Washington made it two wins on the bounce on Saturday, against a Pacific side with a good mixed bag of players. After winning the toss and inserting the Wash, skipper-for-the-day Satish and fellow opening bowler Ravi found themselves up against two bats with an eye for a big shot and a determination to score quickly. Ravi was on fire from the get-go, swinging, seaming and probing all the right areas, but with no reward.
Satish clearly had a lot to think about, and after a joyless spell replaced himself with Luke Hollman. Luke's impact was immediate; his second ball had Wash's #2 charging down the track only to play at thin air; Ben nearly put his back out as the dangers of stumping someone on a wet astroturf whilst wearing trainers became apparent.
So began a great effort to pull the score back from what, early on, appeared to be the brink of disaster. Catches from Steve Lay and, most notably, Satish - the latter diving majestically forward to scoop a rock-hard chance - were the highlights of a solid performance in the field. Catch of the day must however be awarded to Ravi, who had about 10 minutes to position himself under a lofted shot to cow off the bowling of one Peter Hollman. The Ravster wasn't done yet though, as he returned for a second spell to snaffle a superb caught and bowled. Bowling duties were rotated well, but just about every Wash player was capable of wielding the bat, helping the visitors to a formidable 236 from 40 overs.

An Asian/fusion tea was wolfed enthusiastically and Ben was partnered by Steve Lay at the crease as PCC commenced the chase. Scoring quickly was the order of the day, and Ben was typically quick out of the blocks, finding the boundary with the help of Charlie French. It was a scratchier start for Steve though, and after a couple of maiden overs Ben succumbed to the pressure and played an ill-judged and ill-timed shot to a swinging ball. Ben was replaced by Oli Creese, rarely seen of late due to a hamstring injury incurred earlier in the season. Immediately, he set about the Wash attack with a great knock typified by an easy power, ending only when caught on the boundary by long-on. Only after Steve and Quasim made way for Justin and Luke did the fireworks resume. Justin was clearly on fire; smashing fours and the odd six with gay abandon. Luke was content to wade in with some powerful strokes in between some majestically-correct batting and calling. After spending an age off the strike on 49, Justin hit one of the biggest sixes seen at Wray - seriously, the ball was immediately given up for lost as it headed somewhere in the direction of Finsbury Park. Some confusion had occurred during an earlier change of scorer, and this turned out to be the last cricketing action of the day, as Pacific ended on 196.

A genial Wash side joined Pacific in the Stroud Green 'spoons, and we congratulate the Belsize Park outfit on their second consecutive win over Pacific.

Washington Sec Stuart Marsh "we thoroughly enjoyed the game and not just the winning aspect. You got a good bunch of blokes there and some very good batters particularly. We look forward to the match up next year."