Well I think I've calmed down sufficiently to write something sensible...

I have absolute faith in our batting line up, and feel that as a general strategy we have more chance of guaranteeing victories if we are chasing a target. With the class we have, I know we can chase down any total set for us in this league.

So, some positives, Ollie F led the attack well, generating some good wind-assisted pace and add to that some away movement, this proved too much for 3 of Turner's Hill's top order. Jon B fought his way up the hill into the wind to bowl a consistent spell from a tricky end. Wickets fell regularly and other than a period of 5 overs in the middle, everyone returned impressive figures, with Russ F and Will D wrapping up the innings impressively, sharing the last 5 wickets between them. Our fielding was again good, without broaching the excellent category, strengthened in that department by the inclusion of Fisher B and Steve H. Tom S took a sharp chance, providing the relatively rare sight of a Palmer's slip catch, with other composed catches from Fisher, Will and Justin. Steve H won the fielder of the day with some fine stops in the covers.

95 to chase then, surely a formality. But this doesn't take into account the vagaries of sport, or the mental impact a small total can have. On a track which had come close to not being fit enough to play, there was some variable bounce, but the demons that decided this game were not dwelling in the pitch, rather they were in the muddled minds of the Palmers batsmen. What was disappointing was the manner of the majority of the dismissals; some truly horrible shots to, with all due respect, a very ordinary attack. I firmly believe that the top 5 batsmen should be scoring the majority, if not all, of the runs- and with the privilege of a spot in the top 5 comes a responsibility as well, and while I concede that no player gets himself out on purpose, and that anyone can get out to a good ball or even a bad one on occasion, as a unit they ultimately failed to chase down 95. They cannot look to the lower order and say 'we got close', or 'they shouldn't have got out' as the responsibility was theirs.

But we must look forward, in many ways we are fortunate that this 'wake-up' call has come right at the beginning of the season- if we have aspirations of challenging at the higher end of the league as our ability warrants, we must sure up this fragility. We are lucky, we can put this right at this early stage- I am far happier that we can learn our lessons before say, a crucial game at the end of the season.