This year Mr. Swain decided to give the boys a chance by actually tossing up. On winning the toss on a "plumb" track, ho decided that his merry men would take first use of it.

The opening partnership was broken when Hcague bowled "Dixie" Dean, who looked as if he would have been more at ease using a three wood. Mr. Dewsnip was bowled by the erratic Graves, but a useful stand occurred between Mr. Thomas and Mr. Richardson which rescued the Staff innings. After Mr. Richardson's dismissal the fair-minded Hubbard replaced the biassed Parker as umpire, just in tine to tend Mr. Thomas, whose spinning finger was damaged by a vicious Johnson bouncer. When Mr. Marsh came in, the Boys good-naturedly gave him 50 to boost his confidence.

After Mr. Thomas was bowled by Johnson, Garfield Harvey strode to the wicket to a great ovation. He played a short but sweet innings of 0, and the scoring rate increased as Mr. Marsh's wild swinging was reinforced by the deft touch and timing of Mr. Frank Webster, who was sporting an extraordinary hunting hat. The comedy was finally brought to a close with a declaration at 134-5.

The wicket turned nasty as soon as the Boys began their reply. The hostile attack was spear-headed by Mr. Swain and Mr. Poole, dressed more for a pot-holing expedition than for a cricket match. When they tired after two overs there was no respite for the Boys, as they were replaced by Mr. Webster's unplayable under-arm off-spin, and Mr. Dean's cunningly concealed variety of googlies, leg-breaks and wides. The fielding was also exceptional, with Farokh Cranfield behind the stumps and Clive Marsh in the covers.

With 5 wickets down, the Masters unleashed their trump card. Mr. Harvey needed just one over from the Wellington1endt in which he captured two key wickets. The rest was a formality as Mr. Swain returned to sweep up the tail. The crowd were left wondering what a cricketing fiesta they might have seen, had not four boys been on holiday, and had Mr. Mountford and Mr. Kermode not been on duty with the Rest of the World side at Edgbaston. Even so, the game was enjoyed by all, being played in a fine spirit by both sides.