Yet another topsy turvy month! First the good news - the club won the Stevens Cup, yes, we retained the I'Anson League's premier knock-out trophy. As in 2005 we beat Grayshott in the final. Wonderful stuff!

Grayshott batted first and Elstead's fearsome bowling attack made early inroads. At the halfway stage Grayshott had stumbled their way to 44 for 5. A middle order rally gave the score some respectability and Elstead required 116 to win. The early loss of Olly Barker was shrugged aside as Khalique Ahmad (45 not out), Mubarak Ahmad  and David Tye knocked the bowling all over Puttenham's ground. Victory was duly recorded in the 14th over.

Meanwhile the 1st X1 is still hanging on near the top of I'Anson Division One, still second to Grayshott. A fine win at Grayswood was followed by defeat to lowly Tilford where Elstead managed only 105 on a damp track. Tilford's openers went berserk and knocked off the runs in just 15 overs without loss. Just one of those very bad days at the office!

Back came Elstead to knock over Chiddingfold. Scores from Mubarak Ahmad (52) and Chris Mude (40) helped achieve a score of 250. Chiddingfold were bowled out for just 136. It all went wrong again the next week against Dogmesfield where a decent score in the 200s was not enough as stubborn batting from the home side was too much for Elstead's attack on this occasion.

Matters got worse against title rivals Grayshott. The visitors amassed 247 and Elstead were left clinging on for a losing draw. With five games to go it's tight but currently advantage Grayshott!

At the same time the Twos have recovered much of the ground they lost in mid-season. An excellent win in a high scoring game at Peper Harow was followed by victory against high flying Bramley. The return fixture against Peper Harow saw another win and only a dismal defeat on a damp pitch at title rivals Alfold spoiled an otherwise excellent month.

Along the way there was a century for Simon Wade, fifties for Richard Jones, David Tye and Mark Gibbons, six wickets for David Tye and five wickets for Mike Butler. Just three games left and promotion is there to be grasped if there are no more slip-ups.

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Put the apple pieces into a large glass bowl with ½ pint of water, microwave for 2 minute intervals, stirring until the fruit is soft  Rub the pulp through a sieve, add lemon juice and measure the pulp. allow an equal quantity of sugar eg. 1 lb sugar to each pint of pulp. Put mixed sugar/pulp back into the microwave for several minutes stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved then cook for approx 8 minutes on high. This makes a thick puree that can be used as an apple sauce accompaniment to meat dishes or used in a fruit flan or cooking.

P.S. I never make more than 2 lbs at a go - if using a smaller glass bowl make 1 lb quantity to avoid it boiling over. You can also add blackberries to this recipe which is good because the result doesn't have pips in it.