The 3's were back at Long Sutton to host Whitchurch 1s on a scorching day in Hampshire. After an interrupted start to the season with 2x rain offs, the 3s knew we'd be tested against a side that missed out on promotion to Division 3 by just a singular point in 2025. Returning to the side were H, Ed H, Josh and Simmo, in addition to the Terry brothers (HT & ET), forming a 'Terry-Triple-Threat' as they joined their Dad Charlie (CT) in the lineup. Unfortunately for all, Henry was no longer sporting his 'Eminem-style' haircut - a real shame.

It had been a hot few days, with what looked to be a rock solid surface and quick outfield - the ground was so firm that the team struggled to get one of the stumps in during the pre match jobs. I think nearly the whole side had a go at trying to get this stump into the ground with little success - time was ticking down to ball one with varying techniques of water, a hammer and a spoon all used to try to get this darn stump in. The toss had even taken place in the interim, with Whitchurch winning the toss and deciding to bowl first - a surprise to many considering the heat and the fact they only had 10 at that moment. Finally, between Simmo, Charlotte and someone else, the stump was in and we were ready to rock and roll.

1st Innings

H & Ed opened up, and whilst the Whitchurch opening bowler S Dancer didn't quite get his radar right first up with a series of wides, the first signs of movement off the deck were clear. The other opening bowler O Freemantle settled in a little better, beating H's bat on two occasions in the second over, with one delivery rising above H's shoulder with the keeper taking the ball well above head height. It wasn't until the 3rd over when Ed faced his first ball, and it was worth the wait - a full swinging delivery was absolutely nailed to the cover boundary in what I'm sure was shot of the day. Magnificent.

Ed followed it up with a cut shot for another boundary later in the over, before being wrapped on the gloves and playing and missing, as it was clear batting was not easy. H got his boundary in the 4th over, with a trademark straight drive over the top - the penultimate ball of the same over did set some alarm bells ringing for all, as a length delivery on off stump violently seamed away, wide of first slip and to the boundary for 5 wides. Remarkable.

A couple more boundaries shared between the batters helped keep the run rate very healthy, in spite of the challenging conditions. H (8) unfortunately went one too many times, as another attempted drive was edged through to the keeper, as the ball again leaped off the surface (39-1 - 5.2 overs). Lizo was in at 3, and got off the mark with a square drive of his own. The first change bowlers came on and immediately stemmed the flow of runs - a mixture of nibbly medium pace and very tidy off-spin tied things up, as scoring was proving more difficult, particularly with the ball turning square.

Umpiring stints were reduced to 10 overs a piece this week due to the heat, but Henry Terry (HT) had gone walkabouts meaning the skipper stayed out a couple of extra overs baking in the sun! Ed found another boundary in the 14th over, as the ball continued to spit and pop off the surface, and with Whitchurch now back up to 11 players, they were putting on a real squeeze with ball and in the field. Lizo (10) eventually succumbed as he perfectly guided a late cut to first slip, who admittedly didn't know much about it, as it hit his midriff, before he caught the rebound (63-2 - 14.1 overs).

Greg joined Ed in the middle, as the squeeze continued from Whitchurch. Ed had looked most settled of all batters so far, as it proved tricky to 'get in' for all new batters. After some handy wides & byes kept the score moving, Ed found his 6th boundary with another sumptuous cut shot through the offside and down the hill. A wily leg-spinner (Marriott) came on and his flight and guile was looking dangerous early on. Greg responded with two slog sweeps for 4, first coming right out of the middle. Ed found his own boundary off the leggie, before nailing one straight back at the bowler - remarkably, the bowler dived forward and stuck out his left hand to take a frankly incredible catch, just off the ground. Ed (36) had batted superbly, and was desperately unlucky to get out in that manner (96-3 - 20.3 Overs).

Whitchurch had their 4th wicket just 4 balls later, as the return on the opening bowler S Dancer saw an absolute brute of a delivery fly off the pitch, take Greg's (9) glove as he took evasive action, and land safely in the hands of the WK (96-4 - 21.1 overs). It was Josh & Safi in the middle to rebuild - after a good platform had been laid, two quick wickets had changed the momentum of the game, with the pitch still playing tricks and bowlers on the money.

A few tight overs followed before the skipper broke the shackles with a pull shot for four - Safi had not been in the best of nick leading into this game, so was hoping to dig in and regain some form. Josh found back to back boundaries in the 26th over, firstly a pull shot of his own to put away a rank short delivery, before a trademark 'Joshy-flick' off the pads that had his skipper (and Lizo who was umpiring) purring from the other end. Safi (7) was smiling no longer however, as he was done by some extra bounce, top edging a cut shot to point who took a smart catch (114-5 - 26.1 Overs).

