Its to be an early start today at Winchcombe as we need to be off the field by 5pm for the juniors to come on.   We are the lead car in the convoy today so we can rely totally on the GPS and not Stirling (who refuses to acknowledge the technology.   No double trips round the roundabouts today.   No stopping in the middle of the High Street and blocking off the whole village while he seeks directions.   We just simply go straight to the ground.   Driving through the village of Winchcombe itself was interesting.as the town dates back to the 10th century and many of the buildings are several hundreds of years old.
 
Another quaint little village cricket ground and it appears there are two pitches marked .   One a dry and dusty one that appears to have been played on for several days and the other a green-top that reminds us of the Gabba the day before a Test Match. We assume that will be for the league match the following day.   Skipper-for-the-day Ron asks our opinion as to what we should do if hie wins the toss - we all say "bat".   We wins the toss, is told we are playing on the green-top and promptly says "we'll bowl".  There is almost a mutiny when we find out later that he had won the toss.   The innings starts off with several byes in Cooky's first couple of overs as several balls just run straight along the ground outside the off stump while one takes off and flies high down the leg-side. It might be a green-top but it is still playing very low. I'm thinking I could be in for a nightmare day behind the stumps.  

Things start looking up when Ross fires in a return to run out one of their openers. Derek is playing his third match against us on this tour and Ross ran him out last start also . Slow learner.   Then the craziest dismissal. I have been standing up to the stumps for our other opening bowler as Ron is bowling slow medium in-dippers.   Suddenly he gets one that pitches on middle and jags sharply away towards the slips. I throw my right glove out and backwards and am very relieved to have taken it cleanly. The non-striker (telling us later he couldn't see the ball) thinks I have missed it - probably a fair assumption considering the couple I missed earlier off Cooky. So he calls the batsman through for a run.  I',m thinking "What the hell is going on? Why are they running when I have the ball in my hand?"  Oh well, off with the bails.   Fortunately my moment's hesitation means they had time to cross and the goose who had the world's worst call is the one run out. He would have felt much worse if it had been his poor, unsuspecting partner.

I'm in the game again when Panda (Brian Scott) gets the next guy to tickle one down the leg-side and I have moved across quickly enough to pick up the catch low down to my left . I'm rapidly starting to forget about those early byes.   Runs have dried up and wickets are falling fairly regularly at one end while we are being held up by a young lady at the other.   Jo Cull (whose father Tim is playing in the same team) is an 18 year old who plays in the county ladies team and is apparently on the verge of being called into the national development squad.   She is very solid, has a good technique and is quite strong off her legs.   Apart fron Vinnie missing a c&b (and breaking a nail in the process) she is untroubled by our attack and finishes the innings at 28 not out.

I get another faint edge from Panda that I manage to snare as it dies away in front of me and then Paul Thomas gets the batsman to slash wildly at a quicker, wider one and I take the catch off the toe of the bat standing up to the stumps.   Three catches, two run outs (lets not mention the 8 byes) and I'm feeling like I have had a pretty good day.   Winchcombe finish their 40 overs at 7/96 .   Given the low total we will be chasing after lunch, we have decided to retire our batsmen at 20 to give more people a chance to bat. I'm listed at number 8 today.
 
I enjoy a big feed, including the strawberries & cream for dessert, thinking my job is over for the day.   With Jimmy, Gill and Ross retiring and only a rare failure for John, we pass their score at 1/100 in 22.4 overs.   Their skipper very generously tells us he would be happy to play on for the full 40 overs - both to allow his players to have a bowl and for our batsmen to also have a bat.   One of his players has actually made the 6 hour drive all the way from Scotland just to play in this match. We are told by the touring committee that any subsequent runs scored wont be "official" tour runs but as it turns out Cooky and I both say we don't care - in our heads they are good runs.

I get in with about 5 overs remaining and finish with 24no off 20 balls with 4 boundaries. Now those that know me will not believe this .   One a cover drive, one through wide long-on and two through backward square leg - and all four along the carpet.   I must be learning something on this tour!!

The team song is sung with gusto back in the change rooms - we are getting better and better with each rendition and this one was a beauty.   We are then reminded that it is Bob Phillip's birthday, so we all sing Happy Birthday to him. When he tells us he is now 64, we all break out into a great version of the Beatles classic "When I'm 64" - as only a bunch of old farts could do.   Its a very happy dressing room today!

We have a quick BBQ and then we all put on a coaching clinic for the local youngsters.   There is about 40-50 of them and we spend about a half hour with them before they go back to their own coaches.   Hopefully they will remember the occasion and coach-Stirling finishes the session with a strong message to them.   "Remember, there are only two rules to playing cricket. One - always watch the ball. Two - always have fun".   It still applies to us too - we've had a good day.