The 2015 season started in epic fashion for the Sunday friendly XI with a hard fought victory for the hosts over annual rivals Woodcutters. The pleasant weather had drawn a big crowd with several club members bringing their young families to watch. Hopefully this tense tussle will inspire those youngsters to take up the sport. The visiting captain had won the toss and inserted Reed. Veteran batsman Peter Baker and Rob Willoughby started proceedings with a promising opening stand. However, the introduction of the late arriving Bernedes proved devastating. Three cheap wickets fell leaving Reed struggling at 40 for 3. Baker was now batting with young Ben Mansfield. Together they stopped the collapse as Baker proved the perfect mentor and Mansfield a more than able partner. Despite only scoring 4, Mansfield had stood up to some difficult bowling at a pressured period of play. However, the run out of Mansfield followed soon after by the loss of Baker for 33 meant Reed were back on un-even ground. Closing in on drinks Reed had still only made it to 60 with 5 wickets lost. For Marcus J.E. Baker it required a captain’s knock to get Reed to somewhere near a defendable total. To help him in this enterprise was Tom Walsingham, who was up to the challenge. Although boundaries were not easy to come by, singles were taken in abundance. Adding 66 M.J.E. Baker then fell to a smart catch for 41 trying to hit out. Walsingham (39*) held firm and took Reed to a final total of 166 for 8. Lloyd Bowman and Ed Kershaw had both added useful runs but ultimately sacrificed their wickets for the cause. The winters are always a torture waiting [...]