The Woodpeckers last played their own version of the Ashes in 2015, and the England team were looking to avenge the recent defeat at Edgbaston by laying down the gauntlet to our Australian Singapore cousins, some of whom had travelled over to celebrate the iconic sporting rivalry between two old foes at a evening T20 fixture arranged on the eve of the Lords test. This game was always going to be about pride and passion, but also about rekindled friendships forged on cricket fields two decades ago, and now separated by great oceans.

The Singapore branch of the Woodpeckers was founded in 2013 by Mark Prendiville (Prendi) who first played for the Peckers in 1999, being an acquaintance of Potty and Paul Kestel. The shared love of cricket has always been the bond between players of different nationalities, but when you throw in the spirit of our great club into the mix, the result is that an official request to form Woodpeckers Singapore CC was approved in 2013, and comprises mainly expat Aussie bankers who fly in the likes of Langer and Kasporowicz for their East/West coast battles. Pobsy had tried about 30 grounds to find a venue, so a month ago after a night out with Langer and Hayden sent a new email with the headline ‘Celebrity Match’ and finally got some interest from Venues.

Here’s the Aussies many wearing the Cream , the off-white, the beige the Ivory and the Bone. Chef was absent as adjusting his hair hat in the changing rooms

The game would be a T20 format at the bewitchingly beautiful Teddington CC(previous members included Runky, Otto and Muttley) in Bushy Park, on a midsummers evening pregnant with heavy set clouds that would surely help the seamers (oh, but for that shoulder injury, cries this correspondent…). The opposition were Aussies to the man, and included two turn-coats for the night, Cheffrey Epstein (yes Chef, get used to that one), and Tiddles, and the Aussies arrived at the ground to familiar surroundings as it appeared to be ringed by high security prison style fencing. Banter would commence from 4.15 as the two teams gradually trickled in to enjoy the delightful bar and aspect of the ground set in ancient royal hunting grounds.The Aussie captaincy was handed to Spac, an Australian relocated to the Cheddar Gorge, but did he get caught in a mousetrap when POBsy won the toss and elected to bat at 5.30 in ever decreasing twilight….The absence of Runky(standard) and Buttery Spinach meant I had no real option to bat as time was of the essence. The English openers, Tris and Muttley, were positive from the start, and we had the added treat of Tris Sheehan facing his son Hunter for the 1st time in a competitive match.

Umpire Snax prepares to get play under way

Tiddles bowled his usual full accurate medium pace and Tris went for his ‘usual’ flowing straight drive and got cleaned up., Henners (20) joined the fray, and showed his class in difficult conditions before being undone by the size of the mid-on boundary, and holding out to a great catch by “Tash of the day”. The Aussie captain Spac continued to taunt the English batsmen on their watchful run rate … “singles don’t win games”, “they can have those all day”… and with only 2 wickets down, Greasy ( surely a TinTin lookalike with that increasingly solitary shock of blond curl emanating form his otherwise smooth forehead) and Muttley(24) lifted the run rate to around 7.5 an over. The partnership was broken but Motty kept up the momentum in an increasingly professional looking performance that is defining this Woodpecker season. Prendi came on to reassert some control and take two wickets, allowing everyone to saviour the strange cricketing phenomenon that is Potty, who was joined by the ever dependable POBsy (12 not out), and we ended up posting a respectable 136-9, in light that was already worse than the infamous test match at Karachi in 2000.

A brief turnaround was executed and the Aussie opening pair of Allen and Hunter (Tris’s son), were kept honest by a magnificent line and length by Motty (2 maiden overs ), and Spinach, and although there was no early breakthrough, it became apparent that score board pressure would begin to tell. Mottos fielding run out drew first blood, bringing in the Pallent father and son combination which provided some entertaining overs, until Butters dislodged them. Muttley, behind wicket, couldn’t resist repeating the sledge that he was greeted with earlier…”you don’t win anything with singles”‘ and the pressure built like a TIBETAN rice cooker. Greasy, Butters and Bomber all bowled well and kept the pressure up, as did some excellent fielding. One comedic moment as Snax who was having a torrid time at third man tried to under-arm a ball in from the boundary, only to throw it backwards over his head .The target always looked somewhat out of reach, barring the introduction of a late buffet trolley… Chef was heard calling out from Traitors gate on the boundary “Bring on Snax!” but it would be Potty that would deliver an evening Smorgasboard of Beamers, and he did his best to keep things closer than they should have been… never has this correspondent seen a bowler call for his own waist high no balls to the scorer. Henners and Otto were selected to bowl the death overs when the RRR was reaching over 20 by the last over. A hard fought victory was sealed and the Pecker Ashes retained. This extended the incredible winning run of the UK Peckers to 10 victories in a row!.

Two Teams of Woodpeckers celebrate a great occasion

Spectators (Sous-Chef and Tris’s sister) and players were then treated to a sumptuous BBQ of burgers and hotdogs, with plentiful condiments and salads, that were ravenously enjoyed by all with a cold one or two. And speeches were made by POB and Prendi (13 mins, 43 secs)… and thanks were given for a wonderful occasion, and gripping sporting encounter, and a further indication that the England Peckers are made of stern stuff. We all thanked Pobsy for arranging the game which he spent so much effort organising, and Prendi for his generosity but most of all we thanked Cricket… for making it such a beautiful game that brings beautiful people together on a mid-summers evening on an ancient royal hunting ground in West London. Thank you Cricket 🙏