It’s not often you see a cricket team that doubles up as a family day out, but Burghley Park Sunday 2’s managed just that on Sunday, fielding members from four families—the Father/Son combos of the Armstrongs, Hewats, and McIntoshes, plus siblings, Jack & Hannah Collins.

Melton Mowbray haven’t won a single toss this season and the trend continued, even with their skipper delegating the job to one of his senior pros, who also proved to be a useless tosser. Bears skipper, McIntosh (J) had no hesitation in opting to bat.

The Burghley Batting was a story of feast and famine. Getting the innings underway, were Father & Son, Chris and Harry Armstrong.
Chris Armstrong got the innings off to a solid start with a stylish 42—playing the sort of shots that make you wonder if he secretly sneaks down to the nets midweek.
Harry Armstrong followed suit with a slightly more circumspect 26, before gloving a ball through to the keeper, that took off from a good length.
Kavin Viswanathan had one of those days where the less said the better… let’s just call it “another piece of Duck Phal” and move on.
Then enter Burghley’s latest Antipodean import, Peter Hewat. What can you say about an unbeaten 123 from 86 balls other than: outrageous. He batted like he was late for a barbie he’d be invited to by Pete Evans and Manu Feildel.
Pete’s son Cooper balanced things out a bit with a more patient 19, someone had to show restraint while Peter auditioned for The Hundred. Cooper was eventually out lbw, despite getting a big nick. No DRS in Div 2 of the GMCA!
This brought Robbie McIntosh to the crease at 6, but he never really got going, adding 4 runs to the total before chipping one to short extra. McIntosh senior grateful, however, to have avoided adding another piece of Duck Phal to his tally.
In at 7, Jim McIntosh hit a quickfire 24, getting Burghley to a competitive total of 268-6, helped along by Melton Mowbray’s bowlers gifting us 30 extras—the kind of generosity usually reserved for Christmas.

Melton Mowbray, faced with chasing nearly 270, might have fancied their chances. Unfortunately for them, our youthful bowlers fancied theirs more.
Spearheading the Burghley attack, were 13 year-olds Jack Collins and Cooper Hewat. The Melton openers started off like men possessed, racing to 39 from the first few overs. The young Burghley openers held their nerve though, showing experience beyond their years and kept their line and length, shaping the ball nicely. Their resilience was rewarded as both openers fell, to sharp catches by Kav and Pete, Jack Collinns finishing with 2 with 2 wickets.
Cooper Hewat clearly wasn’t satisfied with Peter stealing the batting headlines, so he grabbed 4 wickets. Hewat family bragging rights are going to be tricky this week, Pete’s 3 sharp catches at slip probably giving him the “edge”.. (sorry) Alexander Marshall bowled beautifully for 2-20, proving once again that straight, full, and on the stumps is still quite effective.
Seb Freeman got in on the act with a wicket of his own, getting a wicket clean bowled with his first ball.
A special mention must go to Hannah Collins, who was very unlucky not to get a wicket, but bowled 5 overs for just 13 runs, which is basically witchcraft in Sunday 2’s cricket.
Jim McIntosh came on with 9 down, bowled 4 balls, went for 1 run, and finished the game off as Melton’s (genuine) number 11 gave Chris Armstrong a simple catch at mid-off.

Melton were all out for 144 in under 28 overs, leaving Burghley with a big win, happy bowlers, happy batters (mostly) and plenty of time to get to the bar and enjoy some cold ones in the best beer garden in Stamford.