A day to forget!

After three consecutive wins at the start of the season, hopes were high that the 100% record could be maintained at the pleasant Hertingfordbury surroundings, on a glorious day of sunshine. Skipper Overton won the toss and elected to bat first. With the Village having won doing so in all three previous matches and with the sun beating down, it looked like a wise decision. However the batting performance on this occasion was nothing short of woeful. All batsman struggled to come to terms with a pitch which held up a touch and played a little slower than it looked after some early bounce had subsided. In truth though, there were few excuses for the batsmen, who bar one or two exceptions got themselves out rather than being 'got out'.

Pete Jaffe batting at No.8 top scored with 31 and was one of the few who could escape criticism. There was only one other score in double figures. The fact that the bowling wasn't even particularly strong, is evidenced by the fact that there were 24 wides in a total of 31 extras gifted to the Village, who despite this generosity only managed to post a paltry 109 all out. Only 78 off the bat.

200 might have been competitive on the surface but this target was nowhere near enough. The home side cruised to victory by 8 wickets. There were two memorable highlights from the 2nd innings both involving our favourite stablemate Saahil. The first was a truly stunning, full length, left handed catch to dismiss the opposition's classiest batsmen on show, from an Overton long hop. The second was less creditable. With just three runs for victory he had to be taken out of the attack for bowling consecutive beamers. It is debateable whether these were intentional or not but he was out of control and was rightly removed. Following removal from the attack, he headed straight for the paddock, failing to see out the remainder of the game. Storm off has been added to 'the board' as a whole new category of disgrace.

The Village remain in contention towards the top of the league and things can only improve next week at home to Kings Langley.