Report by Tom "Devon" Reynolds:
The game began with two tidy opening spells from Zoe and Grubby going for just 13 runs of the opening 6 overs. The first wicket then came from some tidy fielding from Tom Reynolds Devon forcing a mix up and a run out. Wickets were hard to come by through the middle of the innings. Bibury seemed to be going ok but a great finish from FAS limited them to 159. Their low total was thanks to Zoe's 4/24, Cliff's 3/22 and T Ren Dev's 2/26.
With the bat we got off to a flyer. An opening stand of 55 between Toby Reynolds (35) and Chris Barras (17) gave us a strong grip on the game. Tom Reynolds Devon then came quickly pummelled 36 including 4 sixes. The game was then calmly finished off by Rufus (15) and Grubby (11) as we won by 5 wickets with more than 9 overs to spare.
Report by James Wyatt:
First of all, Tommy Dare made his FAS debut!
FAS batted first. Tommy opened the batting with Joss, which was a wonderful sight. After the opening partnership was broken, Jimmy Wyatt came in. Sadly he was undone by an absolute world class ball by their overseas pro [Not actually a pro, but decidedly handy, as Fladbury would find out the following day - ed.]. Joss carried on and built a solid partnership with Jimmy Houlder. Joss hit a cultured 29 (off 55 balls), but it was Jimmy Houlder who stole the show, hitting a glorious 96* (off 105 balls). Having said this, this was massive massive jug avoidance; it was clear that this was a man who was more interested in a red inker than a ton. On 95 with 3 balls to go in the final over, he took an easy single; then back on strike on the last ball of the innings, decided to knock a quick single rather than going for glory. Fraser Houlder hit a quick 17 (off 18 balls) at the end, taking FAS to 180/8 off our 40 overs.
Also a note that four FAS regulars (Daniel, Joe, Faruk and Rob) played for the oppo, with Rob and Faruk disgracefully wearing their new FAS caps. They seemed to be doing their best in the field to play like FAS players and helped contribute to the FAS total.
In reply Remnants were solid and got off to a good start of 50/0. Young Aaron Houlder pieced up a good wicket, showing his dad how to do it. Ben Kittow then somehow took 2 quick wickets! His overs were roughly like: beamer; beamer; wide bouncer; wicket; wide; beamer; wicket.
The second innings was interrupted when the drinks break extended past the hour mark as "watching the last few overs of the World Cup final" turned into an emotional roller coaster that left everyone in need of a good lie down.
Back on the field we couldn't conjure any miraces and, sadly, Remnants won only 3 down with 6 overs to go. Close, but no cigar. [Or, really, just "no cigar" - ed.]