The players of Cambridgeshire II evidently decided on a staggered approach to arrival at the match against Leicestershire IV, leaving the Captain wondering if team selection was going to be performed on arrival time (based on sat-nav success) rather than ability. However, once everyone was in place, the singles commenced. Rob Couch and Sam Pickup both went into their games confident, and supported with the traditionally vocal second team support, were quick to take the honours. Rob asserted himself well, while Sam having taken a very convincing first, toyed with allowing the opponent back before shutting him out. The ladies singles was a harder proposition, with Leicestershire fielding a powerful pair. Hannah Sharman and Sandra Ashcroft struggled manfully (womanfully?!) but lost both in straight games.
The match was level going into the doubles, where the men’s domination continued. Rob and Daniel Bates powered to quick victories against both pairs, with a demonstration of the communication of a long-standing partnership. Sam and Paul Martell are very quickly knitting their own successful partnership, and won both of theirs – with a tight game against the Leics first pair stretching to 27-25 in the third end. Cue much cheering and whooping. Sadly, the ladies struggled again with the rest of the Leicestershire girls being of a similar quality - Hannah and Lisa Hawes, and Sandra and Sharon Chandler all losing in straight sets.
Into the final straight then, with the match remaining in the balance – cue much nail-biting and inspirational talk. With first and second mixed going on, Paul and Sandra grasped a convincing win quickly. However, Rob and Sharon took longer to re-acquaint themselves. Before the match, the season’s statistics had been processed into a spreadsheet that showed Rob had so far been entirely consistent in losing every first end of any mixed game, and then subsequently winning. Unwilling to buck the trend, Rob and Sharon dropped the first and then stood on the precipice before rescuing two further 21-19 results. This meant the match was won, relieving the pressure on Daniel and Hannah which allowed them to express themselves more freely. Hannah showed real class and composure, and they won in two straight games despite a close second. In all, a good result for Cambridgeshire, which moves them above Leicestershire into the top half of the table. Team spirit was traditionally good, which is a bonus for a team about to play three times against the top pair of teams…