A journey to Rayleigh. Well worth the journey for one batsman. But more about that later. We arrived off a nine-win streak and felt really good about this game. After a bit of a warm-up at the ground, our skipper for the day Bielby, in keeping with Shofiq's tradition, lost the toss. Rayleigh decided to bat.
After a bright and sunny morning the games started with overcast and windy conditions. After Rayleigh had got off to a steady start thanks to the opening batsmen Faires and B Smith, Camberwell got the wicket of Faires for 29 with an excellent catch by Ross, and Ross got the wicket of M Smith for 44 with a brilliant piece of bowling, which brought Ambrose and Faulkener who proceeded to increase the run rate greatly. A wicket was then taken by Wingrove to dismiss Faulkner for 20, and some expert bowling by Rishafi bowled Ambrose for 47. M Smith and Moore closed the batting with 46 and 24 runs respectively and Rayleigh finished the day with 240. With a run rate of around 6 an over Grace's were going to have to work hard. Tea was served, eaten and cleaned up.
Camberwell and Mercuri opened. It was Mercuri's first time as an opener. Camberwell got going really well, while Mercuri took his time thinking about shots and timing them well. Camberwell raced into the forties, despatching the ball cleanly to all parts of the ground. Spectators remarked on the sweetness of Camberwell's timing. One ball sped to the fine-leg boundary, without a sound being heard. There were regular gasps of admiration for the cheerful Lancastian's shotmaking. Mercuri was then caught and bowled by Lawson for 7, bringing to an end an excellent opening partnership of 74. Stockinger then added 21 to the score with Camberwell before Stockinger was caught behind for 7. Camberwell powered on with several cries for oxygen, all ignored by the team. It was here that Camberwell's ambition was revealed. His half-century was acknowledged soberly, a bat half-raised. Clearly, there was a greater goal in sight. Could a hundred be on the cards? Would the great man's reserves of energy hold out ? Hardisty added 1 to the score before being bowled by Haywood. A Grace's collapse was on the way. Rishafi was bowled by Faulkener for 4, Ross run out for 2. Bielby showed promise but fell to a quick piece of wicketkeeping by Barnes and was stumped for 11. Camberwell carried on. Sopp was caught and bowled by Faulkener for 2, Braybrook caught in the slips from a top edge for 0. Wingrove joined Wayne (still going but really looking as though about to give up). They added 43 to the score. Camberwell finished on a magnificent 126 not out, a remarkable innings, his personal best and the second highest individual score for the club. Wingrove finished on 15 not out. It was the first century by a Grace's batsman all season, and warmly applauded by his team mates. Camberwell's achievement sugared the slightly bitter pill of losing. Coming off, he remarked he'd rather we'd have won. We'd rather have won too, but we were all delighted with his century.