Alstonefield St. Peter’s Cricket Club were simply outgunned on Saturday by the Pitts-Tucker Touring XI. An opening stand of 133 between Hamer and Wright meant a long hot 35 overs in the field for the Gargoyles. Stuart Norman produced his best ever bowling spell ( 2 for 20 off 7 overs) stemmed the flow of runs and took the wicket of Wright for 66, quickly followed by that of Saul, brilliantly caught by debutant Rob Brighton. Brian Ross removed Hamer for 51 in his first over, but the runs were piling up. Ian McKay took 2 wickets in his first over and went on to take 6 wickets in his 7 overs, but some lusty hitting in the final overs by Pitts-Tucker meant the Touring XI posted a record score of 223 for 9.

The best that can be said of the Gargoyles’ reply, is that the exceptional lunch in the village hall showed there was an appetite for something if not the run chase. A steady start by Robert Flower and Richard Salt, both making 14, was then followed by 7 batsmen making only 16 runs between them. Only Ian McKay with 26 and captain Brian Allen with a career best 22 appeared to be up for the fight. 108 all out was a sorry total and defeat by 115 runs not a good start to the second half of the season.

All the gloom was soon lifted as the Gargoyles then entertained their Northamptonshire opponents with good ale, banter and a superb BBQ at the George. The scorebook was rewritten with if onlys and everyone agreed the first all day match had been a resounding success.