Former Sharks captain Jeremy Penston said an ideal days captaincy was engineering a finish to win by 20 runs with everyone getting a go. That was a neat summary of our round 15 trip to Over, except for the margin of victory being an extra 10 runs more. We completing the double over our opponents, led by a ton from Adam Long.

Edward and David Shah returned to the 2nds, whilst Skip was away, with Jason, Hugh and Mani came in. AB captained on another hot sunny day, with a very green wicket but relatively short boundaries and a nice outfield. AB won the toss, batted and opened with McCann, due to Rob turning up and feeling rather 'rough'.

AB struck three early boundaries before hitting a short and wide one straight at point to go for a cameo 16 from just 10 balls. 26-1. McCann was joined by Longy, who was promoted to number 3 and was benefitting hugely from getting a bat last week. The pair put on 155 for the 2nd wicket in 27 overs, not too far off a run-a-ball and a new record partnership for the 1st XI this year. The bowling wasn't particularly bad at all but both batsman got in, put a high price on their wickets and made it count. Both batsman waiting for the balls in there areas to score, with Longy in particular excellent touch, with some lovely shots in the v including a lofted straight six. The genuine Yorkshireman Longy was the first to reach 50, the 'plastic' Yorkshireman McCann then following in reaching the landmark too.

After almost two hours the stand was ended when McCann was caught for 62 off 97 balls, his second fifty of the season. Unfortunately the long partnership had brought on a serious case of 'pad rash' for those that followed, leading to a clatter of wickets. Fez was caught and bowled for a golden duck, Rob went 3rd ball without scoring, Hugh hit one boundary before being caught for 5, and Mani was lbw for a duck. Longy had been watching on from the other end, but then pressed the accelerator with three boundaries in the final over to reach his ton, 102 not out from 107 balls. A maiden ton for Ditton and a 2nd in his career. Jason a handy 13 not out of just 15 at the other end including three boundaries. Ditton 232-6 off 40, our biggest total this season.

Fez and Jacko gave Ditton an ideal start in the field, Over 5-1 after 5 overs. Jacko with the wicket to extend his advantage as our leading wicket-taker, the scoreboard pressure inducing a simple catch being chipped to Jason.

That brought in Mills, who went hell for leather, taking advantage of Fez losing his radar and dropping too short, and tuning in to Jacko's line and length to climb into both. Jacko came off for unusual figures of 6-3-35-1, whilst Fez finished with 6-1-29-0. Mills was single-handedly worrying us, but AB brought himself and Longy on to stem the tide. it worked. AB produced an excellent spell of 6-2-19-2, bowling Mills for 56 from just 38 balls (including 4 sixes) and trapping the Over opener lbw. Longy summoned a huge effort after being knackered from batting to bring control with 4-2-14-1, the wicket a catch straight to Rob at slip after an attempt to guide the ball down to third man that didn't work.

The flurry of wickets AB and Longy brought allowed us to share the bowling around, Jason bowling a decent spell of his 'flight and guile' slow spin. This included a couple of wickets, one caught to a mistimed shots he had induced, one smartly stumped by Paul Colwell, JC finishing with 5-0-34-2. At the other end it was great to see George C bowl a long spell, conceding 28 from his 6 and unlucky to not pick up a wicket having created a fair few chances. Mani came on and created some opportunities, but unfortunately Rob couldn't hold onto a far-from-easy catch in the deep and AB lost one in a low-sun that was incredibly difficult to see out of. Unfortunately Mani got some tap, something that can happen to any bowler and went for 31 from his 3 overs.

Jason's two wickets had left Over 6 down, but there was a significant 7th wicket stand, with one batsman taking advantage of some loose stuff to pass 50. Thankfully Rob is an ideal bowler for such situations, and hoovered up the tail with 4-1-7-4, a couple bowled with the good old 'you miss, I hit' mantra, and a couple of catches for Jason, who had an excellent all-round match. Over 203 all out though they were always behind the proverbial eight-ball, and the big total allowed us to share the spotlight around.

The win takes us 9-6, and is part of a 2nd day in the history of FDCC where both teams have won. We remain 3rd, though Wilburton lost to Littleport and table-toppers Cherry Hinton were beaten by St Ives, our opponents in the upcoming 'double-header'. Such results demonstrate just how in this particularly even league no 20 points can ever be taken for granted.