A very long day with the trip to Birmingham setting off at 8am, playing a draining 5 back to back matches, a presentation, a celebratory curry in Sparkbrook & home for midnight.

The 1st match against C&R Hawks who’s senior side reached the national T20 finals last summer saw end in an exciting tie, followed by comfortable wins of various degrees against fellow MCA side Stoke Newington, Derby Cobras & Attock.

The boys came 2nd in the group stage by just 2 points but a sizeable gap from 3rd to qualify for the final against C&R Hawks.

In the 1st match we started rusty & not firing with most of the side having not played this winter season while Hawks had already played their 1st game & it showed in the bowling, the running & occasionally the fielding but especially the rapid decision making that the indoor game requires to achieve well. By the final all cylinders were firing & despite losing the 2nd skin heavily the 3 other skins were secured even giving time for Crackers to blast 2 more 7s to secure both the final MotM & tournament MVP awards.

Our victorious squad comprised Joe Cracknell, Henry Howeld ,Hugh Teesdale , Luke Hollman, Ollie Morgan, Laurie Pearce , Louis Hayward, Ben Waine and Billy Blyghton.

According to Manager Doug Teesdale - "Joe was imperious with the bat, sharp with the gloves and skippered the team as to the manner born. Backed up by imposing performances from Luke with bat/ball, Henry's superb athleticism in the field, Hugh's economy with the ball and consistency with the bat - as Pete H says it was like watching a rusty machine being restored to well oiled and crushing precision. Ollie Morgan grew in stature during the day demonstrating how well you can bat if you apply temperament to a limited technique. Laurie Pearce bowled well. Louis also played well, holding his own with players a couple of years older. Ben Waine bowled with devastating pace and Billy Blyghton played a significant part in getting us to the finals."

Thanks to Doug Teesdale and Peter Hollman for supplying the meat of this Report. Congrats to Doug for his inspired management of this North Midd Indoor winning machine & for sticking to his fair & inclusive selection policy.

Thanks to the other parents Bruce Hayward, Toby Pearce & Zoe Blyghton who drove & stayed to watch the day in full & to our 2 guest players Billy & Ben who both made highly notable contributions & we hope will all graduate to Titans players in the near future. Titans are the National Indoor League side which many of the North Midd team play for.

Full scorecards for all matches available on - http://ei8ca.spawtz.com/External/Fixtures/Fixtures.aspx?SportId=0&VenueId=0&LeagueId=21&SeasonId=10&DivisionId=0

Best wishes to our Under 15s who are through to the National U15 Indoor Finals also to be held in Birmingham on Saturday 10 March.