For the first game after the Christmas break, the team took on Upminster in a preliminary round of the cup. Upminster are soon to represent the league & had already beaten Gt.Totoham earlier in the season, so a tough game was expected. To make it even more difficult, the skipper had a note from his mum, with a namby-pamby excuse, so Gt.Totham only had 5 players. Gt.Totham bowled first, after stand-in skipper Nick lost the toss (John would never lose the toss!) & James opened the bowling. James was still in Christmas mood & offered presents galore to the opposition, generally in the form of wides. Josh carried on the theme of gifts as 2 Upminster batsmen retired & a big total was on the cards. Cheesey & Pooky bowled with more control & Cheesey was rewarded with 2 wickets. All bowling was a little tighter for a few overs, but Upminster ended up with 132, a formidable total.
NIck & Josh opened up, with Josh departing fairly soon, followed by Pooky who didn't run when Nick did & was run out without facing. Cheesey supported Nick for a little while, but the Upminster bowlers were too good for Gt.Totham & the total of 43 was a long way short. A great effort by the 5 men of Gt.Totham, but, unfortunately, Upminster's ability was too great on the day.
There is no game until the end of February, when the league splits & Gt.Totham will have 3 games to try to stay in the Premier Division. One of these games could be against Upminster!!!
