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After being given a bye from the first round, Milton were drawn against Over at home.  The game was played following a few dry days, however, the rain from the previous week had left the pitch slightly soft and Nick, having won the toss, decided to put the visitors in.  It looked a good decision when first Howell lifted a ball to mid-off, where Martin sprinted round to take a difficult catch off Nick’s bowling, and then Freddie (in his debut game) bowled Smart to put Over at 3-2 after 4 overs.  Jon and Luke then took up the attack and the conditions suited Luke’s leg spin as he ripped the heart out of Over’s mid order.  He and Michael combined for two stumpings and Freddie took a stunning catch at slip (after Michael parried the first attempt!) to give Luke the impressive figures of 3-17.  Over’s opener, Charlie Sorenson, was still at the crease and looked in good touch, however, Nick put himself back on to bowl and dismissed the opener with an in-swinger which clipped the top of off and middle stump.  With Over at 47-6, the hosts were into the tail-end.  Laurie picked up an l.b.w. and Freddie collected the other three wickets to leave Over on 57 all out after 17.4 overs. 
After a short interval, Michael and George opened the batting, and Michael set about overcoming the low target with a blistering display of attacking play.  The openers put on 46 before Smart bowled George and then picked up Jack in the same over.  Nick then came in to see the home team to victory, however, Smart was not finished yet as he picked up Michael’s wicket in the murky light by bowling him for 35.  Freddie was at the non-strikers end to watch Nick hit the 2 runs needed to secure the victory.
Overall, this was a very impressive display by Milton, who showed good spirit and everyone played as a team member.  The win was secured by good tight bowling early-on.  The players applauded both Luke and Freddie as they led the team off after Over’s collapse.

 
After winning the encounter with Over in the cup the week before, confidence was high.  Another win in this, the first league game of the season, would give Milton a promising start.  Withdrawals from two key players, Freddy Steele, and then an injury to Nick Seaman only an hour before the start of the game, left skipper, Michael Franklin, with some serious problems.  The pitch was dry and uneven, Michael, after winning the toss, put the hosts in to bat.  Will and Jon spearheaded the attack.  In his second over, Jon struck with a ball that kept low and bowled the dangerous Charlie Sorenson for 13.  Luke then continued in his rich vein of form by bowling his leg spin deliveries.  Howell was the first to be deceived when he lifted a ball to deep square leg and Laurie ran forward to take a brilliant catch, then Tom Smart danced down the pitch and missed the ball for Michael to produce another stumping.  The fielding was good and despite two dropped catches, Milton kept up the pressure and stopped Over scoring freely.  Michael intelligently rotated his bowlers and both Linstead boys combined to keep a tight controlled bowling spell.  Success came after James, who was bowling very effectively, tempted Bradley to top edge to his brother Tom.  Will picked up a wicket in his last over, to finish with 1 for 10.  At 67-5 at the close, the total looked an easy target.
Michael and Will (after some discussion in the changing room) opened the batting.  Unfortunately, Will received a ball which lifted and clipped the very top of his stumps.  Laurie struck a four behind square before playing a poor shot and was clean bowled for 5.  Tom lived dangerously and gave several half chances early on, however, Over were unable to take advantage, and Tom made a hard earned 10 before his luck ran out.  At 36-3 all looked well, but time was running out and the run rate was climbing all the time.  Stuart was unable to contribute and Martin was run out by some brilliant fielding.  Alex came to the crease and made a stand of 19 with Michael before he too was bowled.  With two overs to go and the light failing, George joined Michael, needing 8 to win.  Michael hit yet another boundary and then a single to give George the strike.  George clipped the next ball square of his legs to the boundary to give Milton a 4 wicket victory with just 9 balls to spare.
Overall, this was a good display in the field by Milton, however, with the exception of Michael carrying his bat for 38, the rest of the batting performance looked very brittle.
 

 
 
Overcast drizzly conditions persisted throughout this match making it very difficult for both teams to play good cricket.  Nevertheless, the match did start shortly after 6 o’clock and Jon won the toss (Milton are yet to lose the toss so far this season!) and put Hardwick into bat.  Milton only had 9 players present, but Luke was on his way and Freddy was finishing his district game at Fordham.  Will and Nick kept a tight accurate line, but neither broke through the opener’s defence.  It was the skipper, Jon, who broke the partnership by drawing Smith out of his crease and Michael making yet another brilliant stumping.  The success was short lived as Nils Downes and Raffi Faruq put on an 88 run partnership for the second wicket, Nils eventually reached a half century before top edging and Will took a smart catch off Michael’s bowling in the very last (eventful!) over.  Raffi went next ball for trying to hit out and getting stumped and then Green was run out on the last ball of the innings.  Hardwick’s score of 116-4 was a big target and Milton needed to keep some cool heads.
 
Michael and Will opened the batting again and put on a good opening stand of 21 before Will was very unlucky to be bowled off his body.  Nick looked in good touch until he charged down the wicket to a straight ball and was bowled.  Michael was brilliantly caught trying to force the pace and although Jon and Luke tried to keep the momentum going, they were both bowled out.  At 48 for 5 the task looked beyond Milton, but a spirited 10 from Laurie and a superb knock of 21 by Tom brought up a 38 run partnership, which for a while, looked as though a win was possible, however, Hardwick brought back on their opening bowlers in the darkening gloom and 4 wickets were to fall rapidly to secure a 28 run win for the hosts.
 
