Ahhhhhhh, the new season commenced at the beautifully appointed ground at Hartfield and ten white clad Greysmen took to the field followed  by the Greys maverick fashion guru Terry “Zoolander”Burgess in a fetching cream, grey and beige ensemble with delightful mould pocket accessories  (“It brings out the colour in his eyes” no one wistfully observed ).

With Al G (15-1) and QB ( 5-0 Dayesque figures , no higher praise ) bowling a tight opening spell runs were hard to come by on a “slightly ” chilly April day. The frustration  for the openers resulted in an attempted expansive drive being skied over Jerry’s shoulder in the covers ; back pedalling furiously he took a great catch diving towards the pavilion. Rob (24-3) bowled a great spell with some great fist pumping celebrations reminiscent of Dominic Cork in his pomp (did he have a pomp?) .Ib (37-1) finally removed the other opener ( easy catch to Jerry ) who had scored 54 from a total of 64 (? ? ) but the runs started to flow courtesy of a rather large lad who hit the ball hard and far (73 finally bowled by a good un by Guy -15-2 ). This just left time for Tel (5-2) to mop up the tail and leave Hartfield at 157 when tea was taken.

In reply Jerry fell cheaply somehow getting a leading edge to first slip and wickets fell regularly with both Biff and Guy ( after a great 6 utilising a back lift this big \ ) mistiming full tosses , Dom bowled by good/bad ball ( I was in the changing room and he didn’t seem too sure ) , Tel chipping to short  square leg  and Zak run out due to his inability to understand the call “wait” ( note to self don’t mention run outs ).

Alex (20) and QB (14) stabilised the innings but it soon became a case of battling for a draw rather than chasing the win. After they fell Ib stonewalled/wristy  flicked / slogged all at the same time to every ball and eventually fell leaving Al (4 runs off 27 balls ) and Rob (4 off 36 balls ) to channel their inner Hassosksynous  and guide TMG’S  to a worthy draw.

We warmed up over pints and an open fire after an enjoyable start to the season and it was great to see some fellow Greysmen come to support their team mates.