September 2017 - the last vestiges of summer came up against the advancing autumn rains and despite continued efforts, it proved impossible to play the Tinker Cup final.

Fastforward seven months, and on a beautiful warm April Saturday, the competition’s finale finally took place between Cronkbourne and Castletown at Tromode.

The weekend’s game was a quiet one, being the first game of the year.

The soft to heavy going of the ground made scoring runs very difficult.

Batsmen did not get value for their good quality strokes and the ball slowed quickly in the thick, damp grass.

Castletown scored 97 all out during their innings, having dropped to 56 for 6 before rallying slightly. Mark Williams made 24 runs including one six.

Cronkbourne kept the bowling tight. Max Stokoe took two wickets for 16 from his allocated eight overs and Ben Howarth made the best bowling contribution with three wickets for 18 runs from his six-over spell.

Cronkbourne replied slowly to Castletown’s score.

Stokoe successfully cleared the boundary rope on two occasions, making 29 before falling to a catch by Bradleigh Cregeen in the point area.

The Douglas side continued to get the runs steadily despite good bowling by Williams.

Corbin Liebenberg successfully supported the run chase with 25 not out and Cronkbourne reached the required target in the 30th over.

Man of the Match, as decided by the umpires, was Stokoe for his contributions with both the bat and the ball.

So, the 2017 season is now complete, and the 2018 campaign will start in just over a week’s time with the first rounds of the Blincoe Cup competition on Saturday, April 28.

Full scorecard is available at: http://iomcacomps.play-cricket.com/website/results/3201897

l Look ahead to the new cricket season in next week’s Manx Independent.