What a shower!

The weather returned to form with a howling gale and heavy showers being the low-light of the days play. The pitch was sodden after the rain of the previous few days, so it was a good toss to win, but it appears that tossing up is not one of the skipper's strengths and he quickly needs to invest in a double-headed coin.

Having lost the toss, Keyworth were unsurprisingly inserted by the visiting Newstead Abbey in a reduced 42-over match. The home side put out their strongest side to date this season, with Andy Wilcox making his return debut as an 11th hour call up to replace love-struck Lee Potts. Marc Bailey (16) and Dougie Bayford opened up but Doug was soon back in the hutch LBW for 1 . He was followed by Emma Dale, caught in the covers for 7 as the heavens opened and the rain came down sideways. The ever-changing conditions meant that the ball was doing all sorts and not coming on and the wet outfield meant boundaries turned into 2's.

However a 69 run partnership from current and ex skippers Graham (71) and Rendu (27) put Keyworth back on the front foot. The pair seemed to be observing radio silence with their run calling, so opted for the safer option of hitting boundaries. Ben Elliott (8) came in to support IG as he teed off in their 43 run partnership.

A few of the under-12's were watching and Bobby talked himself up as he told the youngsters to keep an eye on IG as he was the 2nd best batsman in the club...

The lower order did a great job of setting a testing total in the final overs with Bobby Baker walking the walk by smacking 11 in 5 balls. Dave Strong (15*) emulated his hero Michael Bevan again with a red-inker, but his two consecutive 6's in the last over were a joy to watch. At the break the Millers were reasonably happy with 181 for 7, which could have been 230+ on a drier day.

The Baker tea was a food lovers delight with Paula ticking all the boxes; coronation chicken & egg mayo wraps, mini spring rolls with hoi sin dip, fruit kebabs, profiteroles, and jam & cream scones garnished with a fresh strawberry being the highlights.

The weather improved after tea with the pitch and outfield soon drying. The returning Andy Hiller was unlucky as he blew out the cobwebs of the previous days end-of-exam all-dayer down the hill with Strongy toiling away at the other end for a really tight spell of (6-3-9-0) that deserved a wicket or two.

More bad weather came in for half an hour and the squall nearly did for HMS Collison as the sightscreen blew over onto the hedge.

A double bowling change of Wilcox and Dave 'HR-H' Hiller only had the effect of accelerating the run rate as their combined 6 overs added 43 to the Newstead score, with Dave being devilishly hit for 3 sixes.

The breakthrough didn't come though until the 20th over with Graham (2-48) taking 2 wickets in his second over. Newstead were making steady progress 68-2 off the first 22. The opening bat only seemed to have 3 shots; a block for good balls, a straight drive for the half-volley and an across the line moo for everything else. But his policy reaped rewards as he hit 11 4's and 4 6's on his way to a match winning 99.

The spin twins of Baker and Graham could not find the edge of the bat on a turning wicket as the run rate was maintained and chances refused to come.

Only the late introduction of Rocket Rendu for 3 overs of controlled fast bowling (2-13) gave the glimmer of hope of a draw for the home side as 3 and over was required off the final overs. But with 6 balls left it was all over as Newstead won with 5 wickets down, leaving the Millers still without a win.