OUT of choice the village cricket team at Parkend fill their weekend programme by playing friendlies.
"It certainly does not mean our cricket is not competitive, but it is not the end of the world if we lose and we don't have to jump up and down at every lbw decision," said club official Dave Kent this week.
Parkend keep in touch with league cricket by playing in the Wednesday evening Forest Midweek League and Kent admits Saturday non-league matches are now harder to find.
"Many of our games are against teams we have played for years and a lot of them come to the Forest on tour. But Saturday matches are becoming a little harder to find as most teams now compete in a league," he said.
But it was, as usual, a friendly at Parkend last Saturday when the village team took on Cheltenham Milers. Batting first Parkend showed commendable consistency with five out of their first batsmen reaching double figures.
In an all out total of 159, Nick Browning top-scored with 37 and other big knocks came from John Deave (29) and Daryl Hook (23). Hook will also remember the game for taking two sensational catches.
It was a close run thing for the Man of the Match title between Hook and the eventual winner, Mike Lewis.
However Lewis's left arm in-swingers won the day. He bowled superbly, taking seven wickets for 38 runs as Milers were dismissed for 105. Earlier he had added to Parkend's winning score by knocking up a rapid 19 runs.