The day began with a very light drizzle and mist over much of the city – but the groundsman Ant Polson was on the phone early saying that the block had been covered and we should be OK. By our 11am start time things had brightened up a little but a persistent wind from the Pavillon end kept up most of the day.

The Valley was very excited to be welcoming back our Army Officer’s XI cricketing rivals after a many year hiatus in this fixture – the result of Major Jimmy Martin and our very own Ollie Dugdale (Flt Lt ret.) putting their heads together in the offseason.

The Army team were the consummate Valley guests – incredibly punctual, well dressed and very keen on the cricket field. Further, Capt Waaka Parkinson’s ability to find lost cricket balls in the long grass by a mixture of trigonometry, dead reckoning and semaphore type signals saved us a lot of time (and a fair few balls) during the first innings.

The day began with an excellent speech by Club Captain Jesse Tritschler as he reminded everyone of the proud history between the cricket club and the Army. It also served to introduce the prize for the winning side – the GOC’s ‘War and Peace’ trophy which had not been contested since the mid-1990s. From there a 50 over match was agreed upon and the Valley won the toss and elected to bat first. It is still undetermined whether having 7/8 Captains on the cricket field at once is a new experience for Valley members or not!

Sandy MacLeod and Charlie Due opened the innings getting through to 59 before we lost Sandy (30) and then Tom Music (0) in quick succession. At the other end, Charlie saw off an excellent opening spell from Army XI Captain, Capt Dougal Munro. Josh Blackmore (41) came to the crease and kept the runs flowing and we got through to 106/2 at drinks. Afterwards, Charlie kept swinging and ended with a very fine 102* – the Valley total getting through to 239/6 after 50 overs. The Army XI showed true team spirit in using 9 bowlers on the day and having across the board fitness and a spare fielder or two on rotation made for great viewing from the scorer’s box.

Thanks to Tina and Scott for a lovely lunch in the sun (it did appear during the break) and the chase was on.

Kurt Bayer (0-7-20) – channelling Richard Hadlee with a hint of Movember – took the new ball downwind and bowled good lines with some pace to keep the Army openers in check. Maj Alex Bowyer and Capt Dougal Munro both looking good early doors with some technically excellent boundaries being hit. Chris House into the wind was successful in his second over – delivering a wicket maiden in what became the start of a very good day at the office for him – 6 wickets from his 7.2 overs conceding 31 runs. George Ritchie (2-4-4) and Charlie Due (1-3-7) came on to relieve the hard-working opening bowlers. Some excellent catching was on display (not always the case for Valley sides) with 6 catches being taken and none dropped – the highlight being Kurt leaping up with his left hand to grab Chris’s 5th wicket. The Army were eventually dismissed for 62 after 21.2 overs.

It was a great occasion and the Valley could not have asked for better visitors – an excellent day and we truly hope the Army will be back next summer to try and win ‘War and Peace’ off us.

Sandy MacLeod – Valley Capt for the day