Top of the table Frensham 3s arrived at 9th-placed Grayswood 2s on a sweltering afternoon, won the toss and asked Grayswood to bat. It was clear from the start that the lightning outfield would help the score rattle along.

James had a little early luck that had deserted him all season so far and was off to a flier. Tom was bowled in Harry Brook fashion and Andrew guided a catch to 2nd slip. At 48-2 the innings could have gone either way but James and Ben played and ran positively in a stand of 72 before Ben was well caught going for another boundary.

Ali came in and continued where Ben had left off - the left hand, right hand combo causing problems for the bowlers. James was now motoring and they added 84 before Ali was out for a run at ball 41.

James raced to his maiden century in 80 balls and was eventually out for 128 off 93 - a fantastic innings.

Some lusty blows in the last few overs took our 2s to 256-8 off their 40 overs. A good score but probably only a whisker over par on a flat deck and a fast outfield.

Frensham’s reply started steadily but the run rate kept creeping up with Aiden and Graham going at 4 and 3 runs an over respectively. Grayswood put down 3 chances and both Morris and Falkiner went past 50.

Eventually the reliable Andrew held on to a catch which brought the hard-hitting Nick Green in to bat. With the game in the balance, he lived up to his reputation and hit the bowling to all parts until he holed out to a steepling & game-changing catch by Graham at long off.

Frensham’s belief seemed to stall at this point and James and Ben were picking up wickets. All of a sudden we had a sniff of an unlikely victory. However, the 8th wicket pair survived for a draw.

Our 2s were very much the happier team with their 20 points, and Captain James was too - with a magnificent maiden century to his name and a big smile on his face.