We lost the toss and were inserted. An all too familiar top order collapse saw us 33/4. Rob Farenheim (55), returning from injury, was the only batter to really apply himself. T Nicoll (26), Vanderspar (27), W Nicoll (22), Brand (20) all making starts but failing to capitalise. Connor on return from his fledgling first class career batted well for his 29*. All out for 202, probably 50 runs short. Joel Hughes again pick of the bowlers (40/2 off 16). Connor (48/2 off 17) also bowled well. They got there slowly however relatively easily with a good knock from their overseas. Twickenham at home next week. Top order batters must improve and starting applying themselves. Once this happens, with our bowling, we will hit our stride.

North Midd 2nd XI vs Enfield (Home)
North Midd 242/7 from 53 overs
Enfield 187 all out
North Midd won by 55 runs

We welcomed newcomers Enfield to the Midd and despite a boozy couple of the days at Lords we were confident of making it 3/3. Amazingly Mills lost his 6th consequent toss and as usual we were stuck in. After 10 overs we had slumped to 33/4 following some outstanding seam bowling by the experienced Blair. A reshuffle of the order brought together Bollywood actor Cracknell and Luke. A match winning partnership of 150 ensued including some sensational stroke play and intelligent rotation of strike. In his 15th year playing at the Midd and a crucial member of the play on bar staff Cracknell brought up an extremely popular hundred to a fantastic ovation from the large crowd - a brilliant innings. Luke continued his rich vain of form with a run a ball 64, his bat getting wider week on week. Some lusty hitting from CYS and Chambo got us to 240, Mills declaring after 53 overs. We got off to the perfect start with the ball, both openers caught Cracknell bowled Carroll. Grier batted well for his 34 before the in form Owen cleaned him up, stumps everywhere. We chipped away with Semper using all his experiance to firstly outfox his mate with a doosra and then send him off with his customary shoe celebration. With time running out we needed 4 wickets with 8 overs left. The Oldman returned for a brilliant second spell, bowling the captain and taking the 9th wicket. Mills brought back Owen and having positioned himself at gully took the winning diving catch. This was by far our best performance of the season. MoM was Crackers but it was a real team effort from the lads. We are coming together beautifully and have moved up to 4th in the table. Worth noting that this game was marred by a number of unsavoury incidents on and off the pitch, as always we conducted ourselves well and we gave Enfield a lesson in the spirit of cricket. Onwards and upwards.

North Midd 3rd XI vs North London (Home)
North London 161/10
North Midd 163/5 from 32 overs
North Midd won by 5 wickets

