Captain Tim got us through until tea, but then got out. He is getting tired from all the unaccustomed speeches, coin tosses, etc. Plus he had to perform 1009 squats through Thursday and Friday while the men had their turn batting.

The Indian men set up their field with catchers in a close ring waiting for the popped-up catch on front of square leg, but Travis and Peter stood tall and hit the ball down.

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On the concrete pitch, our boys never really looked under pressure, but somehow managed to get themselves out. Cricket can be a disappointing game sometimes. But these boys usually play a type of cricket where they are not allowed to bat for more than two hours, so credit to Marcus and Marnus in particular who went beyond their normal allotment. Peter also stuck it out. One day these boys will make a hundred!

Those of our boys who hadn’t bowled had now each taken their turn at batting. In line with junior format participation rules, the boys who do the bowling aren’t allowed to go in at the top of the batting order. Otherwise Patrick would have come in earlier. When he finally got his turn, Patrick played with his usual stubbornness. If we are ever to go up into the men’s competition, senior boys like Patrick will lead the way.

To be fair, it is hard for our boys to be playing against the men from the first division.

The visiting men again taught us quite a lot about cricket. It was not easy for them either on the concrete pitch, but they bowled at the stumps, a surprising tactic that our boys had been a bit too timid to try. Mr Bumrah took it easy on us for once, but Mr Shami bowled some scary stuff and taught young Marnus a lesson about how a bowler doesn’t get you out with one ball, he gets you out with a sequence.