HAVE-A-GO HAJELA TURNS UP IN TIME FOR THE START

While the skipper put the finishing touches to his strategy in the Fox and Greyhound Vijay won the toss and chose to bat. Harvey and Maloney opened against a useful attack all of whom arrived in the same Mercedes but none of whom appeared in last year's averages. The Weekenders are hardly in a position to complain about ringers though - several of us hadn't met before the start of this game.

The scoreboard hardly moved for the first hour but by the time the runs started to flow so had the Stella and the Weekenders watching on the balcony were too pissed to get up and change the numbers so it stayed on 017 for 58 most of the afternoon. Maloney's magisterial demands from the middle for an update got short shrift from his teammates. If only Vickery had also ignored Maloney's call for a run the 'Enders might have gone big, instead it was left to Mark, Swift and Jeyaratnam to bang another 70. When the time came to kick on past 200 Hajela, Patel, Douglas, d'Inverno and Vettickat bristled to the crease and added a bruising run-a-ball 6 between them, the last three handing one of the Merc boys a hat-trick. As Geoff Boycott said of Murali at Trent Bridge this afternoon, 'It's like watching Albert Pierrepoint bowl.'

Our attack was incomparably more humane and Kensington duly won by 7 wickets. As well as Maloney's excellent 59, it's worth picking out Hajela's contribution to the game: unfortunately his fairytale start didn't last long - he was out first ball, dropped a catch and had the winning runs hit off his only delivery. The rueful rheumatologist received a consoling hug from his skipper (who, coincidentally, was also out first ball and decked a sitter) and the two heroes led us from the field, summing up the spirit of this great club.

Anyone who fancies getting hammered on Wednesday or Thursday should let Jules know and he'll nominate a boozer.

STATS
WCC 163 all out off 38.1 overs.
Harvey 8, Maloney 59, Vickery 13, Mark 31, Hajela 0, Swift 29, Jeyaratnam 10*, Patel 1, Douglas 4, d'Inverno 0, Vettickat 1. Bihar J, 7-0-29-3, Bihar D 1.2-0-5-3
Kensington 166-3 off 29.1 overs
Bihar D 35, Pickle 48 Douglas 7-0-28-0; Vettickat 3-0-18.0; Swift 7-0-29-1; Patel 4-0-28-0, Mark ? 4-1-21-1; M Harvey 3-0-29-1; Jeyaratnam 1-0-3-0; Hajela 0.1-0-4-0.
Catches: Vickery 1

Debuts: Mark 'Not Simony', a scorer who done herself all kinds of justice biro-wise.