With 7 debutants, of which five are under 13 and one under 14, and two father and son pairings, this was a team with a window on the future. A call from the Chairman two hours before the start, gave warning that the Lymington pitch had been vandalised over night so there was doubt the game would go ahead. On arrival, the captains reviewed the damage some mindless idiots had done the night before, and decided that in order to play a game of cricket, the match would take place but with all of the overs bowled from one end. Winning the toss, lymington decided to put Bashley in. Paul Kemp and Julian Hood got us off to a steady start, with aim to bat the overs. However a low, slow wicket soon had wickets falling. Some steady bowling from the Lymington bowlers kept Bashley in check. It was great to see Nick and Freddie Lowe batting together, and I am sure Freddie gave dad a few tips as he was walking back to the pavilion. Towards the end of the innings Oscar Sparshott Thompson 21 and Chris Lewis 24 pushed the score up to 121, which, at the time, the skipper thought was probably 30 runs short.

Lymington got off to a good start. Paul Kemp bowled a very good line, and was followed by Alex Avoth, who plays for Dorset under 13 girls, bowling with wonderful rhythm and very straight, bagging the prize wicket of the Lymington run machine, Chris Tollerfield at a crucial stage of the match. Josh Haskell, also making his debut, beguiled the opposition with his off spin. Having said he hadn’t bowled for 15 years, he then put his first ball on the spot and didn’t look back, retuning with figures of 10 overs, 1 for 27. With plenty of overs left, lymington always remained in the game, with their young guns also batting very well. Freddie Lowe and the Oscar Sparshott Thompson kept things tight for Bashley, until the introduction of Cameron Callow and return of Alex, who took the lymington total from 102 for 6 to 102 all out in a matter of three overs. Bashley win by 19 runs. A special mention to Hannah Saunders who tirelessly encouraged every ball that was bowled by Bashley, Julien Hood who took a number of knocks for the team and a great catch, and to Daniel Kemp who was both not out in the bashley innings and fielded very well at square leg. Thanks also to Jen for scoring again. A great effort by a very young team and keeps Bashley Rydal Vs in 3rd place in RD3SW. Despite the vandalism, cricket was the winner!