Our first match of the season and a welcome win, completed in emphatic style. At least it looks emphatic in the scorebook.
Rabs won the toss and decided to field on a flat wicket, but with the ball likely to swing. Adam and new boy Dave certainly got it to swing and although Adam had no luck in his opening burst, Dave's figures of 6-2-8-1 on debut suggest we have found a player of potential. Change bowlers Jez and Rabs created chances which our fielders declined, over and over again. We managed a couple of routine run outs and Ian finally took a catch. The wise head of Jacko took the pace off the ball in an accurate spell which yielded 3-30 but with St Ives closing on 166-7 it looked like we may have missed an opportunity.

The Ditton reply began with a surprise - Jacko invited to open with Adam. Perhaps it was too much tea, but when Adam called for a quick single, Jacko was slow out of the blocks and was run out. Both teams had now demonstated they could perform reasonably easy run outs but from here on, St Ives showed that their catching could be as woeful as ours had been. 'H' had more lives than the proverbial cat, but after Adam was trimmed up Nick came to the crease and played with power and composure to guide the run chase. This required a good deal of cajoling a horribly out of condition Hayward to keep running singles, but the pair saw Ditton home with 11 balls to spare. 'H' finished 80 not out, and Nick 44 not out.

It's not often we've seen Ditton run chases as composed as this, although the opposition fielding helped. We need to get our catching sorted out soon as we might not be so fortunate next time.

Too many "schoolboy errors" in the field to pick on any individual this week.

The youngsters of Histon gave us a sound beating after we underestimated them a bit, but this defeat may have a really positive effect for the remainder of the season.

Histon lost the toss and Rabs invited them to bat. Adam and Dave again made a promising start although Dave seemed to be a little uncomfortable bowling from the 'bottom' end. Wickets fell on an occasional basis with neither team imposing themselves when we reached 20 overs and drinks. Straight after, Dave was switched to the Pavillion end and proceded to take four more wickets for a '5 for' and a jug. It was at this point, with Histon six down, that we seemed to think we'd done enough and that the innings would soon be over for 120 at most. As our intensity dropped, the young batsmen played really well for a half-century partnership and a final total of 161-7.

We needed our main batters to perform for the second week running but it didn't happen. Maybe we took the bowling too lightly but more probably, we're one solid batsman away from being really competitive. The top five made just 57 between them and the game became a slow death. Jason managed to lighten the mood with the most outlandish excuse for getting out I've ever heard. To claim you were cleaned up for nought because your helmet was squeezing your head is quite something. It was also around this stage that Nick was moaning about us not calling enough leg-side wides. Schoolboy error by whoever it was who suggested Nick go and do some umpiring. The reply "No. I'd rather sit here and criticise" was tongue in cheek but put them in their place.

So what is the positive to be gained from a 71 run defeat? It's when 9 of us go to the pub for at least one drink after. We have a chance to build a real team spirit this season - heaven help The King's Head when we win a home game! That may depend on us not getting barred. Dave and 'H' were due to buy a jug each but nobody expected Jez to casually ask Landlady Julie "What size jugs have you got?" Much laughter and a sign that while we don't enjoy losing, we can get over it quickly and still enjoy ourselves.

Jacko was making his return after his theatrical tour to Paris and Harry, another 'thesp', was making his debut on the Ditton stage. Despite this, we failed to find a star performer, whereas Over had two, and both innings were overshadowed by extras.

We batted first and our top four found the pace and swing of Overs Read hard to combat. Add in the possibility of 'Bottom End' shooters and it wasn't long before we found ourselves 16-4. At this point Rabs declared that 120 would be a winning score. What followed was a gutsy demonstration of self-restraint and thoughtful batting by Nick (28) Paul (29) Ian (19) and Jez (27). Assisted by 43 extras, we closed on 170-9. Surely a winning total?

The Over innings began in similar fashion to ours with the top order struggling. However, they dug in better than we had, in part because Adam and then Dave had their radar operating like Steve Harmison. I'm surprised the culprits didn't offer to buy Paul a drink at the pub as he saved them worse embarassment. Then came this weeks 'schoolboy error'. The Over skipper, Way, was looking set to try to set up a finish but mis-timed a straight drive to Dave in his follow- through. Not a difficult catch, but down it went. Way was finally out with victory in sight for 55.

The curtain came down came with 10 balls to spare. We had given away 32 extras, so a 75 match total. Congratulations to Harry on his first runs for the team, and well done for struggling through in the field with an injury. Ian, Marc and Rabs opened their wicket tacking accounts and Ian produced a splendid tea. But in the final analysis, it's a dark day when Ditton fail to defend 170.

