The cricket ground at Otterden boasts a wonderfully bucolic setting, timeless against the garden wall of Otterden Place, and the surrounding park land. To keep the ground in such pristine glory there is one pre-requisite; keep the gate closed. Early arrivals were met with substantial evidence of an early morning sheep incursion, requiring immediate deployment of scooping tools accompanied by Simon and his wheel barrow.
When the ground had been rendered fit for play, normal order was resumed. The Stragglers batted first, a century was scored, this time by a senior Straggler, Giles, who was operating with a faulty boiler, and required the assistance of a runner for the latter stages of his innings. Giles becomes the fifth Straggler to score 5 Straggler centuries. A substantial score was posted, and Otterden held on grimly for another draw, 9 wickets down. We have been here before!
