We all know BTC habitually loses against any bunch of upright bipods with an opposable thumb that enables them to hold a racquet. Stick some white clothing on them and shove them onto the court and they are a shoo-in to beat us. However there is one exception to this disgrace and that is the Melbourne Cricket Club who we regularly manage to beat. This peculiarity is thought to be a result of the most famous discovery in Royal Tennis history … Strange’s Law. In ground breaking research, often using himself as a guinea pig, Strange proved the number of games won is inversely proportional to the size of the bar bill. It seems no-one can outdrink the MCC what with their constant practice and their big city access to cheap liver transplants. We had been practising too and maybe this time things would be different.
Saturday
Tom Howard/Ian Dowman lost to Matthew Downey/Sam Bowman 6/9
Malcolm Rodgers/Tom Howard defeated Fiona Hewson/Dave Cutler 9/3
Jo Edwards/Will Hoskin lost to Greg Reid/Paul Scally 7/9
Mark Hartnell/Rob Jolly defeated Graeme Blundstone/Hugo van der Meer 9/8
Ben Jolly/Mike Whitehead lost to Wilson Lorimer/Matthew Downey 5/9
Mike Whitehead/Tom Howard lost to Sam Bowman/Dave Cutler 5/9
Rob Jolly/Jo Edwards defeated Wilson Lorimer/Mike Carroll 9/3
Luke Spencer/Ben Jolly lost to Paul Scally/Fiona Hewson 6/9
Rob Jolly/Stuart Strange defeated Graeme Blundstone/John Piccolo 9/7
Stuart Strange/Wendy Whitehead defeated Hugo van der Meer/Vince Scopelitti 9/7
All square on 5 games all at the end of a busy Saturday. Predictable result since Strange’s Law works best at night-time. Some great food organised by the social committee highlighted a convivial evening during which a small doubles round robin took place.
Saturday Night Handicap Doubles
Vince Scopelitti/John Piccolo 3/23 win from Fiona Hewson/Andrew Petkevich 3/22 Rod Unmack/Tanya Baker 3/21 Hugh van der Meer/Tom Howard 1/13 Greg Reid/Lydia Reid 0/9
Sunday
Wendy Whitehead/Tom Howard lost to Wilson Lorimer/Paul Scally 3/9
David Hay/Brett McFarlane defeated Greg Reid/Graeme Blundstone 9/7
Wendy Whitehead/Cora Trevarthan defeated Fiona Hewson/Hugo Pinsent 9/4
Bruce Christie/David Hay defeated Vince Scopelitti/John Piccolo 9/7
Jo Edwards/David Hay defeated Hugo van der Meer/Hugo Pinsent 9/4
Bruce Christie/Stuart Strange defeated Graeme Blundstone/Vince Scopelitti 9/7
Nathan Baker/Tom Howard lost to John Piccolo/Hugo Pinsent 8/9
Nathan Baker/Stuart Strange lost to Hugo van der Meer/Vince Scopelitti 3/9
Michael Williams defeated Graeme Blundstone 5/6 6/4 6/4
BTC wins Sunday 6- 3 and overall 11-8 as MCC maintains its dismal record against us. Professor Strange was last seen furiously poring over the bar bill as he sought more data for his famous law. There was a three way tie for MVP between Rob Jolly, Jo Edwards and David Hay all who won their 3 games. The Michael Williams v Graeme Blundstone match was a fitting highlight with tennis of the highest standard. In an interesting piece of trivia English visitor Tom Howard played 5 matches with the same results as the English cricket team in the World Cup. Anyway it was a splendid weekend with large numbers from both clubs involved and we look forward to many more in the future.
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