2010 Season comes to a close as 1st XI finish with a draw and 4th place, 2nd XI face Div 6 cricket next season. The 1st XI went into the final game of the season in the knowledge that a win would secure them 3rd place in the league. Losing the toss, Isham were asked to bat first on a decent looking track. The innings got off to a rocky start with opener Reid chopping a wide delivery back onto his stumps and No. 3 Harrison nicking one to the slips. The opening attack of Todd and Yaqub were bowling very tight lines with Todd finding excessive in-swing which was troubling the batsmen. Tony Robison soon followed the other back into the pavilion after cutting a wide one straight to gully. Parmar soon came and went for 0 which left Isham skipper Court and James Claypole at the crease needing to consolidate as the home team found themselves 28 for 4. Both batsman found run scoring very difficult as the bowlers carried on bowling tight lines with controlled swing. The plan was to try and see them off and have a look at what the other Earls Barton bowlers had to offer. While this plan stopped the tumble of wickets it also slowed the run rate down and after 25 overs Isham had only put 50 runs on the board. In the realisation that at some point Isham needed to set some sort of target Both batsmen began looking for runs and in doing so and trying for a fourth run Court managed to run out Claypole who had played a valuable knock. Soon after the opening attack had run out of overs and both Court and Chudley started playing their shots in a decision to not let the new bowlers settle. The partnership had reached was one short of the 50 when Chudley took on the spin of Waite and was caught on the boundary. With the score on 95-6 both Court and new bat Somerfield upped the run rate considerably. The 50 and then 100 run partnership followed. Summerfield was eventually stumped for 46 of 37 balls. Robinson joined Court who was told he was on 89 with 2 overs remaining. With 3 balls of the innings left Court brought up his maiden County League Century with a 6 hit straight back over the bowler. The Isham innings ended with Court 104 not out, Robinson 4 not out and a target of 221 for Earls Barton to chase. Isham began the second session brightly with opener Long making an immediate impact removing opener Agostini for 1 and No.3 Yaqub for 0. Wills bowled Jackson for 0 and Earls Barton were in trouble on 14-3. Then much to the home sides dismay the heavens opened with a constant heavy drizzle that lasted for about 10 overs. Had it not been the final game of the season the players would have left the field but both batsmen and fielders decided to stick it out to try and get a game in. This however backfired on Isham as the ball got progressively wetter and soon became saturated with water. This made bowling very difficult and run up were shortened to a couple of paces in order to try and control the ball. The batsmen took full advantage as any swing or pace was now a distant memory. Both Murfitt and McDermott brought up their 50’s as Earls Barton took the score to 181 for 6 and were favourites to go on and win. With his wicket tally still on 48 for the season Somerfield was bought back into the attack for his last stint as an Isham bowler (for now anyway!). Suddenly Isham took the initiative as Mufitt was run out and Somerfield took 3 quick wickets to reach and pass the 50 mark for the season. Overs were however running out and now the away side had no option but to bat out for the draw. The innings finished on 201 for 8. Other results went against Isham and they finished a credible 4th place in Div 1. The 2nd XI already went into the final game knowing their fate was to be relegation and Div 6 cricket next season so they were playing for pride and fun! Away at Earls Barton they again lost the toss and found themselves batting. Their innings and the game in general was a good reflection on the 2010 season in general. They were bowled out for 132 with Chris Perkins scoring the vast majority in a superb innings of 86. No other batsman reached double figures meaning the bowlers had to once again defend a low score. It was never going to be enough and although Isham took 4 wickets the home side chased down the total within 31 overs. Dave Barlow was the pick of the bowling taking 2 for 18 in his 6 overs. So the 2010 season drew to a close with mixed fortunes and the sour taste of relegation for the 2nd XI who will no doubt aim to be promoted again next season.