Few occasions seem to build anticipation like the classic Pacific season opener, Seniors vs Juniors. The Junior team was packed with young stars, (some familiar, some not) led by the enigmatic Toby Jarvis, perhaps captaining his last S vs J fixture due to his imminent departure to the lazy surfing county of Cornwall. The Seniors too boasted great talent, mixed with experience, led by the evergreen visionary - Tim Garrett.The weather was surprisingly pleasant for the time of year, and the outfield at Wray even more surprisingly solid. In another break from tradition, it was decided that the Juniors would bat first.

Chennai’s finest, Sid Sriram, opened with Jai Pandit, Jahangir’s friend. The openers faired well against a fierce opening combination in Luke and Maccy G. Jai looked fluent from the off, playing a couple of elegant back foot punches. Sid played and missed at a few before finding the middle, culminating in a lovely flick over mid-on for 6. However, Sid soon feel attempting a big shot against Maccy G, caught by Junior Aaksh (which ended up becoming a feature of the innings).

The middle order succumbed to the experienced duo of Tim and Riz, one bowled by Riz, the other 3 caught by Sid of the bowling of Tim, who fielding for the Seniors managed to take 3 difficult chances. I don’t want to speculate but perhaps with 11, rather than the 10, elder statesmen on the field, some of the middle order may have been given a reprise. However, Jai continued to find the boundary, bringing up his 50 in the process. He was later joined by Akash, who survived a close lbw shout on his 3rd ball (sorry Tim), but soon joined in the fun. After amassing a significant partnership, playing the kind strokes that keep the Friends of Wray Crescent up at night, both managed to find the fielders on the boundary falling to the bowling of Manav and Zee, Akash falling just short of a 50.

Any hopes of a let up from the juniors were soon quashed, with Belmont ringer Ilan (who was a surprisingly nice bloke given his parent club) dispatching a may lusty blows to further prop up the Junior’s score. Dhruv was adjudged caught behind, TikTok later confirmed that he had been given a raw deal. JK managed to find the boundary a couple of times, but a clean caught and bowled by Luke gave way to Toby for the final ball of the innings, which he could only guide into the hands of Mutz. The Juniors finished on a respectable, but chase-able 238 of their 35 overs.

Following a jovial lunch break, Saad and Mutz opened up for the seniors. JK knowing the destructive nature of Saad started with a few fielders on the boundary. True to form Saad opened the Senior’s account with a sweetly timed boundary over the cover fielder, however he fell the very next ball to the slower delivery. JD fell a couple balls later, thanks to a sharp catch from Sid (this time wicket keeping for the Juniors), leaving them 4 for 2 after the first over. Mutz and Benny B then began the resistance, managing to play out a great spell from Toby in which he beat the bat many times and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket. Ben B then put JK to the sword, swashbuckling boundaries down the ground and through the covers. This gripping contest came to and end with Ben being bowled, not managing to connect with a drive.

As Riz came to the cease, the Senior’s hopes rested on the Siddique brothers. Riz playing cautiously at first, began finding the boundary, not before twice almost running out his partner, much to the dismay of his younger brother. The pair struggled to keep up with the run rate however, with Jack Mendel bowling a superb spell giving them very little to feast on. Mendel soon found his rewards, bowling Mutz after a gritty 14. Ilan from Belmont soon got the big fish Riz, who looked good for his 30, caught behind from a sharp short ball.

At this point the Juniors looked dominant. Akash then came on to bowl, laying all hopes of a senior comeback to bed with a fantastic and accurate spell of 3 for 9. In the meantime Mendel picked up another wicket and Dhruv picked up his first wicket for Pacific. Luke played magnificently for his 41, hitting a beautiful 6 down the ground, but his partners kept falling round him. Tristan, who only came to Wray for a beer, ended up filling in as number 11 for the Senior, struck a couple boundaries but it was to little too late as the Seniors fell 71 runs short.

All in all the season opener provided high-quality cricket (including some great fielding) and bodes well for the season to come. Following the game, many pints were consumed in the WB Yeats and the FT quiz made its first appearance of the season.