The grounds of Home Park, overlooked by Windsor Castle, are a stunning location in which to play cricket. And the knowledge that our Queen was in residence clearly pushed both Cranbourne and The Pilgrims to great heights of sporting theatre.

Having won the toss, Penthouse put his troops into bat. The wicket looked a bit worn but he figured that if The Pilgrims could put any sort of total on the board, we had the strength in bowling to rattle out the variable Cranbourne batting line-up.

Penthouse had been in such poor form of late that he decided to relegate himself down the order. The worry of the impending arrival of his first-born was playing havoc with his batting and he felt the likes of Bishop, Bumpy, Juggs and Kommander could offer more runs than he.

The Bishop and Bumpy were sent in to open and set a good platform for the rest of the team. There was the occasional rash shot but this is the Pilgrims after all and we can’t expect usual lower order batsmen to hold back their natural attacking (or should I say, careless?) instincts. They put on 30-odd before Bumpy was bowled. The Bishop was joined by Juggs, who tried to play like a proper number three until he was caught in the slips.

Kommander then strode to the crease. Of his 45 runs that day, he ran 37, most of them twos and threes. Never has a Pilgrim looked so utterly exhausted and out of shape. Gasping, wheezing and generally looking like an asthmatic elephant. It is at this point I should mention that both Kommander and his younger sibling, Juggs, were due to participate in the Windsor Triathlon the following day. The Kommander had spent the last three months in training; swimming regularly and cycling to work every day; generally trying to be a little bit more healthy. What he had singularly failed to practice was running; and, boy, did it show.

Following The Bishop’s departure, Kommander was joined by Penthouse who scratched around for early runs but then found his form and hit several lusty blows to the boundary before being caught. John Turner popped in for a couple of deliveries but didn’t trouble the scorers. Unsurprising really as he hadn’t played in twenty years.

Sven, Omlette and Clarence helped Kommander see out the remaining overs and The Pilgrims finished on a respectable, but not entirely convincing 173 for eight from their 40 overs.

Whippet and Clarence opened up and bowled with great skill and genuine pace. Wickets fell regularly and it looked as if The Pilgrims were going to walk this one. Even the Cranbourne international was pegged down and undone early in his innings. It all looked rosy.

Sven, Hansie, Bumpy, Bishop and Omlette also bowled very well but small but important batting partnerships meant that the Cranbourne team were gradually inching towards their target.

With three overs to go Cranbourne needed 21 runs with three wickets in hand. It was going to be close but The Pilgrims knew that Marcus Rose was coming to the crease and, if the previous year was anything to go on, he would not be pushing things along. What a difference a year makes. A batsman once known for nothing more than a nurdle to silly mid-on had suddenly developed an exquisite cover drive and displayed his new skill to the mightily surprised opposition.

A couple of wickets fell but Cranbourne were left requiring one run off the final ball of the day.

Now The Pilgrims have been in this situation before and some may have thought they would have learnt their lesson. But they hadn’t and so they lost. Gutted yet pragmatic, The ‘Grims left the field having enjoyed yet another great game of cricket.

I think Kommander was man of the match but can’t be sure. His body was in a ruined state. Luckily he had to get up at four the following morning with Juggs to swim in the Thames. Silly boys.