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A warm, balmy September greeted us as Chantilly played hosts to tourists from South London. Unfortunately, Wallington had had their first scheduled game cancelled so were desperate for a match if only to prove that they had been on a tour to play cricket. Chantilly, eager to provide a game, were compelled to move off the Apremont ‘oval’ because of St. Brice’s League commitments and so another pitch was found, nestling amongst the woods on the edge of Creil. Picturesque at a distance, closer inspection revealed how many other extra-curricular activities now used this site. Indeed, cricket “came home” to this little piece of Oise turf. So the advance party of C.C.C. made the playing area resemble a cricket arena and while bottles and glass were removed and the good artificial wicket swept, Denzil Homer produced his boundary flags like a presenter on ‘Blue Peter’. The game could now start.

Wallington Tudor batted first and were pegged back immediately by a sustained period of brilliance in the form of Adrian Powell. Three wickets in three overs had Powell’s hand in it somewhere! A difficult, swirling catch, and two wickets from a tricky spell of bowling, full of guile and subtleties of spin, left the tourists reeling on 22 for 3. As Powell’s master class came to a close so the tourists made a solid recovery. In fact the bulk of Wallington’s innings was carried by an impressive partnership between Malick and Prasad, with the latter retiring on his half-century. A swashbuckling 42 followed this up from Mali. The tourists amassed 207 for 5 from their 35 overs. A challenging score but all eyes were set, not on the run chase, but the sumptuous tea provided by Matt and Kari Gillette. It seems that all attempts at concentration and focus are increasingly undermined by the culinary delights produced on match days! The more so when this ‘tea’ had to be guarded from a curious crowd of youths who had gathered for some motor cycling trials.