It was 50 years ago that 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly' came out in UK cinemas. If you were looking to do a re-make of one of the all-time classic spaghetti westerns, then you could do a lot worse than study the fortunes of Twickenham CC's five sides in Week 9 of the 2026 MCCL season.

The 3s and the 5s represented the 'Good' by getting through availability challenges to register impressive wins. The 2s took on the mantle of the 'bad'; they got nowhere near enough on the board to really challenge Crouch End's second string, but they did at least take four wickets with them as they lost. The ones? The less said about their day the better, quite frankly.....

That just leaves the fours. If this film really were to be re-made, then it'd need to be as 'The Good, the Bad, the Reasonable and the Ugly'? Meaning the 4s conceded too many runs, but Milan Gurjal in particular dug in well and secured them a couple of points from a draw.

Penwill and Cavilla star for the threes
The 3s might have been playing rock-bottom Richmond, but given the availability challenges that had caused bedlam all week, they'll be mightily happy not to have slipped up (see here for the card).

Alex Penwill (4-23) was at the centre of a decent Twickenham bowling performance as Richmond were bowled out for 87. Oliver Prescott-Brann (2-4 off 3) cleaned up nicely towards the end, while messrs (Oscar) Prescott-Brann, Lingemann and Hunt (junior) all grabbed a wicket apiece.

In reply, the Ts did have something of a wobble, but the David Warner-esque presence of Kev Cavilla (40) kept things moving at the top, stand in skipper Oli George saw things off at the end. Job done, and the Ts are settled nicely in fifth (see here).

Fives look decent
The fifths were second at the start of the day and indeed second as evening came in. They beat Barnes 4s by seven wickets (see here for the card).

All of the Barnes top five got into double figures, but none went on to really make a score. With Lloyd Townsend (3-47) bowling well with the new ball and the impressive Sachith Wanigabaduge (3-4) skittling out the tail, the Ts were happy enough to be chasing 138.

The Ts' top order proceeded to do an excellent job of getting the job done. Mohsin Bajawa was good value for 33 (37 balls), while his opening partner, Barty Boyd, wasted little time in getting to 28 (23 balls). They put on 46 and got things moving nicely.

It was nonetheless the seemingly ageless Martin Fairn who really caught the eye. His 36 ball undefeated 48 saw the fives cruise passed the 100 mark and indeed up and to and beyond 138. Excellent stuff.

Fours take the strain
The fours welcomed an in form London Tigers to Broom Road. And, a veritable run feast ensued (see here for the card).

It's not often that sides get the better of the Twickenham 4s' bowling attack, but, respect due, the Tigers batted excellently to reach 272 (off 50). Hinay Dassani picked up five poles, Jashandeep Singh and Mahammad Akhtar both scored half-centuries.

The Ts knew from the start that 273 was going to be a big ask in 42 overs, so they re-set and looked to assess where they were 30 overs in. 24 from opener Holger Kriess helped things move forward, but ultimately the Tigers bowled well as the impressive Milan Gurjal (68no) dug in and secured at least a share of the points for Twickenham. Solid stuff.

Days to forget for the ones and twos
The top two sides in the club, however, had days they'll quickly want to forget.

The ones, struggling with something of an injury and unavailability crisis, were in the game for an hour as Margin Kantilal took a couple of early Finchley wickets. But that couldn't prevent them from scoring 300 runs.

In reply, the Ts had a horrible time. 52 all out says more than enough (see here for the card). Very much a case of moving on (and quickly).

The twos arguably did a little better, but ultimately the outcome was the same. Zero points.

Nikhil Nomula top scored with 20 (51 balls) as the Ts succumbed for 70. Adi Hegde took the small matter of 6-34 (see here for the card).

Club chairman Eugene Berger did what he could to engineer a miracle, taking 3-32. But, not time this time round, I'm afraid - Crouch End got home with six wickets to spare.

So, a (very) mixed bag. Nothing for it....on to next week.