Shambolic start to 2015

The very pleasant surroundings of St Margaretsbury Recreation Ground were the backdrop to a shambolic opening day performance by the Village 1st team. A littany of dropped catches allowed the Home side to build a solid total that was supplemented to a decent finishing score of 237, following good late hitting by the skipper. 6 drops, most of them in the straightforward category, coupled with some wayward early season bowling spells, allowed the St M's batsmen to profit.

Only a decent batting display would enable the Village to dismiss these sub par performance as early season rust. Sadly the batting too fell well below the standards set in previous seasons. Naz Asif aside, the batting line up failed to apply themselves against a moderate attack. With a typically attacking and entertaining approach, Naz carried his bat for the entire innings, ending up 135 not out. But he received very little support for his endeavours. The rest of the team could not manage 90 between them, with the 21 extras, being the next highest score.

Things can and will have to improve. The silver lining is the memory of promotion last season, after also starting with an opening day defeat.