Sway 190-9, Eltham 191-6 - Eltham won by 4 wickets

In an eventful friendly against touring side Eltham, the bumper bank holiday crowd (most of which from Eltham!) were treated to a fine game of cricket that contained just about everything needed for and enjoyable game. Sway batted first and lost both Steve How and Ross Clark relatively cheaply. Steve Thistleton (51no) steadied the ship despite the fairly regularly loss of wickets - both Dave Marshall and Nilantha Atapattu falling victim to Eltham's quickie who generated considerable pace and swing despite (or perhaps due) to some eye-wateringly tight trousers! Some big hitting towards the end by the powerful Damian Locke, enabled to set a competitive score of 190-9.

The real highlight of the innings eclipsing a Dapper golden, was a personal record score by Andy Hillyar. In 127 innings spanning over 12 years, Andy's top score has been just 15 (3rd XI v Ellingham in 2008) and averaging just 2.20. So expectations were not high as Hillyar left the comfort of the hutch and made his way to the wide open spaces of the middle.  However by this point the Eltham bowling had eased off somewhat and after spanking a couple of boundaries the crowd realised that the record was on and cheered every run. Hillyar unfazed by the entering double figures soon moved with ease to a new personal best, finishing unbeaten on 18.

 

  Andy Hillyar - 18 not out!!