It was Ed Terry time for the first time in 2026 - for those that played for the 3s last year and/or read the match reports, you'd know how destructive Ed had been in 2025 for the side. Unfortunately Ed's first go with the bat didn't quite go to plan, as ET (3) advanced down the wicket to the off spinner Fredericks, but missed the ball, leaving the keeper to do the rest (117-6 - 27.3 overs). The 3s had lost 4-21 in 7 overs, and were in serious danger of making a game of this, even with the challenging batting conditions.

We were however fortunate to have quality batting all the way down the order, as ET brother Henry (HT), joined Josh in the middle, with the need for a rebuild mission critical. Both batters stayed patient for a few overs, rotating the strike well, and running hard to pick up a series of 2s. This reversed some of the pressure the bowling side had put on us, and with the temperature at its hottest, Josh and HT started to up the ante.

Josh found the midwicket fence with a slog sweep, before punching another beautiful shot through the offside for 4 more. HT provided a tough chance to the man at midwicket, but hit the ball so hard that it burst through the hands as the batters ran yet another 2. As Whitchurch rang the bowling changes in the heat, HT and Josh proceeded to run the fielders ragged, with perfectly placed shots allowing the batters to run 4x 2s in 5 balls in the 35th over! That is impressive in any game, let alone in 30C heat.

HT brought up the 50 partnership with a cracking slog sweep of his own over midwicket for 6, as the pair had brought some respectability to our score, and were now putting the foot down with 10 overs to go. Another brace of boundaries followed for Henry in the 37th over, as the runs continued to flow. HT's (42) fun eventually ended in the 38th over, as he picked out long on, trying to clear the fence once again. A brilliant knock that gave our innings some real impetus, with a 73 run partnership with Josh, as they looked to be batting on a different strip to everyone else (190-7 - 37.4 overs).

Into the final few overs, and after another trademark Joshy-P flick for 4, Ash (4) came and went carving the ball straight to cover point, before Josh (40) himself was done by an absolute ripper of a delivery that seamed away and took the edge through to the keeper (202-9 - 40.1 overs). Another super knock from Josh, who has helped demonstrate our collective batting resilience on multiple occasions this season already.

It was down to CT & Simmo to try to bat out the final 5 overs and see if they could get us to 225 and maximum batting points. Some watchful leaves from Simmo drew some attention from the opposition fielders, before CT carved away a boundary for himself as we crept towards our target. Good running, and some lovely straight drives to long on kept things ticking, before a pair of boundaries from CT (19*) got us over the prized 225 mark in the final over. Simmo (5) was stumped off the last ball to leave us 227 ao from our 45 overs.

Similar to our game vs Old Basing, the contributions from Ed (36), Josh (40) and HT (42) would all have been worth much more on a more conducive batting surface - 3 excellent knocks that were worth their weight in gold.

2nd Innings

After the teams devoured some delicious teas (thank you to the father-son duo of CT & ET), it was time for the chase, as a quick look at the stats had meant the skipper identified Whitchurch's 2x gun bats who had scored the majority of their runs in 2025 and so far in 2026 - getting their wickets would go a long way in deciding this game.

It was a different combination of the Terry father-son duo to open the bowling, as HT started from the Tennis court end, whilst CT opening up from the horse-field end. Whitchurch had changed up their batting order, with neither gun batter opening up, and seemingly a pinch hitter sent up the order to break the back of the chase on a tricky surface. Said batter gave a chance just 4 balls into the innings, as he flat-batted one to mid on, where Ash unfortunately shelled it (very unlikely our Ash!). It was salt into wounds time, as a wild swing found a top edge that flew away for an incredibly flat six over CT at third man.

CT started well himself, with his usual guile and swing, before HT got the breakthrough with the first ball of the 3rd over, as a length ball found the edge and flew through to Greg to safely pouch it (7-1 - 2.1 overs). In came the first of the gun bats, namely Z Fredericks, who was in great form, having scored back to back hundreds in the previous two weeks. The other (pinch-hitting) opener continued to play in one way and slapped two boundaries off CT to the cover fence, before CT (and Ash) got his revenge as the ball was launched high into the sky, and Ash redeemed his earlier drop by taking a skier at long on (15-2 - 3.4 overs).

This all-action start continued as HT beat the bat again, before Fredericks got his first boundary with a lovely straight drive. Josh came into the attack in the 9th over replacing HT, but was punished early by the no.4 bat after a couple of loose deliveries. Simmo replaced CT (1-19), and looked threatening immediately. Josh found his radar in his second over, beating the bat with a beauty, before a back of a length delivery was spooned up to Safi at midwicket who took the catch (46-3 - 10.2 overs), as the 3s good start with the ball continued.

