Lansdown set off intrepidly to Saltford to play Bristol Afghanis

Skipper Andy Cox proved invaluable on such a day by winning the toss and electing to bat.

A late start ensued due to the opposition becoming vexed at our offer of Brian (‘neutral’ qualified umpire) umpiring both innings - which surprisingly he was happy to di on such a hot day. After a Mexican stand off Clint Eastwood would be proud (and no further explanation being offered by the Afghan Captain as to why it was such an issue) it was concluded that Brian would only umpire the Lansdown innings.

The Afghanis bowled tight throughout their opening spells accounting for Dan Veal (caught backward point) and Will Hurle bowled for a duck. The engine room of Josh Smith and Sam Avery provided impetus with some strokeplay. The rot started to set in when Avery was run out coming back for two for a well made 32, the highest score of the innings. Smith followed shortly afterwards holing out to long on, irate at himself an understatement. Farooq Mughal, Giles Johnson and Alex Donovan followed in quick succession due to a stranglehold of spin. It is worth pointing out the "known biased" umpire maintained the spirit of the game giving two LBWs. Andy Cox was one of them given LBW after scoring 20 and bring well supported by Liam Davey who batted with a maturity beyond his years. In the end Lansdown were bowled out for 110 off 36 overs.

After a 20 minute break, a fair compromise from the 45 minutes the opposition asked for much to the chagrin of Dan Veal amongst others. Josh Smith was put first on to see if he could put an early dent in the opposition batting line up - he bowled with good pace, hostility and stamina in the kind of heat that left many a fielder feel like they may have been sous vide in the almost liquid like stifling air. He deserved much more than his one wicket not least as he had hit the batsmen’s pads on multiple occasions.

A tight spell from Avery followed and despite a wicket a piece from the spin of Eoin Godfrey and Alex Donovan, Lansdown failed to stop the Afghanis knocking off the runs 3 down inside 20overs. Once again it was well stuck at by all involved and the application of many players proved impressive in trying conditions and circumstances.