After several weeks of intense practice in the nets, both in the gym at Oakham School and outside at East Langton CC, Hallaton finally took to the field on Sunday 11 May for the season opener against Harborough South CC at the Little Bowden Recreation Ground. The home side won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch which showed some early season greenness but otherwise appeared to be quite batter friendly. Although the Hallaton bowling attack was menacing at times (Cillian Brugha 3 for 65 off an amazing 16 overs – no wonder he didn’t turn up for nets the following Tuesday!! – and Will Hutchins 4 for 36 off 8.1 overs) a combination of early season rustiness and some tidy South batting allowed the home side to notch up a very creditable 206 all out off 39 overs. Also, the fact that strike bowler Steve Allen pulled up with a bad back at the end of his 2nd over and was unable to take any further part in the game, did not help Hallaton’s cause either. As this was a timed game, Hallaton were left with the daunting prospect of either scoring 207 runs to win or batting out 41 overs to draw the game. Although the batting looked lively at times, Hallaton eventually were bowled out for 93 runs (Jim Bluck 16 and Cillian Brugha 15) to end the first game of the season with a 113 run defeat.