The last friendly before the start of the league saw the 1st team make the short journey to Leverstock Green where the boys were looking to finish a positive pre-season with a win after two defeats.

Captain Liveing had an uncontested toss which saw NCC take the field with plenty of bowlers looking to get overs under their belt. Opening up were the familiar pairing of Daz and OJ. Daz immediately found his classic line and length with some movement off the seam - as did OJ from the other end.

Daz (5-1-11-1) had a couple of close LBW shouts that were turned down but eventually he was rewarded when opener Seggery edged to Sayf at 2nd slip.

At the other end, hard-hitting Blagdon was looking to attack and put OJ away for a couple of boundaries. OJ was unfortunate not to see the back of Blagdon when a difficult chance went down in the slips.

First change bowlers Chappers and Ellis looked to make inroads in the Levi Green batting line up, Ellis settled into a beautiful rhythm hitting a hard length and shaping the ball away from the right hander.

After a few tight overs Aussie Tomlinson looked to take on Ellis, hitting him over the top of mid on for a boundary. The very next ball Ellis swung a ball back into the left handers off stump sending him packing at 51-2.

Blagdon would become Ellis’ next victim when he missed a full and straight yorker and departed for 34. Number 5 Goode looked to attack the bowlers and tried to put some momentum back into Levi’s innings. After a few lusty blows he topped edged one up to Johnson at mid off and Ellis picked up his 3rd wicket of the game.

Ellis finished with his best figures for the 1st team (7-0-24-3). We are all looking forward to seeing how he develops this season as he has all the tools to become a quality cricketer.

Chappers (8-0-32-1) would soon be rewarded for his graft when Iqbal nailed a sweep at Johnson who took his 2nd catch in as many overs. Levi Green were setback to 80-5 and were in trouble of falling way below par. NCC in the field were top class and backed their bowlers fully with smart catches and good ground fielding throughout the innings.

Liveing rotated his bowlers all afternoon trying to get overs to players that needed it. Tommy G had a burst of pace from the top end and to his surprise found a bit of movement (6-0-45-1). It did not take him long to remove the Levi Green skipper Littlejohn courtesy of a smart catch from Sayf in the slips.

Sayf replaced Ellis with his off breaks and hit lovely areas during his first game since having surgery on his shoulder. Tommy G was steaming in and number 8 Mahanama took a liking to the extra pace and cut the fast bowler away for a few boundaries. Mahanama and Wallis put on a decent partnership which saw Levi Green get to a competitive 200.

With both batsmen looking set Levi would have been hoping to get towards 250 and onwards. Unfortunately for them Sayf (9-0-35-2) picked up Mahanama who was looking to go over the top and ended up mistiming the ball straight to the surprised George. Soon after Wallis was bowled playing across the line.

OJ (8.4-1-39-2) came back on to bowl Thomas for 8 and finished the innings claiming the wicket of Henry thanks to a smart catch by Jack Fantham. Levi Green finishing on 226 all out.

In pursuit of 226 NCC opened the batting with Jack ‘The Bear’ Randall and Jack ‘Fanny’ Fantham (yes you read that correctly). Having never batted together you would think on paper they would complement each other’s batting style and they did.

12-0 after 2 overs NCC were wondering whether it would be an easy run chase, but once openers Thomas and Henry found their range, they became hard to get away at 31-0 off 10.

Both Fantham and Randall knew they had time on their side as NCC were chasing a below par score and they had firepower down the order. Randall looked to become the aggressor hitting multiple boundaries all around the ground while at the other end Jack looked reassured and played some classy shots including a glorious shot over mid-on.

After trying different seam options, the Levi Green captain threw the ball to the experienced Aussie Tomlinson who bowled tightly throughout his spell and eventually was rewarded with the wicket of Fanny who finished on a classy 21. Everyone looks forward to him scoring big runs in the 2nd team this season and we are all delighted that he is back at the Meadow.

Captain Liveing was not far behind Fantham when Tomlinson bowled the NCC skipper for 1. This bought Tom ‘Danger Mouse’ Garraway to the crease but unfortunately, Randall would be the next to go after a well made 48. Sayf came and went for 6 reducing NCC to 96-4 and in need of a re-build after being 74-0 and cruising.

Luckily for NCC they had the ever-reliable Tommy G and Hobbers to do just that. The pair played no risk cricket to get themselves in and put away the bad ball when it came. Tommy, who scored a fantastic 70 the week, was oozing class with an array of shots including a 6 over cover, a scoop and multiple powerful but classy drives. Hobley played the supporting act as he continued his fine form from the start of the season.

The pair didn’t give Levi Green a hope in winning the game putting on 131 for the 5th wicket partnership with Hobbers finishing 35* and Tommy G 92* leading NCC to victory by 6 wickets.

We finished the day with well-deserved beers in front of the pavilion; thanks to Leverstock Green for being great hosts and we’ll see them later on in the season.