This top of the table clash was always going to be a chilly low scoring match when the captains inspected the pitch - water had clearly got under the covers and it was going to be a good toss to win: which Adnan duly did (Brook IIs captains are rather good at this this season!) and put Headley into bat. We all knew that getting Headley captain out early would be key to victory - he averages over 100 this season. The scorecard tells the story! Only two Headley batsmen in double figures. At first the omens did not look good as he clubbed the opening bowlers for 59 out of 67 scored but finally Coops (3 wkts) coming round the wicket came up with a great leg stump yorker and the tide turned. Wickets fell regularly with good contributions from Adnan (2 wkts) and Kingy (2 wkts) and at 96-9 the prospect of a score under a 100 (which on this wicket still looked a stretch) was looming. However, the final wicket stand of 24 was likely to prove critical as Headley finished on 120 all out in the 38th over.

Brook made a solid start against some accurate bowling from their U17 opening bowlers. Tucker unluckily was out with a feather down the legside in the first over but with a required run rate of 3 per over and some good batting to come and Hammy (34) in limpet form Brook were optimistic. The run rate started to become an issue however when their captain bowled his 9 overs for 13 runs which put increasing pressure on the Brook batsmen. No-one seemed to be able to stay with Hammy and, with the required run rate rising, Adnan (0) and Amir (6) both fell to shots bought on by scoreboard pressure. At 30 overs with the score on 67-5 the game seemed to be quickly slipping away but Coops (carrying a back injury) and some energetic youngsters (Jasper, Mattie) came in and showed what might have been with some clean hitting ...but alas Brook fell 13 runs short on 107.
Nevertheless a better day out than our last visit there in May 2019 when in similar conditions (3 sweaters?) we fielded only 8 players with an average age of.......well, best not to mention!