Carib Beer XI Old Boys,

Greenwich Park, Thursday 19th July 2025

Despite this being the Old Boys fixture, the next generation was a theme of the evening. All started positively with a glorious sunny evening and the Old Boys rustling up a full roster for the game. This may have been driven by clever psychology on behalf of Steve Curtis suggesting in pre-match emails that some recipients may not be physically up to the rigours of the game. As it was they were sufficiently replete with numbers to decline Martin's proposal to play for them (a move that might have triggered a constitutional crisis in Nitin's eyes).

The Chief Tosser (I'm putting words in Nitin's mouth now!) then proceeded to call correctly and chose to bat on what looked a dry, fast pitch. This caused excitement for Carib Holmes who was keen to show his young nephew and niece his mettle by leading the charge. And indeed he did, with an unbeaten 25 setting a solid foundation for the innings. Useful cameos from Carib Cordey and Ringer Mak were ended by Edmondson and Luciani and then one for Abby Fuller. From this point on however Caribs Weaver, Thanawala and Haigh made hay while the sun shone. With Steve Lowes manifestly enjoying chasing the ball around the outfield, the Caribs tallied 153-3 in their allotted overs.

With the midges descending, the second innings commenced with Old Boys Moss and Luciani first to the crease. While Rob valiantly held his own, Ringer Kunal, Carib Cordey and Carib Thanawala picked up early wickets at the other end. The last of these came the ball after Carib Cordey offered some "helpful" "coaching" to his opposite number! Without the motivation of impressing his young relatives (after whose bedtime it now was), Carib Holmes' bowling didn't quite match his batting exploits. It was Carib Haigh who finally ended Rob's resistance and wickets fell at regular intervals. However the Caribs couldn't quite polish off the tail as Abby Fuller - a player with impeccable Old Boys credentials despite being neither Old nor a Boy - and Steve Lowes got the Old Boys to a creditable total.

On such a wonderful sunny evening in the surroundings of Greenwich Park, cricket was undeniably the winner, and hopefully the next generations of Fuller and Holmes clans were suitably inspired to pick up the mantle!

Carib Beer XI Win by 76 Runs

Scorecard