With bad weather preventing any play for the last 4 years the Jesters returned to Intake road to take on the unbeaten Undercliffe Cavaliers for the 1^st time since 2004.
The Sunday lunch co-ordinator decided the Manor public house at Greengates should be the venue so it seemed a bit strange when the convoy had to stop at a newsagent but Macca drove on, later saying he was going to the Co-Op for something to eat! The Manor had a 2-for-1 offer on which unusually (for a Sunday) did not include Beef or Lamb! Of the impressive 10 people present only the 2 Matthew Fort (food critic for the Times) fans Thompson & Brown did not enjoy the food.
The cavaliers are made up from the social membership of Undercliffe CC including a couple of Jesters from past years & prefer a shortish game so as not to intrude on valuable drinking time. At the toss it was decided to have a 35 over game in which batsmen must retire at 50, Macca for one was not happy about this & spent the rest of the afternoon moaning about it to anyone who would listen to him!
On the typically flat Undercliffe pitch the openers, Dobson & Morley made hay with the former surviving an unusual moment when the ball flew to slip from his bat & was caught, the umpire giving him out but Stewart pointing out that he had hit the ball into the ground; he started walking but was called back by a sporting home captain. Not all of the home players seemed to agree with this decision however & a few "comments" were made. When he skied a catch (as predicted seconds before by “mystic Meg” Macca) he left the field a “bit hot under the collar”. 14-year-old Ben reached his maiden Jesters 50 & was just walking off to the applause as his Mum & Dad turned up to watch – great timing! The highlight of the innings though was Matt Hill reaching his maiden 50 in any game of cricket in the last over, watched by his dad who has still to reach that particular landmark.

After the excellent value for money ( £1 ) teas the new opening bowling pair of Thompson (Walsh) & Brown (Ambrose) tore in with immediate success with the help of a red-hot slip cordon (Bell & Dobson) who snaffled 4 catches between them. Scottie (on holiday) who has fielded there for years to see that many chances will be gutted.
Richard Griggs, who had waited 20 years for his Jesters debut & young Dane Winterbottom also chipped in & the innings could have ended earlier if not for some ridiculous catch hunting antics by Messrs Dobson & Hill resulted in collisions & missed chances much to the amusement of the home crowd!
To see a home view match report check out their website.


Catching competition update D.Bell=2 RL=4 The Hills=1 Scottie=0