Pride of place this week has to go to Hawie – a club stalwart who does heaps of stuff for the club off the field, is very popular throughout the club, an all round good guy. His first game for the club was in June 2012, he was in the 3s and took 2/41 off 10 overs against Alton. Fast forward 12 years and Alton were the opposition again, this time for our 1s.

Despite the dire recent weather, groundsman Will Knox worked wonders in preparing a playable pitch, in contrast to the cancelled Premier Division matches at Bashley and Bournemouth, and 4 other matches in lower SPCL divisions (including our 2s Division 2 match at Hartley Wintney). We batted first, and Jack Bransgrove and James Overy took us to 83 before James went for 27. Wilf La Fontaine Jackson helped Branny take the score past 100 before the latter was bowled for 47. We then lost wickets at regular intervals as the score ticked along, with most batters making a contribution. Wilf went for 42 – his first dismissal for us this season, and one that takes his average for us this season to 216 – and the tail wagged playfully with Ben Foster and Hawie ensuring that we made it to 4 batting points. We were all out off the penultimate ball of the 50th over for Will’s average; for Alton Tom South took 6/22.

Alton’s were on the back foot quickly in their reply, with Hawie getting the first three batters – two catches by Felix Organ and one by Ed Ellis behind the stumps. First change Charlie Gwynn took the next, courtesy of another catch by Ed, with Alton now on 33 for 4. The best stand of the innings followed – 33 off 10 overs bowled by Charlie and Felix, and with Alton needing 151 off 28 overs the game was still in the balance. Re-enter he who walks on water (at least last Saturday afternoon), and with Matt’s 5th legitimate ball (after two wides) he bowled the resolute South for 16. The start of Matt’s next over read Heffernan c Will LFJ b Haworth, Walters b Haworth, Sumner lbw Haworth for his hat-trick, and the first hat trick for the Men’s 1s since Finty Trussler in July 2022 vs Fawley in the SPCL cup. The 6th ball of that over saw Varney caught by Charlie, the batter having had the effrontery to hit the previous ball for 4. Callum Whillock had the next over, and his first ball saw Alton’s top scorer Rolfs caught by Ed for the innings top score of 21, to deny Matt his 9-for. Hawie finished with 8/21 off 7 overs (including 6 wides!). As 4s skipper Sticky remarked, "there is always room for improvement"!

Alton were dismissed for 75 in 25.1 overs, we won by 141 runs, and the beers were definitely on Hawie.

His figures are the best ever St Cross club figures, beating Steve Fryer’s 8/25 for the 3rd XI vs Ropley in May 2015. The previous Men’s 1st XI best figures (and now overall 3rd best) were Matt Perry Lewis’s 8/44 vs Lymington in May 2012. They are also the sixth best bowling figures in Premier Division history.