Another Saturday dawned as the 2s looked to continue their advance towards the top of the Div 4 table away to promotion chasers Frimley. Skipper Max returned after a short week away from the fray, leading a team filled with energy and confidence after a strong performance vs Harting last time out. Callan Mac returned for his second game of the season, being joined by 1s stalwarts Graham ‘Bossman’ Seddon and Jezz Passmore.

Max won the toss (it's actually getting silly at this point - don’t remember the last time I lost one of these lol) and elected to bat on an interesting-looking wicket, with the aim of setting a competitive score and then applying the pressure during the second innings. Adie and Andrew made their ways to the middle and both were quickly into their work, with Andrew playing his signature cut shots to good effect, and Adie caressing successive square drives to the fence to leave the score at 22-0 after only 4 overs. However, Frimley’s experienced bowling attack - boasting the best statistics in the league this season - now found their marks, dismissing Adie (18) and Benet (11) in quick succession to leave the score at 40-2. Cal Mac now made his way to the middle and soon found his rhythm, powering any bad balls to the fence and taking on the Frimley spinners. With the score at 91-2 Grayswood looked comfortable, only for disaster to strike as the pitch began varying its bounce dramatically, leading to the dismissals of Cal (36), Andrew (23), Graham (5) and Chetan (1) in the space of only 4 overs. Max and Jezz Passmore now combined, with Jezz powering some important boundaries whilst Max proceeded to chew through deliveries as George Beeley does Doom Bars to alleviate the pressure. Runs continued to build even after the dismissal of Jezz, with Stephen Horan and Max finding gaps in the field to take Grayswood past the first batting point. However, Frimley’s experience once again proved to be key, with their bowlers sticking to their lines and finally prizing out Max, Stephen and Rohan to leave Josh stranded on 0*, surely being denied his first Div 4 hundred. With the score at 148 and a deteriorating pitch, Grayswood knew they were in the game, especially with a strong bowling lineup.

Jezz and Josh opened up the bowling, testing the Frimley openers but failing to find the breakthrough. However, the difficulty to score runs was clear to see, with a number of deliveries swinging past the bat or ‘getting big’ on the batsmen, giving Grayswood confidence. At 40-0, Max rang the changes, bringing on ‘enforcer’ Cal and himself to try and prize out some wickets. This change had an instant impact with Max claiming three scalps before Cal got in on the act, getting the key wicket of Frimley’s opener to reduce them to 48-4 before finding the edge to claim yet another. Grayswood were jubilant and the previously jovial Frimley dugout fell deathly silent. Now, however, Frimley rebuilt, with their skipper launching Cal into the college next door (can we have our ball back please?) to give Frimley hope. But here, the experience and depth of the 2s attack showed its worth, with Graham and Rohan joining the fray and instantly lowering the rate and scoring options. Both took quick wickets, whittling away at the Frimley middle and lower order - including an ‘accidental worldie’ of a catch by Cal one-handed over his head! There were a couple of late blows by the Frimley number 9 but the game was won, and Rohan took the final wicket to seal a great victory.

This win all but secures the 2s in Div 4 next year - a great achievement from all involved!

The 2s return to HQ next week where they face fellow mid-table Farncombe.