On a pitch as dodgy as a Boris Johnson paternity test, LFCC chose to bat first against a strong Shakespeare CC XI. Steve F and P.A. faced a torrid opening spell against four quality seamers, Ferny falling early to "indifferent" bounce. The pitch went on to do for a swashbuckling Ruby and an unfortunate Darrin, with only P.A. offering substantial resistance. Resuming where he left off last week, he sped to a princely 41 before, on the stroke of drinks, he was run out by a passing idiot.

Batting was no easier after the break despite Ty and Dhawal's splendid 8th-wicket partnership: Ty's elegant, hard-hitting 23 was the highlight of the closing overs as Vincent and newcomers Ciaran and Matt struggled against bowling that continued to shoot, spit and sizzle. Still, a breezy - and undefeated - contribution from Chris took us to 144 after the 35 overs.

Ever-mindful of the spirit of cricket, Fields were concerned lest Shakespeare be forced to bat in failing light (footballers had delayed the start of the game for some 30 minutes). Thus we gallantly conceded 64 runs from our first 4 overs. This proved too generous, despite Vincent's skilful juggling of the attack to regain control. Chris bowled fiercely and dangerously (one genuine bouncer sailing a couple of feet over the batsman's head), Matt produced vicious movement for 2 wickets on debut, both the captain and Tyrone grabbed wickets, but in the end it wasn't enough. Hudayn's brilliant 80 (smoothly caught by P.A. off Tyrone's bowling in the deep) took the game beyond us, and we lost by 5 wickets.