On a superbly sunny day Pacific hosted Graces and from the outset displayed an eagerness to turn the tide and rectify recent losses against Graces. Skipper Atkin won the toss and sent the opposition in to bat.

Opening bowlers Atkin and Smith set the tone early with disciplined fast bowling, giving Graces no respite and beating the bat on many occasions. Atkin removed both openers and when Smith dismissed the talented No.3, Pacific held the upper hand at 3/32. Atkin opted to keep the pressure on by making both openers bowl their full quota, but Graces were surely disappointed when the change bowlers James. G and Lucius offered no respite and kept the pressure on by regularly securing wickets. The main danger was the opposition captain Gordon who dug in and looked set for a big knock, only to be removed from the economiser James ‘Gunther’ Gleadow.

Pacific’s fielders supported the bowlers with a tight effort holding catches, to ensure Graces never got away. Debutant Justin Hess impressed hitting the pitch hard, and along with the ever reliable Kurt ensured that Graces’ total never got out of hand, despite a late flurry and some lack of concentration in the field by Pacific in the last 5 overs.

A target of 150 wasn’t at all daunting, but a disciplined bowling effort from Graces gave Pacific a real scare. Hollman was dismissed early to regulation outswing, closely followed by Ali who fell LBW. Pacific’s No.3 Justin looked to be playing himself into form when he drove the straightest of sixes but was dismissed when trying to attempt the same shot, and when Bastin fell Pacific were in trouble.

It was left to the reliable, cool heads of Webley and Rademaker to pull Pacific out of a hole, and that they did with a superbly paced 73 run partnership which put Pacific on target to coast home. When Pacific seemed to be coasting Webley pre-meditated coming down the pitch to smash the leg spinner and was stumped, then Rademaker was dismissed in bizarre circumstances. While attempting to smash a wide ball from a medium pacer Rademaker lost his footing and was stumped with the keeper back. By that stage Jon and Kurt’s partnership had done the damage though, and even with a late flurry of wickets Graces could not prevent Atkin and the lower order getting the required runs.

All in all Pacific enjoyed a good day out in the sun with an impressive performance for the first Sunday game of the year, with all team members contributing in a disciplined effort.

XI:- Chris Atkin*, Rob Bastin+, Lucius Faisal, James Gleadow, Peter Hollman, Alastair Pritchard, Kurt Rademaker, Justin Roy, James Smith, Justin Hess, & Jon Webley.

12ths:- David Morahan, Matt Holliday, Lahri Mohamed, Vincent Croft, & Howard Russell

Can those selected please provide a tea for 2 and remember NO SPIKES.