Tuesday evening saw the Faders’ eight game season draw to a close.  Fittingly, we put up a decent fight, showed good humour throughout, and fell a little short.

The Buccaneers posted 131 in the first innings.  This was built around excellent knocks from Mr Tamplin and Mr Nicholson, both full of deft cuts and faint feints.  We reckoned the Buccs’ score to be about par, perhaps a bit above par for us.

After four overs, with Richard Gregory in fine form, the opposition’s opening bowlers were withdrawn from the attack and sent to lick their wounds in the outfield.  We had it all in hand.  That we didn’t get over the line was largely due to the two Georges, Oates and Muston, who bowled and fielded with athleticism and skill, perhaps sensing that this could be their last opportunity to grace the BG main square.  The Faders, for whom intimations of mortality are never far from the surface, nonetheless had nothing to match them.  We fell seven runs short.

At stumps no one was dwelling on what might have been, we were planning next season.  And so the Faders will go on - playing, missing, and smiling - under the direction of Chris Latham, who can be contacted at chrislatham@live.co.uk