The honour of playing Twickenham CC's first game of competitive cricket in 2026 fell to the U11s. They entered the Middlesex Cup fray at Sunbury; the toughest of tough draws. And, Sunbury duly came out on top, although the Ts showed good stickability in scoring at a run a ball and putting up a decent fight (see here for the card).

Sunbury close on 197
Sunbury had first hit and blasted their way to an impressive 197 off their 20 overs. Dhamanveer Singh (34no off 27) led from the front, while skipper Will Dixon (28 off 13) took little time in notching 28 (off 13).

Lower down Raff Larch nudged and nurdled his way to 32no (off 30), and Jack Hillman was good value for his run-a-ball 25 before Faris Iqbal (2-16) snared him caught and bowled.

The biggest contributor to the Sunbury score was nonetheless our old friend, Mr E.Xtras. No fewer than 61 ended up being added to the total via that route, with Ms. W.Ides just avoiding having to buy a jug. There were 49 of those (wides, not jugs!).

On the bright side, Jesse Mills twirled his way to a neat and tidy 2-15, and both James Penrose (1-16) and Jaden Mate (1-15) were active in the wickets column. Neither Jonty Thornton nor Austin Tilzey dismissed anyone, but, crikey, they had run ups that showed intent a plenty! They (the run ups) seem to have grown by about 20 yards over the winter!

Marsh and Ghere get the Ts off to a flier
Twickenham knew that if they were going to chase such a huge score down then they'd have to get out of the blocks quickly. And, they did.

James Marsh (30no off 29) and Harvir Ghere (25 off 33) put on 75 for the first wicket, and when Faris Iqbal followed them in and started stroking the ball around nicely the Ts were most definitely still in it.

Samardeep Singh's 2-2 off 2 put the mockers on that, but Stan Hough still looked neat and tidy at the end, whilst Jonty Thornton saw off some lively pace to claim a red-inker. Decent stuff.

Sunbury are a strong side. And they deservedly won. But the Ts are entering new territory (i.e. Div One) in 2026 and the fact they kept at it should give them heart.

Next up Indian Gym on Monday in the first league game of the campaign. Bring it on.