After spending last Saturday at the infamous NAPFCG on a wicket so green that just batting on it constituted one of your five a day, a return to fortress Park Road was a lovely little fillip ahead of one of the season’s long-awaited fixtures. The Yvette Derby, the Romulus vs Remus of the Shepherd’s Cot, North Middlesex (1875) vs North London (1877). Having dismantled then-leaders Acton in less time than it takes Jonathan Trott to take guard, confidence was high as the league’s bottom side arrived to challenge the champions. There was a stench of sweet revenge in the air after our neighbour’s win at the fortress last time out rather ruined our otherwise unbeaten season. However, still ruing our decision to neither score runs nor take wickets at Hampstead on the opening day, an invincible season will have to wait. Fielding a strong side complete with the great Joseph James - returning from a successful IPL stint, skipper Sheppard won the toss did the honourable thing, allowing the visitors to set us a target. With the apocalypse forecast to hit the Midd at any time between two and five and knowing that a win was vital to temper the inevitable disappointment of watching England at a major tournament, it seemed like the only plausible decision. And so it began. Club legend Philip Victor – our very own Charl Willoughby/Tarzan hybrid and Max Harris opened up, hooping it both ways much to the chagrin and obvious confusion of both batsmen and wicketkeeper. Victor cleaned up the potentially dangerous opener and then cleaned up the other potentially dangerous opener. Danger averted, and with Harris (0-very few) going through his box of tricks whilst hardly going for a run, the batsmen were being made to feel about as welcome as El Chapo Guzman at a Trump family barbecue. 4-2 after six became 20-3 after the great South African had the left-hander snick behind to the most reluctant of wicketkeepers. In the absence of the ever-impeccable Michael Edwards, the King Midas of captains took over the reins. Hesitant though he was to the idea of having to keep wicket all day, and barring his refusal to consider the leg-side as amongst of his responsibilities, it was more Russell than Bairstow. One take in particular had Sheppard looking around the field, seeking a doff of the cap and a round of applause. Indeed, none was forthcoming. Victor (5-34) claimed his fourth when Friendy held a sharp catch at mid-off. George Garrett replaced Harris, bowling typically tightly for less than the deserved reward. At four down, the champions became sloppy, dishing up buzzards aplenty and the odd misfield as our neighbours built a decent partnership. The good doctor saw to that however, as the number five played down the Bakerloo line and his successor played down no line at all, instead leaving Dre’s booming in-ducker to uproot his middle stump. At the other end, there was quite some conundrum in the offing. With news filtering through on the morning of the game that Sri Lanka’s top order batsman Kusal Mendis had played for Southgate last year, it transpired that Friendy had dismissed him and hence, was claiming a Test scalp. Yet, as Mendis sat on the Lord’s balcony continually reliving the nightmare of his MDL dismissal, Heners got the nod and promptly had himself a wicket, the batsman superbly caught by a full-length dive at mid-off. He might have had another wicket but for an extremely close stumping call. Dre (4-not many) picked up a third with an lbw so plumb that nobody bothered appealing before his fourth victim made the umpire’s job far easier, cutting short an lbw appeal by kicking the ball back onto his stumps – the sort of footwork that Raheem Sterling can only dream of. The tail wagged as we went through a poor period – though nowhere near as poor as Jack Wilshere’s little cameo last night. The great Victor returned to complete his first Michelle with his 37th lbw appeal of the day. 163 to win – a competitive total. After watching Switzerland scrape past the mighty Albanians in the sort of high-octane thriller that the Euros were expanded to 24 teams for, the Midd went out to knock them off and complete a fifth successive win. Gaurav bashed it around before falling to an unusually good club cricket catch, top edging to third man. Captain Sheppard, in the dreamiest of nick, punched and cut his way to 20-odd with such freedom that the Sri Lankan selectors are desperately trawling through his ancestry in the hope of finding a rogue Jayasuriya amongst the grandparents. When his middle stump was rudely awoken by the impressive opening bowler, the Middies found themselves 40-2. That became 45-3 when former skipper Lake snicked off, only to hang around for so long that one assumed that he was awaiting confirmation of his dismissal in the Sunday papers. This little collapse of 3-15 saw Stokoe and Friendy come together. Stokoe looked a class above before having his leg stump disturbed. This brought the returning Joseph (41*) out to join Friendy (37). The crowds flocked to the bars, all too aware of the boredom that ensued last time Plod and Plodder formed a partnership. The pair put on 80, inching the Midd towards victory before Friendy was strangled down the leg-side. With the visitors wholesome in the belief that one wicket would bring them into the tail, little did they know of Max Harris. He just smacked it everywhere, making his predecessors look even ploddier. Batting with his own binary code as his scoring shots went 664444, he led us to victory by five wickets. A victory for Romulus. Decent game of cricket against a very good bunch of blokes. Big congrats to Crackers on a hugely well-deserved and massively popular ton on the pitch next to us. The winning train keeps on chugging. Bit of a shame that England are useless. Uxbridge away next week. There’s a title to defend.

North Midd 4th XI vs Stanmore (Home)
Stanmore 3s 185 for 8 off 45 overs
North Midd 4s 187 for 9 off 54 overs
North Midd won by 1 wicket

