On a hugely splendid morning the woodpeckers travelled to the centre of London for Saturday’s game at the esteemed HAC cricket club, a bastion of tradition and excellence in the realm of cricket. As the sun graced us with its radiant presence on a fine morning, the peckers gathered where the echoes of timeless battles and not so glorious defeats for the peckers resonated through the air. Nestled within the heart of the city, the HAC Cricket Club stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of cricket. The emerald expanse of the field, framed by centuries old architecture, set the stage for an encounter that was sure to live long in the memory for both teams. As the teams assembled the honour of the coin tossed awaited, along with a gentle reminder from the HAC that they wanted to get on with the occasion, seemingly thinking we would be an easy win considering last year’s display. Due to the time of year the line-up was a mix of old timers, youthful peckers and some wonderful ringers who I am sure will be invited back next season.

With the decision to play time, and the ever-growing support arriving, the travelling Woodpeckers won the toss and elected to field first, so POBS and his merry men took to the field for what they assumed would be a rather long afternoon. To open up new member Snoss took the red cherry along with the recalled pecker Ham. The boys started beautifully with Snoss bowling with some real heat, complimented by some T20 style variation from Ham. The HAC were on the back foot from the off and looked all at sea against the aggressive opening pair. Soon the pressure paid off with Snoss getting his first thoroughly deserved pecker wicket having batsman Edwards caught behind by the ever-reliable Mole. Important to say on his first peckers appearance Snoss bowled 7 straight overs to open the innings, deserving more than the 1 wicket for his efforts. One brought two and Ham followed up swiftly removing the new batsmen, with a very smart catch being taken by fellow ringer Watty at second slip

Trash and Mole had called upon their yellow phone book to try and fill out the ground for the occasion and the call was duly answered by a swarm of friends and family. With Trash’s cousin DP among the playing outfit and their parents along for the watch the pressure was on to perform.

Arun had batted well to get through the openers and moved to a dangerous looking 24, and now Daniel , a leg spinner came on. The first ball was a long hop which Arun gleefully pulled over mid on only for to Snoss to defy gravity taking a brilliant catch high above his head.

Trash brought on to replace Hamid took the rewards that Hamid really deserved, with Kamikaze taking a fine grab at gully off his first over, with the dangerous Liam departing. Trash swapped ends and followed up his first with 3 wickets in his very next over to leave him on a hattrick and a potential first 5 wicket hall for the peckers. However, our skipper had other ideas and cruelly took this opportunity away from him claiming we couldn’t bowl them out for 50 as it would cause tension between the clubs.

DP followed this up with a further wicket in a glorious spell, finishing with figures of 2 wickets for 4 runs off his 4 overs. New pecker Charlie, who had quickly gained the nickname of Curly Kale due to opening up his spell with a ball more aligned to our dear Spinach, bowled beautifully on debut.

Kale with incredible enthusiasm getting the stubborn wicket of Oliver caught behind for 2. This brought on the canny Chef to mop up the final wicket. Fresh from an early morning Gym session that made his already mannequin-esque body even more immobile, Chef duly wrapped up the innings having the final batsman trapped on the crease plum LBW. An outstanding effort then from the peckers mixed with some truly horrible batting from the HAC meat the first innings was over after just an hour with HAC being bowled out for a miserable 61.

Oxleys team-mates Harry and Watty opening

Due to the early finish of the first innings tea was nowhere in sight, so the peckers strode out to try and finish the job swiftly. Watty and fellow new pecker Harry kicked us off with a sturdy opening stand. Harry, who had the misfortune of being Pobsy’s LMS captain 10 years ago, batted with assurance before a rash swipe ended his innings for 11. This brought to the crease Kamikaze, who had looked a little off colour all day due to the distinct lack of a bar at the HAC. As the withdrawals and shakes kicked in Kaze looked uncharacteristically scratchy and his innings came to a prompt end when planted LBW for 9 and Watty soon followed Kaze back to the hutch. This left it for Snoss and Mole to see us home. Snoss in particular looked fluid with bat in hand, it seems we have found a real gem on our hands for the future. He played aggressively smashing two huge sixes into the red brick running alongside the shorter boundary and finished with a well-made 24 not out, with the mole seeing us home with a glorious flick through midwicket to finish 5 not out.

Tea was taken with the game done and dusted by 3pm. A glorious treat it was however as we settled in for some fine sandwiches, cakes and sausage roles in the famous HAC Queen’s room. With a whole army of supporters firmly settled in at this point and with the delightful presence of Watty’s son Arthur there to provide entertainment, Pobsy took it on himself to negotiate a 100 game with the HAC to make sure the supporters/players got their money’s worth. The HAC begrudgingly agreed to the request and allowed the peckers to bat first.

The peckers racked up an impressive 158 from their hundred balls with DP, Jones, Trash and Palmer all retiring after hitting 25 not out. The HAC set about chasing there target with Liam getting revenge on Trash by hitting him for 25 off his 10 allotted balls. This really brought the Trash supporters to their feet as they cheered the onslaught on his bowling vociferously. However, normal service resumed, and another impressive bowling display restricted the HAC to 115 from their 100 balls. Particularly impressive were DP yet again and a fine spell from our very own Pobs, who bowled his 10 balls for 9 runs and 2 wickets.

Another victory (or 2) for the peckers then and a special day out at a special ground came to an end. With a host of supporters in tow the team settled in for a crisp pint or 4 across from the ground. A huge thank you to all those that came along to watch and for the ringers, Snoss, DP, Kale, Harry and Watty for contributing so much to the day. We march onto the next games with the record of most wins in a season just one away.

Cheers, Trash!