Waterbeach left their village's big day - The Feast, with its parade, stalls, fairground rides, behind only to arrive at The Rec. on a day when the Ditton bowlers collectively lost 'the yips' of last week, inspired by skipper Rabs.

Batting first, the visitors reached 9 without loss from 8 overs, with Rabs sending down 4 consecutive maidens. Then Adam struck and Ditton never let the visitors off the hook as in previous weeks. All the bowlers used made a contribution. Two wickets each for Dave and Jason, one each for Jez and Jacko. Rabs showed a ruthless streak when bringing himself back to bowl at the 'rabbits' and shot the last 3 out in one over to finish with 7-5-10-3. Extras again featured - 22 this week, but a target of 104 was surely within reach?

Rabs and Adam took few chances but built their opening partnership calmly and then with some acceleration. Rabs was stumped for 21 and Adam went almost immediately after for 39, but the 68 they made together had laid the foundation. The foundation for 'H' and Nick to come in and take 20 each off the cafeteria change bowling to boost their averages.

A very comfortable 8 wicket win, but with still a little room for improvement in this league where everyone seems capable of beating each other. Bar Hill next week may be very interesting.

It's just as well I don't have the scorebook to relate all the gory details. However I do know that Remnants reached nearly 200-1 from 20 overs with Nick of all people getting the wicket. When we batted, we only just beat the total of 47 extras we'd given away. Modesty prevents any further details of our innings.

Will the bowlers please get their direction sorted out on Saturday.

Severe selection problems led us to taking the field with only 9 men, having travelled to Milton's home away from home at Fenstanton. We wanted to avoid a default and pick up some bonus points, with the outside chance that if someone had a really good day, we might sneek a win.

Most hopes went out of the window when Rabs called incorrectly and we were inserted on a wicket as green as the outfield. The Milton bowlers were accurate, but the ball was doing everything except bounce or 'come on'. Adam was out early and then 'H' and Rabs battled away in a survival excersise hoping things might become easier. They didn't. Rabs went for a lengthy 5, Jacko gave some catching practice off (surprise, surprise) the leading edge and Paul was beaten by one which practically skidded. Dave lasted just two balls and 'H' went for 14 when trying to keep the strike. James scored his first run for Ditton but we were all out for a pitiful 52.

Every effort was given in the field and wickets fell to Rabs (2-15) and Jacko (1-14). Dave took an excellent catch at first slip, but neither he nor Adam could shift any more Milton batters before the misery was ended at about 5.15.

Let's hope we have a stronger team and play on a fairer wicket next week at Histon.

Once again Ditton were forced to take the field with less than the full compliment but you wouldn't have been able to tell. This was a real team victory with everyone playing their part, whether that was bowling, batting, keeping or fielding.

Rabs won the toss, and invited Histon to bat. From the first over to the fall of the last Histon wicket we were intense. The bowling was accurate; always asking questions of the batsmen's technique and was superbly backed up by all the fielders. Every chance was caught, every run was hard earned as we chased everything hard. The bowling figures are well worth showing - Adam 7-1-9-1, Jacko 6-3-14-0, Rabs 6.3-1-18-4, Dave 6-0-21-4. I'm sure Rabs and Dave would agree that Adam & Jacko created the pressure for them to take the wickets. There were fine catches by Nick and Paul's off the inside edge (among his four). Histon were blown away for 62. Could we wrap it up before the heavens opened?

There was a tricky period to bat before Tea, and Adam found himself with a Golden to his name. Rabs and 'H' got to Tea with the ball zipping about off the seam, although 'H' was dropped behind first ball.
Batting continued to be hard work on resumption but Rabs and 'H' ground the runs out until both fell with just ten required. Nick and Tony quickly knocked the remainder off and within 15 minutes the rain was torrential.

So a great team effort to beat the league leaders. Now we need to get 11 on the park and win a few more to achieve the league position we feel we deserve.

