Exciting start to the League Season with the 1s losing to Ealing in a thriller on the third ball of the final over; the 2s losing heavily; and the 3s, 4s and 5s winning comfortably.
Here are some details –

North Midd 1st XI vs Ealing (Away)
North Midd 183-7 off 50
Ealing 187-5 off 49.2
Ealing won by 5 wickets

We turned up to a pretty wet dog at Ealing after this week's bad weather. We lost a crucial toss and were inserted. As a team, we batted well in very bowler friendly conditions. Ev and Pars applied themselves and made 30 apiece before Tommy and Vanders carried on their good work with a 50 partnership which took us past the 150 mark. They were both out looking to push on in the last 5, which meant we fell a little short of 200, which would have been an imposing total on that wicket. We finished 183-7 which was more than competitive. The Ealing innings started in perfect fashion for us. Oli Wilkin looping a drive to point second ball for 0. Hughes and Bird bowled very tidily, then supported well by Vanderspar and Teesdale. They were 75-3 at the halfway mark and we were keeping the bees nicely in the jar. Then the Ealing overseas additions at 4 and 5 batted uncharacteristically sensibly for Club cricket and built a good partnership, which found them needing 24 off 4 overs, then 21 off 3. They both got out but their numbers 6 and 7 hit early boundaries to get Ealing home with 4 balls to spare. Very encouraging signs for us - batters applied themselves well, bowlers hit good areas consistently - makes it all the more disappointing that we couldn't get over the line, but we played some good cricket today and I hope we can take that into the next few weeks. Up the Midd!

Here are some more action shots (courtesy of our good friend and excellent snapper - Conrad Williams - thank you Conrad) -

Tom Nicoll batting

Ed Bird in bowling action

North Midd 2nd XI vs Ealing (Home)
Ealing 216/7 from 40
North Midd 162/10 from 39.2
Ealing win by 54 runs

North Midd 3rd XI vs Barnes (Home)
North Midd 238/10 from 43.4 overs
(Nick Friend 120 off 90-balls with14 fours and six homers; Tom Way 43)
Barnes 182 from 39.2 overs
North Midd win by 56 runs

North Midd 4th XI vs Finchley (Away)
Finchley 130/10 from 32.3
(Olly Morgan 6 for 20)
North Midd 131/3 off 27
(Joe James and Arjun Gole both hit 50s)
North Midd Win by 7 wickets

North Midd 5th XI vs Stoke Newington (Away)
North Midd 191/9 from 45 overs
(George Grylls 39; R Nicoll 32)
Stoke Newington 114 from 33.1 overs
(Dhaval 4 for 37; Dillon Scanlan 2 for 14; Nirusha 2 for 11. 4 catches for George)
North Midd won by 77 runs