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Rob Oakley, known on this occasion as the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (sorry but it was the only way I could get it in), took the crease and contributed to a record second wicket partnership. He and Pretsell hit the ball to all corners of the ground amassing 155 with Lee unfortunately just missing out on his half century when caught by Thomson off the very accurate and economical Robeson for 46. Oakley retired early, unbeaten on 63, since he had an appointment to have the tattoo removed during the break between innings. Little did he know but Robeson was Playing With Fire since these events brought together our powerhouse partnership of Patrick Clarke and Adrian Powell.

Patrick raced to 43 in his usual swashbuckling style (one 6 four 4’s) before holing out to Chilcott off young McCarthy, whose witch hunt for wickets continued as he bowled out Max Shepherd first ball with the innings at 221 for 4 off 31 overs. Shepherd senior hung around but could not match the hard-hitting Powell in the closing overs with Adrian finishing in style 43 not out including eight 4’s, but had he Kicked The Hornet’s Nest by pushing the final score to 250 at the end of the 35 overs ?

As we all know, the game was now entering it’s most competitive phase – the tea break ! Julia and her family members had very kindly offered to provide refreshments in spite of having been warned that CCC was really world class in this aspect of the game and standards were way above those of our play. She rose magnificently to the challenge with a perfect mix of French and Scottish fayre – a beautiful brie served with chunks of baguette followed by superb scones all washed down with hot tea – savoured by the capacity crowd and players alike.

The scones and trimmings weighed heavily on the CCC attack as Pretsell and Shepherd saw the ball despatched for 18 of the first two overs by the young Maclehose pairing. Things did not improve until Oakley brought Nick Clarke and Adrian Powell on to bowl. Maclehose T was trapped off Powell for 28 as Rob added to his impressive haul of catches this season. Chilcott pushed the score on with Maclehose L with both batsmen striking several boundaries until Clarke tempted Chilcott into an error as he lofted one to Jean Francois Ripoche in the deep.

With Chilcott gone for 18 Clarke (2 for 4) set about the middle order quickly dismissing Robeson clean bowled for a duck. With the most impressive spell in CCC history Powell pinned the visitors down taking 3 for 4 off 3 overs with two wicket maidens in succession. Maclejose D offered some decent resistance and stopped the rot – his experience was winning the day until he spooned a drive to Jean Francois who gobbled up the rare chance.

Max Shepherd took his first ever wicket for the club in a tidy 3 over spell and the metronomic Simon Hedley took 2 for 13 but it was Jean Francois who succeeded in closing the Maclehose innings capping a fine day with his first wicket for the club as the tourists were all out for 85.

A comfortable win for CCC in the end, but we have the feeling that the Maclehose family may be back to have another go – certainly the young generation were more than a match and knowing how good the Scots are at blending ingredients we could expect a different outcome if this fixture were to become a permanent feature – based on the fun, the food and the fans it would be a pleasure to host a return match – maybe this could become the Maclehose Millenium Trilogy……………..

Nick Shepherd