Saturday saw a trip to second placed Idlers (Salisbury) in front of the team, so a full test of where 
they stood in the league seemed assured. 

The day began with skipper Buckingham losing the toss and the home team electing to bat first.

Rotherwick ITW strike bowler Neil Payne came up trumps straight away after being smashed through the 
offside for a boundary followed up having the opener caught behind by Dan Vallis. The Idlers innings 
edged along scoring steadily but never getting away, the next strike came when Payne’s new ball partner 
Chris Swift lured the batsman into a false shot and Hooper snared the catch at mid on. A flurry of wickets 
followed with Payne trapping the batsman bang in front in the next over and Swift pouched a sharp return 
catch in the following over to reduce the home team to 32 for 4. Payne inflicted further pain by snapping 
up his third wicket in the 15th over and Adam Cordery joined the party after his first ball disappearing 
for six he gained his revenge having the No.7 caught by Appleton (S) in the very next over. For the second 
time in the innings the Rotherwick boys struck in three successive overs as Payne bagged his fourth wicket bowling the No.8 as the home team staggered to 46 for 7. A revival was started as the No’s 5 and 9 fought hard to move the score up to 74 before the introduction of Kyle Frost in his first season in league cricket, indeed his first bowl in league cricket, after an edgy start with 3 wides he settled down and removed Idlers No.9 once again caught by Appleton (S) off the last ball of his first over. Frost once again struck in his second over removing the home side No.5 with the aid of a sprawling catch by Swift at cover. With Idlers 81 for 9, Rotherwick ITW looked well in control of the match just needing a final wicket to wrap up the innings. Frost was withdrawn from the attack and opener Swift return along with Cordery to try and finish off the innings. Idlers final pair dug in and as they grew in confidence the runs began to flow adding 51 for the final wicket before Buckingham brought himself into the attack and claimed the final wicket to conclude the innings on 132. Despite the deflating final wicket 
stand the bowlers had done their part of the bargain with Payne leading the way with 4-27, Swift (2-38), 
Frost (K) (2-3), Cordery (1-39) and Buckingham (1-11) supporting him admirably. It was now down to the 
batsmen to finish the job off!!

The innings began with a couple of typically lusty blows from Orange who then fell for 9 immediately 
followed by his opening partner Buckingham for 4. It was down Vallis and the out of touch Swift to begin 
the fightback. Vallis worked steadily along and after a slow start Swift began to gain in confidence as 
the score moved along to 43 for 2 before an ill judged shot from Swift saw his demise for 17. Adams 
followed quickly afterwards adjudged LBW for 1. The signs were looking ominous and the feeling of dread 
grew ever larger when Appleton (S) was unluckily run out backing up as Vallis straight drove the bowler. 
Appleton (P) joined Vallis and the score edged along run by run until he was bowled for 1 with the score 
on 62 for 6. Hooper was a reliable ally for Vallis who continued to keep his nerve and continued to battle
on but after 14 more were added Hooper followed the previous succession of batsmen to leave Vallis at the 
crease. Cordery was the next to go as Rotherwick slumped to 79 for 9 and after a brief fightback the 
innings closed on 92 all out Vallis left stranded on an impressive 33 not out.

A day of missed chances after having Idlers 46 for 7 and 81 for 9 and even after the Idlers score had 
been amassed. At 42 for 2 chasing, the odds were still very much on a Rotherwick victory. A time for 
lessons to be learned and notes to be taken for future reference