The 5s complete an unbeaten season to finish top of the league.

A crowning victory for the 5s at Hawk Green sees them top the league having gone unbeaten all year. An unfortunate losing of the toss on a postage-stamp sized ground (albeit a rather quaint and pretty one) saw the 5s bowling first. Hawk Green were clearly out to enjoy the day, as it was their last game of the season and at home, and set about choosing their battling order via the use of a hat. It would eventually transpire that they had selected the 1st XI captain and several members of the 2nd XI, and a ringer playing his first game for club. The 5s would begin their day with Zac Nicholson, U15, and Liam Newport, U13, opening the bowling. After a tight and accurate first over from Zac, Liam would strike with his very first ball of the day clipping the top of off-stump and would bowl a tidy set of overs at seniors double his age. Zac would join the party and claimed four victims in his opening spell, three bowled and a sharp one-handed catch by Muhammed Sharjeel at short extra-cover. A brilliant opening set from Zac in which he charged down the hill with some genuine pace saw Hawk Green staggering at 48-5. Replacing Zac and Liam was Seb Bryne, U13, and Jack Prince, U30. Whilst the captain struggled to find any sort of decent line or length, Seb bowled a fanastic five over spell which amped up the pressure on the opposition with an unrelenting line and length. With a sharp pick up, followed by an unbelievably slow throw, Richard "Ringo" Daniel pick up a run-out leaving Hawk Green at 74-6. However, the use of hat strategy employed by Hawk Green saw ringer Ollie Whisker joined by Jake Skelton who had played for the 1st XI the day before. The pair took advantage of the small boundaries on all sides to 193-7, in which a returning Zac Nicholson would find his 5th victim and end up 10-3-48-5. A brilliant bowling performance, a massive congratulations to Zac on his first five-for. The wicket would bring Hawk Green's 1st XI skipper who would swipe a fast 27 off 15 balls to give them a boost to finish on 236/8 from their 40.

At most grounds, with most batting lineups it would be a near unassailable task but with the sheer quality of the batsmen the 5s had, combined with short boundaries and a fast outfield, the 5s came out to bat confident that they could chase it down. Ringo and Dev Meena would begin Didsbury's account. Ringo was strugglign with an injured finger, to match his injured thumb that had seen him miss a huge part of the season, found fielder after fielder with cover drives and cuts, and was eventually bowled. Liam Greaves-Power would join Dev and set off at a quick pace, hitting a fast 20 before chipping one to a fielder. Dev was holding his end up well, finding the odd boundary and rotating the strike well, as he was joined by Adam Slater. Adam, continuing off from his 91 for the 2As the day before, found himself scoring quickly as the bowling attack from Hawk Green began to weaken. A quite brilliant 121 partnership between Adam and Dev saw the 5s rocket up to 169 off just 23 overs. Adam would back his performance the day before with a 92 off just 52 balls, before being caught on the boundary. Whilst not chanceless, Adam's innings was fantastic as he confidently dispatched boundary after boundary, 16 in total. With Dev continuing to anchor the innings at the other end, Adam's departure saw Zac come to the middle who smashed a rapid 51 off 30 to complete a brilliant day for him. The 5s completing the run chase after just 30.3 overs. Whilst the standard of opposition may not have been greatest, especially in the bowling and fielding department, on top of the mixing up of both their batting line up and bowling attack, the achievements of all the players today should not be undervalued; in particular the juniors who are already giving match winning performances. No matter what batsman you are bowling to, or bowler you are facing you still have to do the job and take advantage of the situation before you.

Not to eat into my speech at the upcoming AGM too much, I would like to give a brief thanks to the many players that have made an appearance in the 5s this year. I believe it to be roughly around 60 seniors and juniors that have played in either a friendly or a league game this year, which is an incredible number. Winning the league has genuinely been a club effort, so I must also thank all the parents and other senior members who have watched, given lifts, and supported in any way the campaign to get the 5s promoted. To win the league is one thing, but to do it without a single loss whilst giving as many opportunities as possible to our junior players, is an incredible achievement that we should all be proud of. A fanastic season for the 5s capped off with a superb win.