And so West Ilsley's march towards immortality as a collection of invincibles began and ended under leaden skies amid a constant veil of drizzle that, compared to the conditions at daybreak, seemed positively tropical. This was a match that had everything; the enthusiasm of school kids on the first day of term, the dawning realisation amongst the more aged among us that we really ought to have better things to do and that nagging fear that at least one, if not both of the umpires might succumb to hypothermia at any moment.

Without even looking at the pitch, which was still lying under the Club's state of the art plastic tarpaulin, West Ilsley won the toss and chose to bowl, figuring that this would be a game of skittles and we'd soon be drinking the generous bar stock the committee had invested so heavily in amid the feverous anticipation of 2021.

Sadly, Thame Threes brought with them enthusiasm and a will to hit the ball quite hard, an annoying situation that West Ilsley's skipper hadn't envisaged when he looked at the BBC's weather forecast ahead of six cans of San Miguel the previous evening.

This unexpected 'hard ball hitting' was the main ploy of the rather infuriating Justin Avery who top scored with a brutal 86 before Jordan Lee-Paskin followed suit with 62 of his own. Avery was very adept at hitting straight and Lee-Paskin very fond of the leg side whilst West Ilsley, an incredibly amicable and hospitable bunch of villagers, aided the opposition's endeavours by electing to only take chances that were completely undroppable.

Two were pouched whilst an impressive eight were dropped, much to the bemusement of the mother duck and her spring brood of fourteen that chose to invade the outfield just after the undeserved drinks break.

In truth, West Ilsley gave themselves a mountain to climb and their spurned opportunities meant that not only did they have to bowl the full 45 when they could have been done after 30, they were set a target of 226 to win when it could be argued that 170 was a par score and far more realistic.

Hope does spring eternal though and the most explosive contribution in the match came from Alex Dibble who went absolutely bonkers for ten overs hitting a jaw-dropping 66 off of only 42 deliveries to give the hosts real hope of making amends for what was an abject display of catching a cricket ball in the first half of the contest.

It's fair to say though that Thame are a side with real determination and they too attempted to drop as many gilt-edged chances as their hosts but West Ilsley proved just too strong in that department which in my eyes make Thame the real losers in spite of the fact that they won the game of cricket which at times seemed to be a sideshow as there was relentless banter and ridicule doled out to team-mates and opposition in equal measure.

I've sensed a real change in the tone of matches I've played in since we resumed mid-pandemic last year.

Everyone remains competitive but there's a sense of fun, enjoyment and togetherness between even the opponents and that was reflected in yesterday's match at West Ilsley. Yes, we both wanted to win. Yes, I suggested that perhaps orange trainers and black plimsolls were neither the look nor equipment even a village team should employ going forwards but both sides had a ball.

That said, Thame's wicket-keeper (a vicar no less) rather hurt the feelings of West Ilsley's intrepid skipper with his incessant chirping which truly peaked at, "Come on lads! This John Malkovich wannabe is ours!"

Anyway, Thame won by 74 runs.

They are a good set of lads Thame, and we look forwards to the return without the need to eat rain-sodden sarnies.

Michael Channon, Captain WICC.
(Not John Malkovich)