RRs 124 (30.4/40), Aldborough 115 (37.3/40)
A new venue to start the tour, and a terrific one. A village green surrounded by road on four sides, with a local rule which dictates that anyone hitting a six over two of the boundaries had to retire. No one on either side managed the feat. The captain's pre-match address was interrupted twice by RRs imbeciles playing the drums (see: Rogan, Herbert), and an RRs total that looked perhaps 50 runs short in the face of an excellent bowling attack, Tuthill taking a hat-trick (J Jenkins, J Pike and T Rowlands). The contributions of Wiggins (29) and American Idol Albert Bitici (20) - Extras top-scored with 35 - proved vital. RRs then produced one of their best performances in the field of the season, with wickets shared, catches held (David Simmons taking a beauty in the covers) and not a single run given away in a tense finish.
Monday August 2
Dereham 177-7 (35), RRs 136 (34.1/35)
Two wickets for Jamie Holton and Del Boy's nasty hand injury were the features of the Dereham innings, a total that always looked a bit steep. Paul Lewis and C Jones - subbing as a batsman for Del Boy, so his runs don't even count - top-scored with 24 apiece.
Tuesday August 3
Black Sheep 231-4 (40), RRs 84 (25.1/40)
The traditional defeat by the charity-raising veterans, though this time by a humiliating margin. M English (92) and B Harbour (55) led the way for the Sheep - they opened, but as nobody could be arsed to fill in the fall of wickets we can't tell you how many they put on - and the RRs bowling and fielding was not at its best. The batting, rest assured, was worse and a man aged 126 (R Ryan) who had not taken a wicket for 47 successive seasons, took 5-17. Welcome to the world of RRs captaincy, Jake Pike! On the positive side, Black Sheep made us very welcome again (can't think why), we raised more than £100 for them via a whip and some fines, and Jake atoned (partly) for his crap captaincy by giving a very good speech.
Wednesday August 4
The match against Stow was cancelled when they cried off a couple of days before and despite the heroic efforts of J Jenkins, a replacement could not be found - though it was so wet anyway he had probably been wasting his time. Some of the alternative entertainment included a mass RRs invastion of Cromer, featuring an encounter through a fish shop window between a dozen RRs men with their tongues hanging out and a lady leaning over the counter with a very large pair of whelks, I think they're called. Plus the karaoke.
Thursday August 5
RRs 219-9 (40), Fakenham 195-9 (IT SAYS 41 OVERS IN THE BOOK AND ADDS UP TO 41- HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN???!!!)
An excellent game at a terrific venue. Millsy's 50 off 36 balls was the top score of the week and there were good contributions from Lewis (32), CT (29), Rogan (28), Chaos Jenkins (24) and Son of Chaos (20). Had Coe, who retired after reaching 50, stayed at the crease, the smart money was on Fakenham winning, but RRs got home by 24 runs in a decent finish.
The final night seemed to be enjoyed by all, with J Jenkins winning the Man of the Tour award for his efforts at getting a replacement fixture, Simmo getting a bottle of bubbly for the champagne moment (his catch at Aldborough) and Jake being roundly, and rightly, abused for his performance as skipper against Black Sheep (his best friend is now, officially, Frank Wuriously). Well done everyone! And don't mention the strippers!