whilst keeping in the 2nd innings. Simon was the unluckiest player on the day, batting only once, ended prematurely with a run out, but bowling in all four innings and fielding for the majority of the eighty overs.

So, matching ourselves against a club with over a 100 years of history in Cambridgeshire and longstanding Tucker representatives, we never let ourselves down and competed in all departments.

Big thanks to St Giles for their hospitality and contribution to a really good day where we learnt a lot about each other and enjoyed a competative days cricket.