On Saturday, I headed down to Camden to play a cricket match against I Zingari. The fixture was a 40-over affair, and the I Zingari side has traditionally contained a mixture of cricketers local to the region, in addition to players from international, state/county and first-grade level (past and present). Even Don Bradman made an appearance for them once upon a time.

On a pitch that probably one day early in preparation, due to the amount of moisture present, we elected to bowl, and what fun we were having due to the slow nature of the pitch.

In the fourth over, one of our strike bowlers was hit on the ankle and went off the field. It was only that evening we found out that he had broken several bones in his foot and was in a plaster cast.

Reduced to ten men, the opposition with 12, they lent us a player to field, and what a boon that was, with him taking two catches. After 40 overs, their scoring was kept to 4 runs an over, 161 the target.

Probably with the best of the conditions, our run chase started poorly and we were 2 for 1. However, we consolidated steadily, and by the half-way mark we were in sight of the target. The sixth wicket fell and we were 45 runs short of the target. That brought myself to the crease with the captain - the two Ben(n)’s ready to attack.

36 runs was brought up in a rate of knots until I was bowled by the NCSA president - Craig Hambleton. The delivery clipped the top of my outstretched pad and then proceeded to knock the bails off. I didn’t look back, as you never want to see the sight of carnage.

Another ten runs for victory were added easily as the light started to fade. An excellent day of quality cricket played in a friendly manner was topped off with a few beers.

It’s always a little odd playing cricket in May, however the Sydney climate allows you to do that quite easily, especially in the south-west region which seems to miss the rain quite frequently.

Anyway, I look forward to doing it again next year.