What a game. After another week of 'challenging' availability, the 4s were still scrambling to get a side together on the morning of the match. We only had 10 players until Toby Pearce volunteered to 'give us an extra body' even though he couldn't make it until 2pm. What a difference he made! North Midd inserted the oppo on a surprisingly decent-looking track – Walthamstow is a much-improved ground these days. Teasdale opened up, but in his knacked (technical term) state can only bowl 4 overs. It was still enough to grab 2 wickets and set us on our way. Alex Harris again bowl well with no luck but Dykey settled in for a long spell at the other end allowing the skipper to rotate his bowlers in support. Dykey bowled beautifully to pick up 4 for 66 off 16, with great support from Laurie Pearce (1 for 37) and Rich Verity who, after much subtle prompting and vigorous practicing in front of the skipper finally got the chance to show us what he could do with ball in hand (1 for 37). Stanmore's skipper led the way with 61 in his team's total of 185, declaring the innings after 45 overs with the rain bucketing down. A word here for the contributions of our debutants, Alfie Buxton and Ethan Stephens in the field who showed great enthusiasm and effort in really tough conditions. The rain continued during tea and after. At one point it looked as though we might have to abandon the game but thanks to the positive attitude of both teams, we got back out there. As the sun broke through and steam rose gently from the players, Verity and Burgoyne got the Midd off to a flyer, putting 50 on for the first wicket, watched by our newest fan, young Hughie Croaker. Burgoyne departed for a quick 26, soon followed by Rebello. Teasdale then played elegantly for a well-made 20 while Verity at the other end stroked the ball around with consumate grace. Pearce went for just 2 but Shields, showing all his experience, built a vital partnership with Verity that took us within touching distance of the target. Verity was very unlucky to chop on for a quite brilliant 84 with Dykey soon following for just 3. When Shields got out for 28, we still needed 17 runs – it was down to the colts and Toby. Harris smacked a 4 while Alfie contributed 2, but both got out leaving Ethan and our last man to get us home. We still needed 7. With the skipper doing his best not to have a heart attack standing at square leg, Stephens smashed a four off a short ball: 3 needed and just two overs left. Toby blocked everything effortlessly, getting Ethan back on strike. A couple of dots, then a glorious thump straight down the ground for 4 – and the 'Stow erupted. Incredible. All the emotion was too much for young Hughie who was in tears while the rest of the side celebrated a brilliant win. A word for the opposition and their skipper who played their part in a great game and were an absolute pleasure to spend the afternoon with. And a word too for the Midd's colts coaches who continue to work so hard to bring through young talent like Alfie and Ethan. In a high pressure situation, they came through for us. As did Toby. Thank goodness we took him up on his offer! What a game.

North Midd 5th XI vs Chiswick (Away)
Chiswick 183/5 dec (48)
North Midd 105 all out (29)
North Midd lost by 78 runs

Another day, another entirely different 5s side, featuring several debuts, looked to register some points, this time away at Chiswick. In the absence of skipper Arj, who preferred to spend his Saturday in New Dehli than the Kings House Sports Ground and with Richard stuck in traffic, Charlie Martland, in his 3rd Midd season yet in no way vice-captain won the toss and asked Chiswick to bat on a green-looking wicket. Their skipper wasn't happy from the off, grumbling about how they still haven't started a game at 1230 all year - nobody was listening. Joe Bangerter (1/31 off 10) and Jonny Gould (1-54 off 18) opened up on a green deck with plenty of cracks, maintaining a good line and length from the outset and limiting Chiswick to under three runs/over. Jonny also grabbed an early breakthrough when his 'yorker' found a way through. Joe went wicketless in his opening spell, yet deserved better, before Charles (0-45) replaced him to bowl ten overs unchanged from one end, with three tough chances going down in the field during that spell. Chsiwick's second wicket had almost realised a ton when their number 3 was eventually taken by Charles running backwards towards the mid-on boundary, handing Ricky Sharma his first wicket for the Midd. Duncan Abell also removed two Chiswick batsmen, his second victim smartly caught by Alban behind the timbers. All-in-all, a fine bowling and fielding display with ten men, even if there were a few drops, as we limited them to 183, chaseable in 44 overs after tea. However, our innings was in trouble early at 11-2, before some rebuilding was attempted, led by Jonny, in taking the score to 40. Wickets then continued to fall at regular intervals, with Jonny running out of partners despite looking fluent in making his way to 67*, a new high-score. A second top score of 8 and all of the other top 5 getting themselves out explains why we came up short. A disappointing result, yet one which could have been different had someone else made a telling contribution. There was even time for Chiswick, displaying shocking chat in the field throughout, to appeal for a 'mankad' at the bowlers end, only retracted upon the umpire's pleading. A big thanks to those filling in at such short notice such that we could fulfill the fixture. 5s stay bottom of their 1987 League division, but are confident of climbing the table once availability improves.