It was truly great to be back at The Valley on Sunday plus what a game then, against the Millbrook Cricket Club, one of the very best and most enjoyable I’ve ever played in there! It was full of swings and roundabouts, ie they were 30/4, then 174/6, but 175 all out with 3 overs to go. While we were similarly 29/4 (not a good day for the top order batsmen!), got to 131/8 and eventually, the last pair got us home with a stand of 20 odd, on the back of a great innings of 64* from Ben Larter – which dare I say it, even at this early stage of the season could/should make him a leading contender for the H. Waters Cup again…..

But regardless of the result, the weather was perfect, everyone in both teams got a bat, all bar 2 got a bowl, the game went to the wire and we also had a very good crowd there – including lots of lovely Millbrook ladies, while a number of Valley luminaries such as Messrs Banks, Olsen, Smith and Woodfield (plus Phil Harris and Graham Inglis) were spotted desporting themselves among the friendly gathering!

And Barry Frost excelled himself with the splendid range of salads on offer at lunchtime, especially as he told me he’d only got back home at 9.00 pm the night before from 12 days away (and had storm damage to attend to), which makes his effort all the more meritorious! So can you please pass on my warmest thanks to Barry, it was just a pity that he’d (naturally) had to leave before the speeches and missed all the justified praise in his direction.

While John Kerrison did well too – Paul Bateman, his friend Brian Plaskett and I were the last 3 away at 7.30ish, after tidying the pavilion and giving John a hand with the shutters etc, he seemed to have enjoyed the day and a splendid one it was :-), although funny in a way, of course, without the big tree on the field, after I’ve had 40 years of playing with it there……

And finally, I left a copy of the Henry Blofeld book there for The Valley, the one where he writes so well about his visit there – I put a note on the front of the book about it, and highlighted the start and end of his lovely half chapter article.

Thanks and cheers,
Bert Walker