In the return game back in April at Wray Crescent, Crossbats dug in early to secure a very dull draw. Without a tinge of irony, their Captain, Alistair Wright chose a limited over format & became the main beneficiary as he top scored in the match making a 1st wicket partnership of 147 with Alan Carter(52) before he was caught at long on to a fine running catch by Mike Alexander.

C 189-7 (40 overs). A Wright 82. A Carter 52. J Davies 8-0-54-5
P 151-10 (39.5). D Roberts 50. Wrench 6-0-15-3

Pacific¹s longest standing fixture, this was the 26th meeting (w8 d8 l10), saw Pacific¹s bowlers toll long & hard. Their stand continued, broken only by a 30 minute downpour, half an hour after the start. Darryl Roberts was the most economical bowler for Pacific (8-2-20-0) as the 4 other seamers struggled to reach consistency. Jim Davies, however, was the main beneficiary, as the new batters came & went, having underestimated the skill & judgment of the opening pair to the extent that 147-0 became 158-4 & 178-7 to make a par total, but surely less than the Crossbats would have hoped after such a fine start. Jim left the field with only his 2nd ever 5 wicket haul & he must be one of the finds of the season for Pacific.

Indeed, this season was looking to be something special indeed as until the August Bank Holliday weekend, only 3 defeats had been recorded. However since, there have been 3 defeats, 2 draws (1 abandoned due to rain), the rain also caused abandonment of the tour of Cambridgeshire & just the 1 win against Washington. A woeful Autumn indeed given that this was looking like it could have been the 2nd best season ever !

Back to Crossbats & in the antithesis of Crossbats opening partnership, Pacific lost Hollman 1st ball as the ball bounced down from bat & pad & trickled towards the stumps with just enough effort to dislodge a bail. Joe Phelan (5) soon joined him & like Joe, Jonathan Hardisty (7) too departed lbw. Steve Lay (14) & the recuperating David Murray (13) both got starts but were beaten by the flight & turn of the Australian leg spinner Wrench who also took 3 catches & a run out to add to his quick fire 21 earlier. At 71-8 the P innings was in disarray but Darryl Roberts with some belligerent strokes, a little luck where the ball dropped & some fine positive attitude scored only his second career 50. The required rate had not risen beyond 8 per over but with his dismissal the last pair of Wilkinson & Alexander did what they could despite the result no longer being in doubt before Wilkinson was run out by Wrench with just 2 minutes of daylight remaining.

P: P Hollman J Hardisty+ J Phelan S Lay D Murray J Davies+ N Wright C O¹Grady D Roberts M Alexander N Wilkinson*

Next Saturday is Pacific¹s last fixture when Pacific President, Adrian Palmer leads an XI especially invited from clubs all around London & beyond, in what will his first match of the season due to work & family commitments. Surely there cannot be too many players who make their seasonal debuts in October ?

Next Sunday (8/10) is the opening day of the MCC Indoor school 6 a side league which this year features Hackney Grasshoppers, as well as as Cherry Tree (Washington B), Washington & Pacific - the latter 2 of which face each other in their opening games on Sunday 15/10 as Pacific hope to emulate their outdoor success & find again the form which took them to the indoor cup final in 97.