Word must have got out that the day before Hertford had been skittled out for 41 on the same track as St Margaretsbury won the toss and put us in.

That decision looked a good one as skipper Matt Ahl looped a catch up in the first over to give St Margaretsbury the dream start.

However their jubilation was short lived as new recruit Lewis Harris and Jakub Pickering batted well in a 2nd wicket partnership of 87. Lewis Harris took his time to get in but then started to score freely with the highlight being a fine six over the mid wicket boundary off their star spinner.

With Jakub top edging a long hop for a fine 31 and Lewis retiring on 50, it bought two new batsmen to the crease. In the past this would have signalled a mini collapse for this team but not today. Both George Gilbett and Flynn Ruskin set about dismantling the St Margaretsbury support bowlers with Flynn scoring 4 quick boundaries to move the score on rapidly from 98 for 2 after 20 overs to 163 for 2 after 29 overs. After George was bowled for 18, Flynn was moving rapidly to his 50 where he had to retire (thems the rules!). This bought our two left-handers Olly Barnaby and George Gardner to the crease with the score poised at 180 for 3 after 32 overs.

A big score looked on the cards. Both lefties benefited from some poor leg side bowling that were dispatched to the boundary and the 200 was quickly bought up after 34 overs. The scoreboard ticked along at about 7 an over until Olly was run out. Issac Medcalf then came in with just 4 overs to go. A bit more accurate bowling from St Margaretsbury in those last few overs slowed the scoreboard down with Hertford finishing on an excellent 238 for 4 after their 40 overs.

In their reply St Margaretsbury lost their opening batsman in the 3rd over gloving a short ball by Flynn Ruskin and caught at slip by Lewis Harris. Some tight bowling by both Flynn and Harry Blackman restricted the opposition to 32 for 1 after 10 overs.

With some accurate seam bowling by another new recruit Joe Robinson, their star batsman Seb couldn't really get going and took over 17 overs for his 39 before nicking one behind to keeper Olly with bowling by George Gardner. Unlike Hertford ,St Margaretsbury couldn't accelerate the scoreboard and were stuck at 136-6 after 30 overs. This was due to some tight bowling by Sam Adams, George Giblett and Joe Robinson.

There was a late flurry from the lower order with some wayward bowling from Isaac Medcalf who conceded 29 with no return after his first 3 overs. Most skippers would have told this bowler to take a long rest but Captain Matt saw something no one else could see and threw Issac the ball for one last go. It proved a master stroke as Issac's next 9 balls was a might impressive 3 wickets to bowl the opposition out for 168 giving Hertford a comfortable victory over tricky opponents. The boys celebrated with Pizzas whilst a few of the Dads enjoyed the cricket club bar being open once again.

Written by Ben Ahl.

A great team effort for the boys in their final season together.