Beating Burley

I'm returned to England. This certainly isn't Majorca!

There was an extra fixture in the cricket calendar today to compensate for no matches being able to be played on the Saturday of the Grand Depart of the Tour de France. The firsts were at Burley, just down the road, so I biked backwards and forwards between the games to support the lads. Without going into details, the seconds lost a hard fought match while the firsts triumphed against one of the very best teams in the league. Indeed, Ben Rhydding had never before beaten their illustrious local rivals in a league game, not that there have actually been too many opportunities. We've mostly been playing in a lower division than them. There is a sense that the youngest and least experienced side in the top flight of the local league are beginning to find their feet. A growing belief in their own talent could take this team a long way. Today was a big day for them.

This shot is of Forrest about to play a lofted drive for four down the ground towards me on the boundary. Sadly, the next ball was there for the same kind of stroke but he didn't go through with it and played a catch straight to cover to be out for ten. He was looking good. I was so disappointed for him.

I've been adjusting to the realities of life again and it's not been easy. Thanks so much everyone for all your encouragement this last week. I've kept my on-line time down to an absolute minimum, just occasionally popping the laptop down into the village to pick up a connection long enough to post my blip. The mountain I was scaling before I went away is still there. I fear it actually looks a little bigger. Hopefully I'm now better equipped for the climb than I was a week ago.