The Thoroughbreds landed at Normandy on a cloudy May morning, eager to bounce back from the previous week’s slightly underwhelming performance and keen to show what they were truly capable of.
With the regular captain unavailable, the stand-in skipper won the toss and chose to bat. After a lively team talk full of excellent suggestions about what not to do, Barret and Alan strode purposefully to the crease to open the innings.

Barret set the tone immediately, smashing a boundary from the very first ball, while Alan quickly joined in with some superb stroke play of his own. The pair batted impressively hitting regular boundaries and walked off beaming after putting on 44 runs without loss.

Richard and Tim continued the positive momentum, adding another 33 runs. Tim was unlucky when he creamed one on the off side only to find short cover pull off a sharp, diving ankle-height catch. Nevertheless, Thoroughbreds reached 77 by the end of the second pair.

At that point, Normandy introduced their impact players, and a combination of tight bowling and excellent fielding slowed the scoring rate. Greg and Roger, however, were more than up to the challenge. Having noticed that the previous pairs had both scored multiples of 11, they did the same.
The pair did well to lose just one wicket, again thanks to an outstanding catch. This time the fielder leapt high at point and plucked the ball one handed from the air.

The final pair, John and Mahendra, looked to push the total comfortably beyond 100.
However, they only managed 25 runs — thanks entirely to John who powered his way to four boundaries. Mahendra’s contribution was rather more subtle, consisting mainly of staying off strike whenever possible.
At one point, he even turned down an easy single with John already halfway down the pitch. Slightly embarrassing, given that much of the pre-match talk about improved running had come from the captain himself.

Still, a final score of 113–3 was respectable, if not entirely daunting.

Normandy began their reply aggressively with two belligerent openers, but they had not reckoned with the guile and experience of Richard, who has recently rediscovered his rhythm. After four tight deliveries, he cleaned up the opener with his fifth ball.

Moments later, however, Normandy quite literally took to the covers.

The mother of all hailstorms descended on the ground, and with the outfield quickly turning into a squelching swamp, the match was called off.

Frozen, damp, but not entirely unhappy with the outcome, Thoroughbreds agreed to a no result.

Half an hour later, safely installed in the clubhouse with beers, coffees, and a truly excellent homemade orange cake, the remaining players gazed out at a beautifully sunny ground - with steam rising from the surface.

A great team effort from the Thoroughbreds, and several standout performances showed that the squad now has real depth heading into future fixtures.