Smells Like Team Spirit. League Leaders Beat 2s Again.

I can hardly summon the energy to write this. It's not because we lost, honest - at Holy Cross I hope we sing even when we're not winning. But the sheer quantity of cricket this summer (12 weeks, 11 games, 10 match reports - I was away for the Glenrothes humping) is wearing me out.

And not just physically. In a proper season with a normal number of rain-offs I can trot out my tired puns on the opposition's names once and trust that my tiny readership will have forgotten them by the time they appear again next season and that promotion and relegation will have provided me with new victims.

But this year we're playing teams a second time and the puns resemble someone who's promised to do a sit-up every time Michael asks a question on a Saturday or Vikram self-diagnoses a new injury - not so much tired as shaking uncontrollably with exhaustion.

Marchmont huddle as the HX openers look on unimpressed.

Anyway, this week was the return game against Marchmont. Smudge won the toss and, with Vik initially reluctant to bowl, he (9-0-37-2) and Gerry (9-1-23-1) opened up. Eleven overs later Marchmont were 38 for 3, but that was about as good as it got for us as first Healy (26) and then Grainger (53) joined Ramachandra (63). Remarkably Chips' half-century was his first in League cricket - and a very good one it was. Ramachandra, by contrast, rode his luck hard and while our catching was generally decent, especially Mike Nevin's three, some important half-chances were missed. Shifty (7-0-34-5) took three wickets in the last over to secure maximum bowling points and Marchmont finished on 210 for 9.

Our reply never really got going. Euan (22) and Ziggy picked out fielders with confident shots and JB was strangled down the leg side. Vik (34) was again the pick of the batsmen scoring at nearly a run a ball and Gerry and Smudge finished the game with the bat as well as they had begun it with the ball to snatch an extra batting point. 136 all out in the 44th and a rather generous 8 points.

At Arbo we had been largely undone by Mansoor's spin. This time the leading bowler was Simon Marr (9-2-20-3) and Mansoor, along with six others of the nine (yes, nine) bowlers, had to be content with a lone wicket. That may give a clue as to why Marchmont are unbeaten this season. Unlike many of the sides I've seen run away with divisions over the years, this doesn't seem to be a case of two or three dominant players dragging their team mates along for the ride. Rather there's plenty of good, stuffy strength in depth, a real team. Good luck to them for the rest of the season.