The emergency net on Thursday night at Hatfield Sports village was a huge success. Five enthusiasts turned up and enjoyed the magnificent ECB approved facilities at their best.

Rosaneri Cricket club took their place in lane 3 and a thoroughly beneficial net was enjoyed by all concerned. The bowling was the best we have seen all winter, and at one point during an unbelievable spell Mat Freeman clean bowled Pits with 3 consecutive balls. Marcus and Jim plugged away with solid line and length and Nick was causing all sorts of problems for the batsmen with his leg spin.

However, the real surprise of the night was the emergence of Pits with his medium pace bowling. He exacted cold revenge on Mat for shattering his confidence with the bat by first balling him with a peach that sent the middle stump cart wheeling.

The real added bonus of practicing in the specially designed cricket centre was the fact that we were able to use real balls. This gave that reassuring noise of old fashioned leather on willow. The other advantage was the interaction of rubbing shoulders with other players from the cricketing community in the neighbouring nets.

The session finished exactly on time with a polite change over, that didn’t involve the grunting caretaker from Winchmore School. Then the players retired to the plush bar area for latte’s and mochachino’s on the club. All in all the perfect night.