The summer has seemed to have disappeared, the traffic is awful (7 players are late blaming the North Circular) and Stage lose the toss for a second time.
Chingford decide to bat and declare on a good batting strip for 186 - 7
A superb spell from Denzil Owen of 9 overs for only 18 runs restricts Chingford early on and they never really get motoring.
Stage get off to a good start with Mustaffa Nasser scoring a convincing 43. Will Chitty slaughters the bowling with a quick fire 25 and Asif Padhani is not out 89.
A convincing victory for Stage shame about the socialising as only 3 players make the bar.

When William Wordsworth wrote those immortal lines: I wandered lonely as a cloud. he cannot have been present at today's match between the Gloucestershire Gipsies and the Stage. The clouds on show today were the most gregarious bunch of blokes you could hope to meet. All day they hung around in great big gangs of gunmetal grey cumulo-nimbus over the arboreally resplendent Stowell Park Cricket Ground. Only once, however, did the clouds unleash their moist cargo for a brief shower and that occurred during the tea interval. The word "shower" would not be inappropriate if used to describe the cricket played by the Stage prior to the luncheon interval. The Gipsies lunchtime score (137-0) accurately reflected this somewhat mediocre performance by Stage. Even the Bamboozler, normally a paragon of parsimony, was savaged with relentless disdain by the Gipsies opening batsmen. After conceding 43 runs in 3 overs, the words: "Thank you Jim" from skipper Gemmell were received with rapture by the other 9 members of the side, as the Bamboozler was removed from the attack. It has to be said, however, that several other more illustrious members of the Stage's bowling attack were also put to the sword as the Gipsies relentlessly pushed on towards their monolithic total of: 273 for 6 declared. Keith Daniels excelled with a robust and uncompromising century.

The weather, after tea, went into a paroxysm of schizophrenia by raining and sunning at one and the same time. The Stage's innings began to develop the same undertones. Mike Howarth, who was sporting a rather louche red and white neckerchief which made him look not unlike an ageing roue extra in the 1950's Rodgers & Hammerstein hit "Oklahoma", opened the Stage's assault on this K2 of a total by pulling and driving the ball with vigour and purposefulness. Alas! This vignette of an innings was cut short when Mike sashayed down the primrose path of self-destruction and was caught at slip. The Stage's innings then languished for sometime in a vacuous torpor of aimless wandering around the foothills of the afore-mentioned K2, as if Gemmill and Jenner were unable to find the right route to the summit. Gemmill eventually dropping out of the climb just as it appeared that the Stage were on the right path to victory. At which point Barrett took over the most difficult stages of the climb up the South Col and into the western cwm where he was joined by Brown. Massive strides were made at this point but still the summ it seemed unattainable, especially when Brown fell several thousand feet to his doom. All seemed lost but then the master rock climber was joined by a comparative novice: none other than the Bamboozler himself. After some scrambling and scratching the Bamboozler surpassed even his own expectations by smashing Keith Daniels (his tormentor in chief with the willow) to the boundary. Finally Barrett and the Bamboozler were within sight of the top with one over to go and, fittingly, it was Barrett, himself who planted the flag on the snow-capped peak with a lofted boundary over mid-off on the second to last ball of the match. Eat your heart out William Wordsworth.