After more drop outs than a 22yard line Aythorpe finally managed to get 6 people to Riverside thanks to some quick work from officially the most popular boy in Springfield Sam Gravatt who has more contacts than an opticians.
Blackers lost the toss but was happy to be inserted by Great Baddow who came to the game still searching for a victory in this seasons competition, and about 40 minutes later they were no better off.
This was thanks to another great batting performance by the outdoor champions.
Sam Gravatt stepped up to the plate and was excited about opening. The youngster used his trademark late cut again and was treated to a double up once Blackers came in and again ran a 2 which has become standard for the man who is now being described as some sort of fast twitch muscle fibres machine. Giggsy carried on his impressive form and showed his experience in the indoor game once again getting his team off to a quick start to put minimal pressure on the middle order batsman.  Andy Clarke took full advantage of this by missing a ball that must have turned sideways.
The 5th Sam of the squad entered the arena and quickly followed orders to make way for Giggs and Gravatt to return. These two finished with some quick scoring to take Aythorpe up to 135 with Gravatt jnr hitting a career best of 43 not out to give his captain a batting order headache for next game with rumours of a Gravatt snr return.
Aythorpe went out to field more confident than a lion chasing a 3 legged zebra. And apart from the 6 Baddow batsmen they didn’t disappoint anyone.
Giggs and Clarke bowled purposefully taking 3 wickets between them for just for just 17 runs. A good catch from Giggs via the roof off his own bowling plus a stumping gave him 2 well deserved wickets after setting field positions which were more precise than an ordinance survey map reference.
The 2 teen aged Sam’s then joined in partnership and shared the last 3 wickets. Sam Gravatt finished with remarkable figures of 2 for 2 from just 3 balls. One wicket was a remarkable catch from Clarkey who’d taken the gloves and had to move almost yards to make enough ground to make the dismissal. It was a great catch and although the lap of honour seemed unnecessary it just shows how much this venue means to a man who has played at the most famous cricket grounds in the country.
A fantastic win for the in form team by over 100 runs which must be a record of some sort.
The next game is not till the 27th due to the international break and with Paul Gravatt available it could be a difficult week of selection for Blackman and even more difficult if players don’t reply to text messages!!!
S Gravatt 43 no, G Milbank 35 no
S Gravatt .3 overs 2 for 2