Adrian Fishley performed a remarkable series of cuts and slices last Saturday; it was an exhibition that must surely have been unrivalled in the entire Stroud District on this most important of match days. Sadly, he was making the tea at the time and, beautiful though his egg and cress sandwiches were, they didn’t compensate for the defeat that the seconds had at the hands of second-placed Stroud, who will surely now be promoted at Hawkesbury’s expense at the end of the season.

It says much of the importance of this fixture that James Collins, the Stroud captain, consulted each member of his team on winning the toss. Eventually, the visitors decided to bat and it wasn’t long before experienced opener David Terrington had numerous Hawkesbury fielders looking for the ball among the nettles and ivy in various corners of the ground. A tremendous leg-side catch by Charlie, keeping in his first match for the club, removed the danger man, only to bring in another in Lee Godwin. The Stroud keeper soon got into his stride, hitting three consecutive sixes over the short leg-side boundary. Hawkesbury desperately needed a wicket and swiftly got four: a return catch by Division 1’s leading wicket-taker, Andy Starling, removed the remaining opener; then to everyone’s delight, Jim Mason tore through the middle order with his cunning new style of delivery that bounced, went straight and hit the stumps. Returning to the attack, Ed Riddington bowled Godwin, but not until he had scored 87. Cries of “Yes, yes, no” by Aaron Collins were all that it took to run out his uncle Ed as Stroud’s innings closed in comic fashion on 210 for 7.

It was time for Fishley’s finest hour; not content with a chocolate, a coffee and walnut as well as a Victoria sponge cake that come as standard at a Hawkesbury tea, he produced a perfect homemade fruitcake, which was enjoyed by all those players who knew that they did not have to do any running for at least the next hour.

Only two weeks earlier, Hawkesbury had chased down the 209 they needed to beat Haresfield. Stroud, however, posed greater challenges with a fast and accurate opening bowling partnership. Both Fred and Nick Hunt were put through their paces, but runs were hard to find. Chris Gardener replaced Hunt, but was unable to build any decent partnerships, as Fred (2), Simon Elcombe (5) and Phil Duke (4) were out cheaply. Nine 4s and two 6s later, the club chairman reached an impressive fifty, but - sensing that it was left to him to score the bulk of the remaining 100 runs required - he was stumped attempting to clear the rope for a third time. When Starling was bowled for 2, Seb and Charlie added fifty memorable carefree runs for the seventh wicket. An appreciative crowd enjoyed the spectacle of two young batsmen in full flow. All good things come to an end, however, and so it was that both eventually departed and - with the required run rate now far too high - members of the home side had to content themselves with the rare spectacle of Mason in pads.