Salfords (97-4, 12 overs) lost to Nutfield (98-4, 10.5 overs)

Sorry everyone, we lost.

However, to quote the Claw, "it's amazing how they always manage to **** you off".

After an attempt to insert us without the formality of the toss, stand-in captain Speers then managed to lose the toss that he'd spent five minutes insisting on so we batted.

2009 debutants Stone and Besley opened the batting against some wayward Bobfield bowling. Stone was soon caught off the wall so Speers joined Besley. Runs were accumulated steadily against the openers, but the slower bowlers proved harder to get away. The scoring rate dropped from the minimum 10/over required to only eight per over. After Besley retired on 27*, Speers eventually ran himself out for 20. The usual late flurry of attempted slogging and run outs left us 97-4 off 12 overs. Not enough.

Lancaster and Atkinson opened the bowling. They bowled well enough, but the first couple of wickets fell to run outs. This started a theme that was to persist throughout Nutfield's inning of questioning practically every call the umpire made. The Boris Becker-alike being a particular culprit - he's currently leading the running for the coveted 'least favourite Speers opponent of the year' award, but it's early days and we haven't played Old Woking yet.

Besley came on and bowled very tidily. At one point Nutfield were 50-odd for four off six and it was looking good for us. However, DJ's off-spin seemed to suit the last pair and they batted sensibly, knocking the ball into gaps. The reintroduction of Lancaster and Atkinson was a gamble that didn't quite pay off - a dropped chance plus some sub-optimal fielding left them needing 15 off the last two overs, a target they reached comfortably.

Lessons were that we need to look at knocking the ball around more rather than always looking for the back wall and the fourth/fifth bowling option left us a bit short. Perhaps it's time for Palmer to get down from that balcony and show us how it's done.

Star man - Besley. Steady knock and excellent tight bowling with figures of 3-12-1.

Honorary mentions to Atkinson (playing for Sohail's team in the match before?) and Musky (late text claiming illness and passing the captaincy to me ).

Not sure who we're playing in a fortnight but we'll have to play better. Over to you Musky - hope your leg's better.