Grotty weather, town gridlocked thanks to ITFC's home game v. QPR, and the BT Defiants droids are being deployed up at the dome using the Eco Warrior's monster truck. No guest Indian player (hi Anshul, hello Arvind), at least not at the moment, and Grenvyle's leaving it late to return his registration form. Which leaves lifers Ed and Andy, Rene the German and PC Andy. Fab four? Prefab four? Time will tell.

Our premier match in the (ahem) bottom league is against a newly formed Britannia team comprising:

• father -- not played competitively since the 11 point rule came in,
• daughter -- recently moved back to the area,
• and other bloke -- last played in the league 30 years ago

Harking back to our triumphant 2007/08 season in the pits of division 3, we got off to a fine 9-1 start. Not quite so good this time, but an 8-2 victory was more than acceptable. All three of us beat the fellas; only one of us was man enough to conquer the nifty backhand of the lady. Not Rene. Not Ed. Tip o' the tricorn to Cap'n Andy. And congrats to Rene and Andy for landing a five-end doubles too.