Hellingly were up against Cross Arrows, a club formed in 1880 which draws its players from the MCC membership and staff. Cross Arrows boasted professional player David Nash of Middlesex amongst their ranks and he was the difference between the two sides. Hellingly won the toss and elected to bowl first on a gloriously sunny morning in the capital.

The hosts got off to a quick start thanks to Rory Flanagan, a talented all-rounder on the fringes of the Ireland squad, who had flown in from Dublin for this match. Flanagan eased past fifty dealing mainly in boundaries, before the impressive Paul Vidler bowled him for 71.

Vidler also claimed the wicket of fellow opener Tim Chadwick (25) as he returned excellent figures of 2-26 from his 10 overs. He was superbly supported at the other end by Rob Preston (1-32) as the pair put the brakes on the Cross Arrows onslaught.

Skipper Simon Wakefield (25) was then superbly run out with a direct hit from Bob Pye which sent the middle stump flying out of the ground. However, after patiently seeing off Vidler and Preston, David Nash tore into the Hellingly attack, smashing the ball to all parts of the ground.

Nash hit 16 fours and seven sixes in a scintillating innings of 125 from 72 balls - his second fifty coming off just 20 deliveries. Dave Windless (2-57) eventually claimed Nash's wicket, while Bob Pye (2-43) and Dave Pye (1-70) also got in on the wickets as Cross Arrows posted an imposing total of 315-9 from their 50 overs. After the lunch break, Hellingly started slowly in the face of some tight bowling from Rory Flanagan and Richard Horner.

Paul Wheatley (20) was first to go in the 16th over, followed by his opening partner Ian Rippengal (24) in the 23rd over. At the halfway stage, Hellingly were just 74-2 with 25 overs to go. Skipper James Wise and Tom Rothero then put on 54 for the third wicket in quick time before Rothero fell for 26 including two sixes. Wise (50), playing in his last game for Hellingly, completed his fifty with seven fours and two sixes before being dismissed.

Bob Pye carried on the good work, also hitting seven fours and two sixes in a quickfire 45. With time running out Dave Windless entertained the crowd with some fine shots, stroking three fours and three sixes in his 36. Tom Hicks looked at ease as he finished off the innings with 15 not out as Hellingly ended up on 242 for six from 50 overs.

After the match, departing skipper James Wise was happy with his team's performance stating, "We may have lost today but I'm extremely pleased with the way we've played - we gave a very good account of ourselves and having spoken to the opposition, they were very impressed with our commitment and attitude.

Lord's is a fitting place to end this very special season and on behalf of everyone connected with Hellingly Cricket Club, I'd like to thank Paddy Stevens who not only arranged everything today, but all of our events throughout the season including the charity walk at Easter from Lord's to Horsebridge and back, the jubilee weekend in June and the cricket week in August which culminated in that fabulous win against Old England - we just simply could not have done any of this without him."