REIGATE PRIORY found themselves on the receiving end of a batting masterclass from Hampshire's Michael Carberry as they ended up on the wrong side of a winning draw against Spencer on Saturday.
Carberry, who has been touted for an international call-up with England, turned out for Spencer in the Surrey Championship Premier Division clash on Saturday, and blasted 117 not out from 115 balls, in an innings that featured 15 fours and two sixes.
It helped Spencer to 190-2 in response to the Llamas' 294-9, which was enough to see Spencer claim the winning draw, with the rain halting any chance of a positive result for either side.
But while Llamas' captain Neil Saker was full of praise for Carberry, he also praised the performance of his Priory side, with Chris Murtagh also scoring a fine century with a knock of 110, together with a good innings of 60 from young wicketkeeper David Ramsden.
He said: "Carbs was a different class to the rest of the guys on the field.
"He scored his hundred and to be honest, he didn't even come out of his bubble.
"He looked like he was batting in a first class game and you can see why he has been piling on the runs in the county game.
"It was so impressive just watching him bat and I certainly think he should be in the England team if he is playing like that.
"But I can't fault the effort of our guys.
"We put in a good performance and although Carbs was going well when the rain came down, all results were still possible.
"It could have gone in either direction and we batted, bowled and fielded very well.
"They were very good as well and it was just a good game of cricket."
And Saker said that came off the back of another good match for the Llamas on Friday against the world famous Lashings XI, who visited Park Lane with such star names as Wasim Jaffer, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam Ul-Haq.
"The Lashings match was a great fixture for us, as it always seems to be at Reigate Priory," said Saker.
"We had a good game with a good crowd there to see it and it was fantastic to be a part of.
"It was good for some of our younger guys to play against some legends of the game and it was good for us to have the likes of Aiden Blizzard and Richie Oliver playing for us again."
The Llamas lost the game by 28 runs after Lashings scored 213-3 from 20 overs, with Wasim Jaffer scoring 89 runs from 47 balls and Ali Brown scoring 39 from 26 deliveries.
Legendary Pakistani batsman Inzamam Ul-Haq also contributed with 42 runs from just 14 balls at a strike rate of 300.
In reply, Blizzard smashed 90 runs from just 54 balls before he fell to Saqlain Mushtaq (3-25) as the Llamas fell 28 runs short.
But Saker said the result was not important, adding it was nice to enjoy a good day of cricket with some of the world's best.
He said: "I am sure that those guys enjoy it and I know we did, like the spectators.
"It is a good experience for us all and it is good for the club."
