Following on from four wet, washed-out weekends in a row, Farnham's 2nd XI were so excited to finally get a game on that even the minor hindrance of losing the toss and being asked to bat first seemed but a lonely dark cloud in what must otherwise surely be a bright and sunny day. Given the sticky wetness of the pitch, however, being asked to bat on it was akin to being asked to hammer nails with a piece of cooked spaghetti. New 2nd XI captain Wakely and youngster Temple-Hall set about seeing off the new ball and getting the innings going, but with the ball sticking in the pitch and jagging left and right, combined with the Beddington bowlers showing superb discipline in their lengths, scoring proved nigh-on impossible. Both batsmen felt satisfied to still be there after 14 overs when the first bowling change was made, even if there was only a paltry 14 runs to show for their efforts - survival was the name of the game. It came as a gutting blow, therefore, when Wakely played too softly at one and it rolled backwards onto his stumps.

Temple-Hall fell soon after but new recruit Greenstreet and Sumanasekera began to up the scoring rate as best they could, Greenstreet showing excellent intent and control before overbalancing on a sweep shot and being smartly stumped by Beddington keeper Dance for 23. Farnham's remaining batters grafted and battled hard but, despite the sunshine steadily drying out the pitch, it remained sluggish and scoring became not much easier. They batted through 48 overs but could only drag the score up to 97 before being all out. With reports coming in of totals of 50 and 60 all around Surrey, however, they were not too upset by this.

After a fine first tea of the season Farnham set about making early breakthroughs to get the Beddington nerves jangling. The pitch had dried significantly in the sun and got easier but was still not the usual Farnham road, with opening bowlers Sumanasekera and Hooker finding assistance when they hit the right lengths. The much needed early breakthrough came agonisingly close as Hooker found the edge of Beddington captain D'ardenne's bat, only for the ball to fall inches in front of Alec Goldsworthy at slip. Shortly afterwards Goldsworthy was the bowler when a top-edged sweep from D'ardenne fell frustratingly between three fielders, and the sense started to sink in that the toss was not the only thing falling wrong for Farnham. Goldsworthy eventually removed both openers but with a couple of other chances being spurned, and Beddington no.3 Lewis looking very solid, it clearly wasn't going to go Farnham's way and eventually the game finished with Lewis striking a mighty 6 halfway up a tree beside the castle moat.

Good fight and effort shown with the bat, and some steady bowling, but Farnham will need to find even more fight and cutting edge as they travel away to Chertsey next week looking to get a first win.