Our traditional May bank holiday fixture saw UCS retain the L-M Cup after a curious game which could have gone either way. 

We batted first (I believe by agreement), Captain Chasseaud having said before the game that he'd like to bat first, put on a big total, and give everyone a bowl. The upper order was resilient, if not fluent, with Dinsey recording 9 off [see scorecard] balls, and diligently taking the shine off. At 20 overs we had scored 40-odd and talk on the boundary was of a "waste of time". The skipper steadied the ship, although he also scored his 29 very slowly (after the game, himself calling his innings "tedious"), and an impatient middle order gave away their wickets while trying to push things along. Barrister and batting all-rounder Hugo Forrest came in at 11, having been drafting legal submissions on his Mac in the pavilion, and played some lovely stuff, putting on an excellent last wicket stand with Aroon and taking us to a just-about respectable 160-odd off around 50 overs. 

Tea was nice, but as usual was only just sufficient and, in truth, a bit of a rip-off. The weather was great and the vibes good at Highgate though, so we don't mind. 

Having been frustrated by how our batting innings went, PCC were fired up in the field and aware that there was no margin for error when defending 160 on the Highgate Road. Riz was imperiously miserly with the ball, and having got their opener out gave him a send-off by (what looked like) impersonating a chest-beating silverback gorilla, shouting something like "Awooga!". We'll never really know, but got the general gist. 

Forrest opened with Riz, and bowled superbly, bagging himself a Michelle, including the dangerous children's author Craig, who skied one to the cover boundary having been smashing it all over the park ("dangerous" because he was looking in good nick with the bat, not because he writes for dangerous children). Riz dubbed Forrest "The Snake Charmer" from the slips on account of the lateral movement he achieved (don't snake charmers make them move vertically?). Anyway, Riz and Mutz - the Siddiqui Man Dem in the slip cordon - might have been fasting for Ramadan, but that didn't stop them from playing a key role in our fielding innings by inspiring commitment in the field and possibly getting into the batsmen's heads with relentless chitter-chatter. Ahmed chipped in with a key dismissal with what Riz described as his "Gatting Ball". 

Against all odds, the PCC were looking all set for a win when we had them at 88/7. Then in comes UCS skipper Ian Chapman. Last year Chappers won the cup back for them with a controlled, canny knock - seeing out a shitload of overs for about 2 runs an over. This year was much the same. Although he didn't take them over the line for the win, he batted out the draw, farming the strike skilfully and being the only man on the day to get a 50. He may have had a little help from the umpire (who turned down two plumb LBW shouts - presumably for fear of never hearing the end of it), but sour grapes are unbecoming of the gentleman cricketer so we won't mention that. 

While frustrating, it was another enjoyable and classic fixture and we look forward to winning back the cup next year!