Under cloudy skies on Agar’s Plough, Fulton and Steel, two Royal Green Jackets in a former life, agreed to a declaration game and tossed up; Steel decided to bat on what was a slow pitch.The youth element of the team, Ed Harrington and George Loup, opened up and smashed the ball to all parts, making particular use of the (ridiculously) short boundary on the Dutchman’s side. Loup was, rather unusually, caught by his captain at long on for 66, fielding for Tim Beard who had been struck on the head whilst attempting to catch a previous hit. Harrington continued onhis merry way, accompanied by George Deedes, whose deft late cuts we less well rewarded than usual owing to the surface. Harrington eventually departed for 88 and the innings was taken to its conclusion, of 233 off 27 overs, in a flurry of elegant boundaries from Lord Wrottesley and Ollie Clayton.

Our opening attack of Ed Amies and Alex Bouchier had a twenty year age gap, but it was the senior pro, Amies, who was the steadier of the two, certainly in his first spell, claiming two wickets including the prize scalp of Master in Charge of College, JImFulton. Meanwhile Charlie Straker, brother of our wicket keeper Jack, and apparently in the XXXIII this year, was hitting the ball very cleanly, particularly off the back foot. Tim Beard joined in the fun and tucked into Steel’s offspin, which helped to keep the Beaks up with the run rate, and sped Straker to his hundred. Archie Sale bowled some nicely flighted offspin from the other end, ensuring that the home team didn’t run away with it, but Johnnie Jackson helped Straker take 6 off the last over, to win by 5 wickets. Straker finished with 149* (a famous score) and one suspects he won’t be in XXXIII next year.