This week the cold weather was warmed by anticipation, good spirits, nostalgic music and some food. Not Xmas yet, but the journey to the connexion arena in the the heartland of the West Midlands. Murphy, Ash, Tim, Samay, Seb and Josh, like Kim Jong-Un before an election, turned up on Tuesday confident of a win. After Murphy had set the tone with some sharp driving (on the roads at least)– we started up like every innings this year, batting. After Murphy stuck to his drunken decision at Kasbah the night before to push Ash up the order to open with Seb. Soon after, Seb pushed through for an ambitious single which Ash, clearly hungover from the same Kasbah night out, was left well short of his ground. In came Samay, who with bizarre confidence of his place in the team, left his first four balls. Caution was rewarded however as Seb smashed a couple of boundaries and Samay ticked along. Seb retired for 27, not before pissing off the oppo and neutral umpire with his hard-edged competitiveness. Tim chipped in with another 27 to keep the team effort going while Samay finished unbeaten on 28. UWMCC happy to finish with a comfortable 109. The opposition didn’t look convinced they could get the total and we were definitely convinced they couldn’t with no less than 5 special snowflakes. Wickets went to Ash, Samay and Josh who lobbed up a few pies but unfortunately the batsmen weren’t good enough to take advantage. Some excellent improvements from Murphy’s captaincy led to him actually putting fielders where they were hitting the ball, finally showing he can do something on the pitch. Fielding highlights include Samay’s one-handed grab off the wall that was only slightly tarnished by over-celebration and Seb’s basketball dribbling before outrageously appealing for the catch. An easy 56-run win for UWMCC. The eagerly awaited trip to the Phantom Coach could now occur, only to be let down by the Gary’s inside having one chef and an hour wait for food. Murphy sacked that off and took us back to the sports centre instead mainly to show off his bay-parking skills. A winners’ fusion was then enjoyed, minus Ash who had finally found his way back to Westwood. Roll on the playoff