Here's a quiz question for you: How many points are a team awarded in the Middlesex and Essex Invitation League if they take three wickets and then hit 132 runs to draw a game? Had you asked Pacific's players this question before our clash against Chigwell, you almost certainly would have received eleven different answers, ranging anywhere between zero and 200. The correct answer, unfortunately, is only two points for slaving away on what was the hottest day of the year so far.

It was never going to be easy in the field, with Chigwell boasting a strong batting line-up and a lightning quick outfield. And so it proved to be, as they proceeded to pile on the runs. Each of the Pacific bowlers had to, in the words of Ahmed, "take the punishment" and the fielders had their work cut out. It must be said that there were a few unforced errors – a ball beating a half-hearted effort on the boundary here, an overthrow there. At one point the competitive Kiwi Dave Colwill drilled the ball a foot and a half to the left of a motionless Paul Davis, who after the match said: "I figured there was a 20% chance of catching it and a 50% chance of getting injured." If only he'd been wearing his baseball mitt. 

As all this was going on, the usually relaxed Ben Burnham could be seen to get angrier and angrier, looking as if he might explode with rage. Was it that Ahmed, stuck in traffic, had entered the field seven overs late? Was it because Rob Allum & Co wouldn't let Ahmed bowl, on account of his lateness, until the 15th over? Was it the misfields? Was it that the captain had failed to bring the in-form Mullens on to bowl until it was too late? Was it that Chigwell were not declaring their innings closed? Perhaps these were all contributory factors. But the real reason, it transpired, was that not only was Ben the only player on the pitch not wearing a hat, he had also neglected to apply any suncream and was thus becoming redder by the minute. His mother, if she is reading this, would surely not approve.

We were criticised for a slow over rate but, to be fair, it's difficult to get through them quickly when you keep having to fetch the ball from halfway across the next field. The truth of the matter has to be that Chigwell were too greedy in waiting for Colwill to reach his century before declaring.

In response, we did what we could but the loss of the dangerous but exhausted Rajkumar on the second ball of the innings was a real blow. Toby Chasseaud and Aly Duncan put on some resistance for the second wicket against the challenging bowling of Hutchinson and Kerr, compiling a 39 partnership. Other batsmen came and went, facing a barrage of sledging from the fielders. "I know what the headline's going to be," quipped one: "Pacific All At Sea." And, to some extent we were. "I haven't paid a £10 match fee to watch this," remarked a slip fielder, which perhaps contributed to Mullens' sliced cut shot to a grateful point fielder. Bar the odd play and miss, Toby batted sensibly in pursuit of a batting point, which seemed to be all we could hope for when faced with such a mammoth target. His shot of the day was a clipped drive through wide long on off Kerr which raced for four. Otherwise it was off-drives and cover drives that made up the majority of his nine boundaries. Sharan Timbadia's handy 13 not out helped us reach the sole batting point and secure the draw, which, given the circumstances, we can at least consider a moral victory.

** You can view video highlights of our innings by clicking here thanks to Navid and his GoPro camera **

Other points of interest:

It was the multi-talented Sam Howes' debut. He fielded with enthusiasm and started bowling leg spin before switching to seam. We look forward to seeing him bat.

Despite his blob, Rajkumar marshalled the troops well from behind the stumps and the scorebook records that he conceded no byes.