Charity was the name of the day as the Rosaneri visited Lincoln Road for the annual family day fund raiser in aid of the National Autistic Society. First things first, a big thanks to all those who gave up their time to help with the fund raising and organisation - it was a great effort all round and a great day.

Early pre match reports had suggested that charity was far from the minds of the Enfield hierarchy with regards to cricketing affairs as a smattering of first eleven starlets were expected to enhance an already strong Enfield eleven. It was looking likely to be a stern test for the pinks. The day's drama started early on Saturday morning when news filtered through that Cuz had awoken with a bad back and was unfit to play but Andy was able to secure the services of a familiar face from the past in Tony Atkins to fill the void.

Enfield batted first and to some raised eyebrows skipper Andy tossed the ball to Nick to open the proceedings. Nick returned the skipper's faith with an early wicket in a solid opening spell with Mat turning in his usual consistent display of line and length from the other end and in the early exchanges the pinks managed to restrict Enfield to mainly singles and twos with the odd boundary interspersed. Jimmy Mitch replaced Nick from the pavilion end and continued the good work but as each over passed the obvious class of the young Enfield batsmen began to shine and it soon became apparent that this was going to be a tough ask for the pinks. The rossers were starting to wonder where the next wicket would come from when Jimmy forced a snap shot from the batsman straight at Mr Bell fielding at close range. It may not have gone straight into the hands but it stuck somewhere and gave the pinks a much needed lift. Rahul bowled a nice spell and Coxy turned in another superb cameo bowling performance during which he snaffled the Rossers third scalp with a spectacular caught and bowled from a firm drive that had seen the mid off fielder scampering across to save a boundary! However, each batsman that arrived at the crease seemed more adept than the last and Enfield continued to cruise steadily towards a hefty total. The Enfield opener completed his century and this signalled their declaration after just 35 overs with a seemingly gettable total of 219 on the board - possibly a surprising gesture to make a good game of it but more likely a move to ensure enough overs to bowl out the pinks!

After a hearty tea attention turned briefly to charity matters and the customary raffle draw was conducted by the Rosaneri players while the Enfield fielders conducted a professional looking warm-up routine as they plotted the destruction of the Rosaneri batsmen.

Mr Bell and Mike opened the batting as usual but the Enfield bowlers were accurate as expected and runs were not easy to come by. Mike was replaced by Shell when still in single figures after he managed to get himself out in uncustomary fashion by playing around a full delivery but Mr Bell looked more settled and tried to get things going with a couple of lovely cover drives and a huge six but it was stop start stuff as the bowlers started to get the pinks bogged down. Shell made a promising start but it wasn't to be his day then Marcus lifted the mood with a mighty six into the road but that was to be his only scoring shot. Tony Atkins looked the part when he arrived at the crease in his baggy blue cap and despite being a little rusty he punished an opening wayward delivery with a nice clip for 4 and looked set for a total but he also fell before too long. Mr Bell looked settled but when he eventually clipped one to the reliable hands of Slaps at square leg it was starting to look like time for pinks to drop anchor. Rahul was his usual resolute self and batted with his customary verve and Coxy put up some stubborn resistance but wickets continued to fall as the pinks fell further and further behind the required rate. Rosaneri batsmen came and went but each man played their part by seeing off vital overs and it was eventually left to Mat and Nick at 9 and 10 to see off the remaining 4 overs. The odds of defeat fluctuated from odds on to odds against as the strike swapped between the assured bat of Mat and the decidedly fragile defence of Nick but they stuck to the task and with Jimmy Mitch in reserve the draw started to look inevitable as we entered the final over with Mat on strike. Slaps bowled the final over with all the cunning and guile he could muster but Mat was focussed and the draw was sealed.

It was another great family day and a good result against excellent opposition although perhaps not a great game for the spectator! The most important thing is that the Rossers managed to raise another decent sum for the National Autism Society and also provided a fun day for the families and kids which was the key aim.

There was a lot of class on show for Enfield today but with their charitable exploits the Rosaneri again proved to be a real class act. Well done all round.

Scores on the doors to follow soon!