The important thing about Rode, apart from the indestructible chairs, is the Brewery Boundary rule. Behind the bowler's arm at one end is a very short boundary, partly protected by some trees which are inside the playing area (you can be caught off them), beyond which is a new housing estate where the local brewery once was. High netting runs along this boundary, but it is still not very hard to hit the ball right over. If you do, you are out.

Rode opened with undoubtedly the silliest haircut we saw all summer. After ten eventful overs there were 50 on the board, though the bowling had not been bad. At this stage James began his last spell for the Venturers, and, after Duncan had broken the opening partnership, did serious damage to the Rode innings. An excellent catch by Alex, keeping wicket, helped. At the other end Toby held a catch at long-on off Duncan; and then one of the more dangerous batsmen lofted James into the trees. Chintan ran towards them, in case the ball happened to come out in his direction; but instead it bounced off a branch, looped into the air, and landed with a clang on a patio heater beyond the netting. Two overs later another dangerous batsman launched another ball from James down the ground, directly at Chintan this time; but instead of catching it, he tried unsuccessfully to tip it over the net. Six runs; but he chopped the next ball onto his stumps. After that James wavered a bit, but in his final over Alex executed a neat stumping; and after Gregory had been denied his usual left-hander by what appeared to be a poor decision, Arvind saw off the tail, briskly but for a little more than we should have liked.

We were chasing 152 to win. Roger and Arvind set off at a gallop. There was a conflict of egos between the Rode opening bowler, whose run took him almost to the boundary, and the Rode wicket-keeper, who stood up. Arvind hit him to almost all quarters - not behind the keeper, which would have been fatal. Roger fell lbw, a long way forward; but most certainly the ball was not going over, and indeed the low bounce was beginning to be a problem. So was finding somewhere to stand, as the pitch turned to dust. Nauman played a short violent innings. He looks harmless at the crease: he prods nervously at most of what is bowled to him, and then without warning the ball disappears into the next field. Fortunately he was facing away from the Brewery Boundary at the time. But one of his prods soon missed, and James did not find his touch. Arvind continued to strike the ball well. Much too well; clang went the patio heater again,and the next ball clang went James's leg stump, and we were in trouble. Kevin and Chintan, as usual, started to get us out of it; but for once Chintan didn't stay long. He picked out the owner of the haircut, who had fielded well earlier and taken the jibes about his hair from his own side with remarkable coolness; with equal coolness he held on to a low catch. The rest was a confused slide to defeat. Kevin and Duncan ran each other out, or something; Toby, after skying the ball to cover, where the wicket-keeper arrived and dropped it, fell over backwards on the pitch and might have been run out too if anyone had known where the ball was. But he was out soon afterwards, and Ian followed, ending the season with one of the year's more elegant ducks.