It was now time for J Dancer to join Z Fredericks in the middle, with everyone knowing that this was the critical partnership to decide the fate of this game. Both batters looked good from the off, hitting the ball firmly along the carpet, and punishing anything loose - after a couple of trips to the hedge, the ball had come back a touch out of shape and had started to split on one side (the less said about the quality of HCL balls the better). With just a couple of overs to drinks, we continued on with the current ball, before a big moment in the 13th over.

J Dancer nailed a full toss to midwicket where the skipper stood, above his head the ball burst through his hands and dropped to the turf. A potentially crucial drop with the partnership in its infancy - it was hit hard, but should have been taken. The drop seemed to focus the batters further as they ran very well between the wickets and continued to find a regular boundary if the bowlers strayed on line or length.

After the ball was eventually changed at drinks (80-3 - 15 overs), Josh (1-27), was replaced by Ash who was into the game for the first time. Both batters looked in control, despite Simmo's best efforts, who continued to vary his pace and started to trouble Fredericks. Whilst the pitch had settled, we probably weren't bowling at our best, with Greg being kept busy behind the sticks, and diving either way to save valuable runs.

The partnership continued to build and both batters looked assured as we craved the crucial wicket. In the 21st over, another chance went begging - this time off Ash's bowling, J Dancer middled another to Safi at midwicket, who admittedly didn't see much of the ball in the sun and threw a hand in front of his face for self preservation, but could only palm it round the corner - the score read 102-3 from 21 overs at this point.

With the skipper needing some ice to quell the swelling on his hand, H took the reins for a few overs as the batters looked increasingly assured and were scoring at 7 an over with little fuss. HT was brought back into the attack in the 24th over to try to get the breakthrough, and did look the most threatening of the bowlers, extracting some variable bounce from the deck, even with the older (and changed) ball. As we approached the second drinks break, ET entered the fray for the first time with ball, as the 3s looked to change things up - Ed was extracting some movement, but couldn't stem the flow of runs as both batters expertly picked the gaps off even the good deliveries. It was one of those situations where good deliveries were going for singles, and anything loose was going for 4.

At 154-3 at 30 overs, Whitchurch were well in control and were cruising towards victory. It was 'roll the dice' time, as the skipper (0-23) brought himself on to bowl some filth (maybe not the smartest idea with a dodgy hand), in hopes the batters would spoon one up. Unfortunately that was not the case and both batters found the fence twice each, as that experiment lasted 2 overs longer than it should have. In those two overs, Safi continued to be in the wars with J Dancer, as a bullet straight drive flew into the skipper's foot, bringing a few chuckles across the field.

The bowling options continued to chop and change with the game reaching its conclusion as Ash (0-49), HT (1-36) and finally Simmo bowled out their allocations. With Fredericks in the 90s and approaching 3x tons on the bounce, HT found the edge but the ball also burst through Greg's hands behind the sticks - a rare blot on what was an impressive keeping performance by Greg. Just 3 balls later, Simmo found a perfect yorker that sent Fredericks back to the pavilion for a near chanceless 97 - he deserved his ton for sure (213-4 - 37.1 Overs), and a match-winning 167-run partnership to boot.

With the game all but done, we would be forgiven for going through the motions until the end, but to our credit, the team gave it their all until the very last. Simmo (1-46) almost had 2 in 2 as an inside edge agonisingly missed leg stump, before the ball ballooned up in between Simmo and H, and the latter, tumbling to reach it, couldn't quite cling on. The 41st over saw the end of proceedings, as J Dancer (74*) pulled the ball away to the square boundary to seal a 6-wicket victory for Whitchurch.

Wrap up:

A first defeat of the season for the 3s, and we can't have too many complaints - Whitchurch were the better side with bat, ball and in the field, so thoroughly deserved their victory. We did very well to battle back from 117-6 to 227ao, but it was not our best day with the ball or in the field - there are fine margins in league Cricket, and missed chances against good batters in close games will certainly cost you. Their Fredericks and J Dancer batted superbly, credit to them. We can only try our best to do better next time - I cannot fault the effort of anyone, we all gave it our all in the blazing heat through to the end.

POTM: Henry Terry - 42 off 32 balls (3x 4s, 1x 6s) & 9-1-36-1. A superb all round effort from HT, helping to rescue us from a difficult position with the bat, before a top effort with the ball. On another day HT finds the edge a couple more times - always a pleasure to watch him bowl.

We will look to bounce back on Saturday away to Oakley, who similar to Alton, came down from Div 3, so will be another tough test. Oakley actually have a frog box and I heard our second frog box will be arriving soon so watch this space. See you next week.