The Twickenham CC U11s have tried a number of times this season to get a development game against Hounslow & Whitton up and running. But the vagaries of the English weather (too hot!) and a clash with an England World Cup game put the skids under previous attempts.

The weather on 8 July was hardly scarf and wooly mitten-like, but, thankfully, it wasn't quite as hot as a couple of weeks back. So, game (finally) on.

Haley takes the strain
Skipper Stan Hough called heads correctly and Twickenham decided to have a bat (see here for the card). Albert Whitehead and Max Fernandes subsequently strode out to get things up and running.

Whitehead in particular timed the ball nicely, hitting a number of elegant off drives. The pair also ran smartly and generally set a positive tone.

Ted Plummer nonetheless picked up Whitehead caught and bowled, before Kian Cripps pulled off the same trick to dismiss Fernandes. Zakii Miah responded by hitting the first boundary of the day before left armer Alife McInnes knocked over his stumps. 26-3 and the Ts were wobbling a bit.

Cue a solid contribution from Alfie Haley. He batted all of the 25 balls available to him and retired with 18 runs to his name. A decent effort.

At the other end, Raf Foster fought fire with fire, whilst poor old Mass Constantopolous came and went without troubling the scorers. Leo Brown was responsible for both dismissals there.

Would someone step up and see the Ts post a defendable score? Yep, they would, James Penrose hitting 14 from 16 balls, before Jack Baran and Austin Tilzey scrambled a few more at the end to take the visitors to a respectable 97.

Ts squeeze in the field
The Ts knew that they have to bowl and field well to win. And, that they did.

Openers Kian Cripps and Samuel Dryden took Hounslow & Whitton into double figures, but Whitehead proved once more to be the golden arm, snuffling a caught and bowled to remove Cripps. When Jack Baran - AGAIN - ran a player out (Sam Dryden on this occasion) out with a direct hit from the outfield the hosts were reeling a little on 12-2.

Things didn't get much better. Ted Plummer certainly dug in and indeed played a number of nice drives, but all around him wickets kept on falling. Murtaza Momin took one of them in an impressive spell of two overs where he didn't concede a run. James Penrose also joined the wicket-taking party, while neither Miah, Haley nor Mass Constantopoulos gave much away. The Ts were easing ahead.

Zahi Quershi nonetheless wasn't going to go quietly, and despite taking a few knocks, he battled gamely on to 13 (19 balls) before Albert Whitehead sharply ran him out.

Late wickets for Baran and Hough (V) left Charlie English to see the innings through to the end as the Ts' attacked to the last; it can't be often that Baran has bowled to four regular slips and two leg slips, but he did tonight.

Be all that as it may, the contest was played in an excellent spirit between friendly opponents. All good.