A result which turned out worth it in the end. After the struggle to put out a team and some how sort out a pitch. Paul and Adam tried throughout the week to get a pitch together. New lock on the shed door so couldnt get any equipment off and saturday quickly came round. By 11am saturday morning Paul and Adam got in the shed. With the little mover not starting and the roller cutting out. Paul decided to try and restart the roller again and manged to whack his knee with a metal handle and ended up on the floor unable to move. 1pm came round and a pitch was there, who knowns how it was going to play. thats when we found out there was no water in the pavillion. Adam was given the captains roll for the day and needed to win the toss and field first as 2 players leaving at 5.30pm. Needless to say we lost the toss and were batting. Adam and rabs went out a faced a 9ball over to start with, Rabs and Adam wanted to cash in on some buffet bowling. All though in the 2nd over Adam was bowled from a bowl that moved of the seam. Nick went early to and Ditton were 25-2 off 10overs. Rabs and Jacko then batted well and put on 67 together with the bowlers bowling well. A patnership that proved a match winner. 22 from Jacko and 46 from Rabs. Ditton looked set for 140 but again the Ditton colapse happened and lost the last 5wickets for 2runs. Ditton all out for 125. To win Ditton needed early wickets. Ditton were struggling with cottenham on 65-2 off 14overs and the number 3 has 49 off them, we needed him out now. Thats when rabs bowled a full ball and the batsman played it straight to Adam who took a good 1handed catch. Game back on or was it. Jacko and James had to go. To win ditton had to field with 9players. Adam brought himself on and took 3wickets and Dave changing ends to claim another 2. Cottenham were collapsing. at 106-9 Jason then clean bowled the batsmen and Ditton had the victory. A game which was getting away but good batting from Rabs and Jacko then some great bowling and fielding all round gave ditton the win. More work needs to be done on the batting area though.

After Paul and Adam did what they could with the pitch after limited machinery. We had some sort of wicket to play on. Rabs won the toss and straight away choose to bowl. Adam and Dave opened the bowling with a shocking 8overs but managed to some how take 4wicket for 21runs with Dave claiming 3. Jacko then replaced Adam and Rabs replaced Dave and both took wickets in their first over. Both then went through the middle and tail to clean up St Ives for 62. Dave, Rabs and Jacko all taking 3 and Adam 1. St Ives pretty much ALL giving their wickets away. But still the bowlers gave away 21 extras, something for them to think about. The fielding was once again good and Nick took a couple of good catches. So now batting surly Ditton wouldn't mess up chasing 63 to win Rabs and new opener Rory went along nicely and calmly knocked the ball around. They both managed to stay there and see it home with Ditton winning by 10wickets. Scoring 63 off 13overs. (Rabs 15no and Rory 24no)

Wouldn't you love to play Waterbeach every week? A poor side who argue among themselves as much as with the opposition and don't give their younger players much of a chance. Despite this, we had no inkling of the tiresome moaning and open conflict to come when we arrived on an afternoon perfect for cricket.

I assume we won the toss as any right-thinking captain would surely have batted first on a decent looking track. We also appeared on paper at least to have a strong batting lineup. The game started with a flurry of wides and no-balls as Extras easily outscored Rabs and Rory. The pattern for the first half of our innings was of people getting in, and getting out when a decent score looked on. The run-rate was always OK but the tempo was upped with the aggresive running of singles by Adam and Paul. This seemed to be when Waterbeach started to get ragged and fractious. Dave P was deemed an incompetent umpire and Adam was asked to remove him. Paul made 36 and Adam 38 not out, but Extras top scored with 49 to give us a comfortable tea break with 179-7 on the board.

Waterbeach never got into any sort of stride as Rabs and Dave P bowled a tight opening spell with Rabs getting the reward of 3 wickets. Adam and Jacko took over and were no less miserly with Adam picking up 3 wickets and Jacko 2. Mark could feel he should have had one more when one of the younger 'Beach players was stumped (alledgedly) by Paul. The umpire was swift in his adjudication of Not Out. 'H' pointed out as the ump moved in to replace the bails that the batsman still didn't have any part of his foot behind the line. Without too much provacation the umpire informed us in fairly robust manner that he was in charge and we should all Shut Up. Adam rose to the bait and a 'heated debate' ended with the umpire telling Adam he wanted to speak to our skipper. Some laughter followed as Adam replied he was the skipper and proceded to run to the pavillion to demand the umpire be relieved immediately. The game was finished by the spin twins Ian and Nick picking up a wicket apiece to finish Waterbeach off for 70.

So a win by 109 runs, 20 points and 4th in the table. Ten of our eleven available (at this time) available for next week when Bar Hill should be a sterner test.

This should have been a tight, hard-fought match between two teams aiming for a good final league position. Unfortunately, only Bar Hill seemed 'up for it' and bowled, fielded, caught and batted to a much higher standard than they needed to in order to win the game.

