Matt Hillier made his debut as skipper and won the toss to the side's delight so they could bat first. In the end the skipper had one complaint - the side batted too quickly!

Xav continued where he left off last week with numerous boundaries littering his second successive half century - this time out for 68. This week he got the support at the top of the order with Joe Clune making a well made 41. Sam Penny (37) and Andy Stokes (68) more than continued the good work and the 200 was brought up in the 35th over.

Deciding when to declare was always going to be tricky with the wicket playing so well and in the end Matt waited until the 47th over to declare on a massive total of 269 for 5. A nice cameo by the returning Tom Woodbridge with a quickfire 22 not out.

In reply Knebworth never really looked up for the chase and this was ensured by the 9th over when Matt Hillier picked up 3 wicket in one over to leave them on 24 for 4 - Matt taking all 4 wickets and eventually finishing with 4 for 28 from 15 overs. The game then turned rather tedious as the new ball got old, the wicket failed to attract much spin and Knebworth made no attempt to do anything but try to survive.

Sam Barker picked up another 2 wickets in another encouraging spell of spin bowling and both Xav and Ajit Shah picked up one apiece but to no avail as Knebworth held out to finish on 125 for 8.

At this stage difficult to tell whether this will turn out to be a good 18 point haul or 12 points lost.

May 3rd - Cockfosters 179 all out beat Bayford & Hertford 146 all out by 33 runs - by Ben Wood

Bayford won the toss and decided to bowl first. Unfortunately for them, Xav was in one of those moods where anything (and everything) up to the bat was going to go. In the first 15 overs, he preceded to play a different game to the rest of us, helping to lose the new ball into Chalk Lane after only 5 overs.

There was something in it for both sides and Cluney was well caught, playing a defensive shot to short cover, and Scott came and went when he missed a straight one. Woody joined up with Xav and was happy to just stand up the other end and watch the destruction. Xav brought up his 50 with a 4, 6, 4 combo but then perished, middling one straight to midwicket. Your correspondent was at the non-striker's end when he went, and judging by the bowler’s reaction, it’s fair to say they were quite happy to see him go.

A pair of Pigdens came and went and ‘Fosters were in a precarious position at 80-5 after 20. A decent run rate but too many wickets down and the visitors were sensing running through the card for 110. However, Chris Edwards did exactly what he is renowned for and joined Woody in a 25 over stand worth 65 that had a significant bearing on the game.

Woody was a bit more circumspect than usual and finally went for 64, trying one too many pick ups into the boneyard. Ajit joined Chris and kept the scoreboard ticking, as did 9, 10, jack and Fosters were all out for 179 in 52.4. Special mention to Ajit who took quite possibly the riskiest single ever to be seen at Chalk Lane, placing it about a yard wide of the stumps at the non-strikers end and still making it home! Tea was taken with ‘Fosters knowing that 179 was a good effort and that Bayford would have to go for them having inserted us. What happened next was a spell of exceptional bowling which decided the game.  

Xav opened up with Sam Barker and the two of them put the openers under extreme pressure. So much so that with 15 overs gone, only 17 were on the board! Not the ideal start to chase down 4 an over. We knew we had to sit tight and wait for something to give which it duly did, Sam picking up the first three wickets for a measly 8 runs to a selection of relatively rash shots. Sam & Xav bowled so well that they continued in tandem until 27 overs, the only blip when the Bayford number 4 decided to go ballistic, scoring 30 odd in about 8 scoring shots! But both bowlers continued to throw it up and wait for the inevitable mistake, which duly came when the guy missed a straight one aiming for Underhill!

Bayford were always in the hunt which is just how you like it as you know they’re going to continue playing shots. And so it turned out, with Owen ‘golden arm’ Hughes taking a wicket with the new ball before measly spells by Scott & Joe Barker. The equation was reduced to 50 off 7 overs with three wickets in hand – very gettable with a short boundary and a batsman well set. In the end though, the match was always going to be decided by the slower stuff and Cluney came on for a decisive spell. First he removed the wicket keeper and next ball, the skipper took one to Scott who pinged it in to Adam to run out the batsman who was in his 40’s.

Job done. Sam Barker with 4-64 from 16 deserved a special mention. Well bowled Sam – it would have been five if Joe hadn’t deliberately dropped one to ensure his brother didn’t get too much praise! All in all a very good performance to start the season. Everyone contributed with bat, ball and in the field. Both sides put down chances and all four batsmen who got runs were missed early on. That’s only to be expected at this stage of the season but if ‘Fosters are to push on, fielding practice will be high on the agenda next week.

Final word to Rick, who ensured that the game went ahead. Thanks Rick and you were absolutely right. With the outfield long and slow, your advice was ‘well they’ll all just have to hit it in the air then won’t they’. A good call, as I think that’s the first game I’ve ever played in where there were more sixes than there were fours!