U11s Lions v Cheadle - Sunday 12th May

Over the winter they were carefully looked after and nurtured, before being released into the wild last month. However, as the Adamson’s discovered, deep down these are wild animals, not family pets. In case you wonder, take a look at the famous BBC documentary (buried deep within the iplayer archive no doubt), where a pride of lions takes apart a herd of wildebeest during the latter’s annual migration. David Attenborough’s voice, seductively overdubs the bloodbath which follows.

So, with the early summer monsoons subsiding, the trained observer would have been able to make out our re-introduced pride emerging slowly from the undergrowth, blinking in the early morning sunshine. Starved of cricket and salivating like David Boon in a Sydney departure lounge, the appearance of a wandering herd of wildebeest far from their Cheadle home provided the basis of a spectacle to rival Gogglebox.

At precisely 9.55am a wide grin slipped across Alfie’s face as he won the toss, inviting Cheadle to bat first on a green top. A wink towards Ethan meant an early peppering, hinting at a morning of torture for Cheadle. Seamus, unable to resist let rip a series of leg cutters that would have got far better batsman out. An utterly devastating first over saw Cheadle shredded as he ripped out the top order, removing their first three batsman in four balls. Utterly bewildered, each wildebeest stepped up blindly to the watering hole as each lion tried to claw the ball from their leader. Somehow, the Cheadle wildebeest limped on as the pride toyed with them mercilessly. New cubs on the block Mariah and Arjun spun a web of confusion, suffocating the flow of runs, whilst old boy Tom delivered metronomic efficiency. Matthew roared each bowler on from behind the stumps, encouraging Harry Smith, another debutant to join the carnage and claim his first wicket. As the sun rose higher Alfie exorcised the last rights with the final ball of the innings, leaving the Cheadle wildebeest helpless and twitching down at long leg, whilst the lions loped off into the shade licking their lips.

In their exuberance the lions went after Cheadle with the same gusto as they had with the ball. After some early casualties, Arhun, who made a splendid unbeaten 25 not out, alongside Ethan steadied the ship, before Matthew and Seb saw the Lions home with acres of savanna to spare.

Outside the perimeter fence, a sign was being erected - ‘Beware Lions’

Steve Turner