Without the early breakthrough of Hardwick’s batting line-up, it was always going to be a difficult game to win.  Milton’s batting display was much better than recent games and there is still a good team spirit in the camp to do well against Longstanton in the next match.

 
 
A big contrast for the weather conditions in this match after the rain of Hardwick the previous week was replaced by hot balmy conditions at Milton.  Nick lost the toss and Histon decided to field first.  With Michael unavailable, Freddy and Nick opened the batting.  Unfortunately for the two, they set of for a quick single only to find a direct hit on the stumps to dismiss Freddy.  Will and Jonathan both gave some support to Nick, who was still upset at the earlier dismissal, but both were bowled cheaply.  Neither Tom nor James bothered the scorers as both fell first ball.  Martin played sensibly against the accurate bowling and held up his end, whilst Nick plundered runs on his way to his first ever half century.  In the final over when runs became a priority, Nick was finally out playing across the line.  Laurie and Luke also fell in the final over to leave Milton on 104 for 8.  On such a dry fast outfield, that total always looked low, especially against a strong Histon team.
 
Nick and Freddy opened the bowling, this time, however, Freddy was more fortunate as first he took Lawton’s wicket as the opener hooked to deep backward square leg where the ever impressive George took a brilliant catch and later took Webster’s wicket thanks to Will’s catch.  At 21-2 there was a glimmer of hope.  After that, the change bowlers could not be accurate enough to stop the scoring, and eventually the batsmen overhauled Milton’s total with 7.4 overs remaining.
 
Despite the heavy loss, there were some good things to come out of this match.  Milton’s team spirit is still strong, Freddy’s impressive left arm swing bowling causes batsmen problems, Nick’s first 50, George and Will’s excellent catches and lots of experience!  Hopefully, the players will think about how they can improve their own game and perfect that in the nets.  The mood in the changing room afterwards was quiet disappointment, but determined to prove themselves against Longstanton in the next match.  The Cup may have gone, but the League is still there.

 
 
This was the third meeting between these two teams this season and Milton held a psychological advantage, knowing they had won both the previous encounters.  Confidence was therefore high as Michael put the visitors in to face the barrage from Nick and Freddy.  Unusually though, they failed to make the breakthrough as Over’s openers defended the crease and reached 16 without loss after 6 overs.  Michael changed the attack and Jon and Will were brought on with immediate success, Jon picked up three wickets and, the ever impressive, Will another two to his tally.  At 45 for 5 after 13 overs, the game was clearly heading one way, however, Merola and Bradley had other ideas and took the attack to Milton by hitting George and Martin around the ground.  Martin bowled Bradley to stem the tide and Nick’s quick thinking ran out Smith.  Waller was stumped by Michael to claim his second dismissal of the night and Merola was running out of partners and time.  At 91 for 8 after 20 overs, the Milton batsmen were certain they could win the game.
 
Michael and Jon opened the batting and, uncharacteristically, Michael was dismissed cheaply with a ball that played unluckily onto his stumps.  Nick was in a determined mood and hit 14 of his first three deliveries!  He played sensibly, however, and defended the good deliveries and punished the bad balls.  A massive cheer from the boundary indicated that either the crowd liked Nick’s forward defensive or England had scored against Portugal in Euro 2004 (the latter happened to be the cause).  Jon gave very good support at the other end but received a ball that clipped the top of his off stump.  Freddy was just getting into his stride when he received an awful delivery that found a way through to his leg stump.  Will played a very attacking shot and was bowled.  Milton were on 62-4 after just 8 overs and Nick was in good touch.  With just 8 runs needed, Nick threw his bat across the line once too often and lost his leg stump.  Martin and George eased across the winning line and secured the 5 wicket victory.
 
Overall, this was a good display in the field by Milton, especially the tight accurate bowling of Freddy, Jon and Will to restrict Over, however, with the exception of Nick’s third half century of the season, the rest of the batting performance looked very brittle.
 

 
 
After a day of heavy showers, this match may have fallen victim to the weather, however, the combination of sun, wind and an artificial pitch meant that play was possible.  Nick won the toss and decided this time to bat and post a big score.  George, Martin and Tom all fell cheaply leaving Milton on 26-3 and Michael losing partners.  Alex came to the crease and gave a few half chances before settling in.  Michael was caught attempting a lofted off drive for a very useful 27.  Nick came in and started to push the run rate up and shared a partnership of 37 with Alex.  After Alex was dismissed for 20, Jon took up the anchor role for Nick who started scoring runs for fun on his way to an unbeaten half century.  The pair scored 30 runs in the last 3 overs to give Milton the impressive score of 132-5 at the break and another rain shower punctuated the play.
 
Jon opened up the attack with Nick, and the two combined in Jon’s third over by dismissing Thompson caught in the slips by Nick.  After 6 overs, Longstanton were only 15-1 and the run rate was increasing rapidly when Martin and Tom took the attack to the home team.  Tom’s impressive bowling form of late gave him another 2 wickets (including another slip catch by Nick) and Martin picked up the dangerous Hartop.  At 32-4 with only 8 overs to go, Nick brought in George, Stuart, Joe, Hannah and James to vary the attack.  James picked up his first U13 wicket by bowling Padhair for 8, off an inside edge (but they all count!).  At the close, the hosts had limped to 89-5 and Milton secured another victory.
 
This was a good display all round by Milton, both in the field and with the bat.  At no time did victory looked in danger as all the players went about the job in a determined mood.  It was also pleasing to see the help and encouragement given to the junior players by their more experienced team mates.