It sounds like the castle could have done with some royal intervention. They were dismissed for 97, with Brad Pinch again starring with 4/15.

The team’s new recruit, Matt Peel, looks pretty good value taking 3/15 and scoring 35 runs. A solid innings of 53 not out by the reliable Dave Foot resulted in a win with only one lost wicket.

The B graders had a fairly ordinary loss against Hinton on a rain affected wicket. Their batting has yet to achieve consistency, but it is still early days.

The D graders missed out on a win by a whisker, with four runs in the last couple of balls. Playing Heddon Greta, our team notched up a great start and we finished with 170 runs. Kevin Scaife with 53 and Stuart Hole, also with 53, played extremely well.

Bob Ziehlke and Graham Johnson each contributed 25 quick runs and our total was quite satisfactory.

Three or four dropped chances, a fast outfield and a few wayward balls generally snatched victory from us in the final moments.

Ben Feeney and Brad Newlin both bowled exceptionally well. Ian Ingram also bowled well with his well controlled off spinners.

Generally, it was a much improved result. BZ