Firstly, so it does not get lost further down the report, I have to start by congratulating Tia Patel on her hat trick! Tia bowled beautifully, taking 2 wickets bowled (the second a proper leg break pitching outside leg and hitting top of leg) in the last two balls of her 2nd over. Normally she'd be done there but we had to give her another over so she returned for the last over of the Guildford innings, the field was brought all the way in on the catch, the pressure was applied, the scene was set.....and Tia calmly delivered taking a third bowled wicket! The first hat trick I had umpired, combined with a sense of pride, was undisguised as I leapt and hollered with the girls like we'd won the Ashes! Luckily Taz and Sneha were there to see it too. Bravo Tia; you don't get too many of those in a cricketing career (trust me!) so savour it!

The game was a mixed aged hardball friendly to give as many girls exposure as possible. Guildford had two Surrey players so the girls managed really well. That said, sure the agreement I had with my favourite over-competitive and slightly cheaty oppo manager that this game was for practice for less on experienced girls and not practice for country players! Oh well!

We batted first and across the board the girls did very well, with some good running and clean hits, despite the continued lack of forward defense shots meaning we lost 6 wickets bowled. I shall keep on trying to tell them in the hope that one day they may realise I may know what I'm talking about....probably when we start to play 'when you're out, you're out'! Notable mentions for Theia on her first hardball game hitting two fours, and Annie for some lovely straight, clean shots.

Our bowling has come on hugely with very very few extras bowled compared to start of season and across the age groups there were some lovely deliveries, often unrewarded. Fielding was also better and Dhiyo took a fabulous catch at point that was travelling at speed.

Overall a loss (oh what a difference those forward defensives would have made!) but a good close game in a nice setting in a sunny summer's evening, and good hardball practice for the girls before next year.

As voted by Guilford:
Best batter - Annie
Best Bowler - Tia
Best Fielder - Dhiyo