Brethren and Supporters converged on the Royal Masonic School for Girls in Rickmansworth on Sunday 19 July 2009 for the second Annual Cricket Bonanza with Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London.
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Having successfully negotiated the challenge of locating the pitch and pavilion, our Captain, Jamie Plowman, won the toss and elected to field. The team was strengthened at the last minute with the inclusion of our Assistant PGM, Viv Thomas and Peter Ayton (who also doubled as umpires).
On a slow pitch, where runs were hard to come by, our opponents made steady progress against some mixed bowling. The 100 run mark was passed after 26 overs with the loss of 2 wickets. Further bowling success followed but the host’s score finally totalled 143 for 7 wickets in their allotted 35 overs. Tea (or rather a three course meal with wine) was then taken.
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The Provincial Grand Master (right) with the two teams
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After a torrential rain storm the sun re-appeared to encourage the Northants & Hunts batsmen to rise to the occasion. The gamesmanship employed by the Met Grand Lodge of London to generously feed and water the teams between innings proved to be successful. Wickets fell. The required run rate rose. Sterling performances by Jeremy Thomas (17), Peter Ayton (13) and Viv Thomas (10) gave our own “Barmy Army” much to sing about. However, with the score on 83 the final wicket fell. We had to be content with second place for the second year running.
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The teams had enthusiastic support
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Worse was to come - the hosts won all the raffle prizes. However, another memorable day of fun was sufficient compensation for the Provincial Grand Master and his team and supporters who are looking forward to next year’s rematch.