A pre-season friendly on the day that should have been the season proper’s curtain-raiser was always going to feel odd, and the rather subdued manner of the 1s loss at Northern League St.Anne’s did little to shift the niggly feeling that yours truly carried with him most of the day. The well-tended ground at Vernon Rd looked season-ready too, albeit we had a 100m boundary on the scoreboard side as the pitch was on the pavilion side of the square, and the 1s were practising hard when I arrived to establish the format and regs for the day – 80 overs with three powerplays.

It was actually more of a Dids 1As team that turned out, which is absolutely no disrespect to those that played, and indeed brought some welcome selection headaches ahead of the real thing, which starts as it does with a testing double-header of league and cup action next weekend. We had three debutants, all of whom acquitted themselves well with ball in hand, and it would be no surprise to see all of today’s team in 1s action during the season.

As for the cricket, from a Dids perspective too many opportunities went begging, a position of hegemony being passed up as St.Annes mid-lower order added 140 runs for the loss of just one wkt after recovering from 37-5 in the 12th. An impressive opening burst from both Jonty Walliker and fellow-debutant Oli Chamberlain made my delicious pork pie from the local butchers all the more enjoyable, and with the General also chipping away like he’d already got six games under his belt, and all was set fair. Will Street’s tidy eight over bow (after a super grab at second slip) provided further encouragement later on, although I must admit I spent the majority of it pondering better nicknames for him than ‘Wolfie’, which seemed to be the 1s default.

Anyway, of far greater import, the extras were ominously mounting – three additional overs in no-balls and wides, and five leg byes from an overthrow – and catches also went down, the edge off the skipper’s bat that the cordon couldn’t quite grasp in the 19th proving the most decisive – he finished 64* - as that would have been 62-6 with half the overs unused. Another untidy spill in the 38th saw the reprieved batter take 16 off the last two, target 178.

With the bat, Chris Becker – having kept really well – set the pattern, looking in control before a tame dismissal, which set a pattern that occurred too regularly for Dids to keep up with the rate. At halfway we were 66-3, but a spell of 19-3 in 9 overs mid-innings really set us back, and ultimately upping the run-scoring tempo proved too much. Only three batters got into double figures overall, although Evan Turner’s composed unbeaten 78 (100 bs, 3x6,7x4) was absolutely the highlight of the day. Having got himself nicely set, the youngster went from 28 to 51 in just 15 deliveries, and like the St.Anne’s skipper before him, smacked a max to reach his half-century. He and the General, whose adroit reverse-dab brought him a stylish boundary, looked like they might just get something going but to everyone’s bemusement the umpire fired Liam off with a cursory lbw, there having been barely half an appeal from the bowler, Evan’s 2¼ hour knock unrewarded but hopefully an innings that will set him in good stead for the business proper.

So a disappointing result but valuable experience gained for sure, and the healthy crowd that gathered to enjoy the sunshine and some entertaining cricket were appreciative of the efforts of both sides.