3rds started the season in similar vein to last year, with a heavy defeat. We were put into bat by Blewbury & Wallingford 2nds on a pitch of variable bounce, our batting was fragile. Wickets fell at a steady rate, mainly to shots of an early season nature. The exception to this was Tom Ling, who picked up where he left off last season, with an excellent 45. A couple of freakish dismissals in the middle of our innings didn’t help as we only managed to post a total of 78. Our opponents had a strong, experienced opening pair and, despite a number of balls passing the outside edge in the first few overs we were unable to break through and they quickly got away from us. I’m confident that we have better things to come over the next few weeks.