The Ditton batting was a mess. A series of foolhardy, rash shots, an uneccesary run out was only halted by the tail who at least got us up to the second bonus point. The Daves, Henderson and Phillips made double-figure contributions and James was at the crease while 26 valuable runs were scored. 82 all out is poor though and probably half of what was required for a decent game.

Bar Hill were fairly untroubled in overhauling the meagre target, although both Rabs and Dave P picked up their 19th wickets of the season and Bob scored a run out with a direct hit.

In a stop-start season we seem to have good runs bought to a shuddering halt by embarrasing defeats. We've bounced back each time so far so let's see what we can do against Granta next week.

After a week of non stop rain, the forecast for Friday was dry, and Saturday to be a proper Summers day. So Rabs and 'H' agreed we'd do what we could with the pitch and play. Hindsight may show this to have been a poor decision if we lose and get relegated at Over next week, but a win would have meant definate safety. The bottom line though is that everyone ought to want a game on day like this even if the wicket is a pudding.

Bowling first should have been a huge advantage, and our bowlers took the opportunity. Rabs (4-38), Jacko (3-12) and Dave (2-32) took the wickets along with a run out. Adam (0-25) made it 3 weeks without a wicket but bowled some unplayable stuff. Apart from one abberation, the fielding and catching were good and a total of 119 didn't look enough for Granta to defend.

It still didn't look enough as we reached 25-0. Then an old Ditton trait re-emerged - the big collapse. The Granta change bowlers were accurate but nothing excuses a slump to 57 all out. Only Rabs hung around for 17. Nobody else seemed to have watched which Granta batsmen had scored their runs or how. This pitch needed graft, skill and a bit of luck; we didn't look close to having those qualities.

So the season comes to a close next Saturday at Over with a win needed to preserve our place in Division 2. Time to step up and get the job done.

What a match to finish the season. The face-off between ourselves and Over to see who could avoid the final relegation position promised to be taught and nervy, and in the first innings it was for us whilst Over played without a care in the world. Our prospects didn't look good as Rabs won the toss but invited Over to bat on very good looking track with a couple of shortish boundaries and quickish outfield. Start time approached but no sign of Paul or Dave. We took the field with nine but Paul arrived and only missed two overs. Dave was probably lucky to have a) got lost b) run out of petrol c) been an idiot, as when he did arrive he could only watch the carnage until able to bowl at the tail and not be embarrassed by his figures.

After Jacko struck early, Over skipper John Way, who had won the reverse fixture at Ditton earlier in the season, hit one straight at Nick and had his first life while on nought. Some lusty blows from Way and opener David Kitson followed until Way sent a chance up towards Bob in the deep. For what seemed an age Bob had it, then in slow motion the ball hit the turf. Next up, Rabs failed to catch a dolly as Over raced on at 7 runs an over. After weeks of good work, our bowling and fielding had fallen apart. Jez starting his spell with three beamers was not much worse than the full tosses and long hops from others. Finally, 'H' held on to one to dismiss Way for 48 but Bradley came in and smacked his way to 29. All the time, Kitson was playing with power and technique, reaching his century with 18 boundaries. Immediately after reaching the milestone, he became Adam's first victim for four matches, from the last ball of his spell. Dave then came on to take 4-27 from the 5 overs he could bowl and Over were all out for 236. A massive score to chase but one which could possibly have been higher.

The Over total had opened up another scenario in the relegation stakes - if Ditton could score 200, taking maximum bonus points, we would still finish above Over. Rabs decided attack from the start was the way to go, so Nick was promoted to open with Rory. The two set off at a furious pace. When Nick was out in the 7th over, the score was already 47. 'H' helped Rory take the score on to 83 before falling and Dave, up the order as he needed to leave early took us to 118-3 from 20. Confidence was seeping into the Ditton ranks and Rory was playing the innings of his life - could he keep going? His batting did, but not his hamstring, so 'H' came out as a runner - this could make things interesting.
Rabs looked out of form but still had a partnership of 33 with Rory. Adam came to the crease and struggled initially, and kept managing to keep the strike. Eventually he started finding the middle and Rory seemed to hammer a boundary everytime he faced. Over gave all 11 players a bowl but Rory and Adam were intent on not just reaching 200 but winning the match. Rory reached a glorious hundred, finishing 104 not out, just before Adam got to 50, finishing 54 not out. With 2.3 overs left the winning runs came in a partnership of 86 in only 11 overs. A magnificent game, played in exemplary spirit, yielding a total of 473 runs for 15 wickets. The perfect end to the season for us, but some regret that it was Over, a good bunch of lads, who will finish in the worst position available.