It was with a sinking heart we read Fillingham's latest HOB cricket email - our next game was to be in the wilds of Chipping Sodbury. So after crawling through the smog filled rush hour misery of Bristol and the M4 for the last game of the season, we arrived at the rather soothing rural retreat of the Chipping Sodbury ground. An early surprise was the 'local' rules - Putts Puffers like to bowl the majority of their team. Disappointingly for some, Captain Jo informed us that we'd be doing the same.

A few faces dropped at this point. Mutterings went round about these unusual regulations including 'haven't bowled since junior school' and 'Jo's a c*nt'. We were batting first though, and soon padded up. Lambshead and Pearce strode out to the middle. Lambshead swiftly strode back to the pavilion a mere four runs later. Pearce was planning on sticking around though, and made a very healthy 21 before his departure. Regular scoring continued down the order as the Puffers bowled through their entire team. Steady, but unspectacular work from the HOBs saw the score board clunk towards a respectable total. Batting highlights other than Pearce, included Jon's 21 and a useful 14 from Clements comprising several lusty blows to the ropes, the HOBs ending up 114/7.

The most controversial moment of the innings came during the last ball of an over when Putts fielders probably ran out Stu Adams. I say probably because I was looking the other way at the time. This wouldn't normally matter that much, but it does when you're square leg umpire. Squawks of rage came from the Putts wicketkeeper, who seemed to be foaming at the mouth. 'He weren't even lookin' came his shill cry. After the chaos had died down Stu agreed he was probably out and trudged back to the pavilion. I wished I could have too. We haven't seen such controversial umpiring since Daryll Hare took on the Pakistanis.

The bowling continued in this eventful vein, Matt almost losing his teeth in an early acquaintance with the ball, the rosy globe skipping off the turf and cracking old man full in the dentures. Pain was also order of the day for a couple of the early Putts batsmen as Jo's unorthadox quick arm action sent a couple back to the changing rooms. The early bowlers comprised the 'regular' attack and wickets fell sporadically, Jo, Jon and Ed doing most of the damage. Then came the unknowns, those who hadn't bowled for many a year and they did well. Al Pearce enjoyed a great over, only giving away a couple. Fillingham had a shaky start, throwing down a few that came down with snow on them before getting some tidy balls down the pitch and as for Ashford. Well, Meredith took his inaugural HOB wicket with his spinning left arm action and giant Pawson's powerhands.

Perhaps the highlight of the bowling though was Stu Adam's 50th HOB wicket. Well deserved for Golden Arm and the first Hobber to reach the target. In the end it was a comfortable win for the boys from Henleaze by 18 runs. Al Pearce got man of match for his early knock of 21 and tight bowling figures (1-0-2-0). A great game to end on, good-natured opposition (despite a rather excitable wicketkeeper) and the local rules of spreading the bowling round was appreciated. The post-match barbeque went down well and HOB even entered the Putts raffle, winning some wine gums in the process. Which I managed to steal and found the other day in the glove compartment of my Metro, gone all hard.