Batting first on a pitch which had some early life, the Bayswater top-order crumbled badly to be tottering at 5/56 late in the first session.  However, stand-in opener Brendan Mills was undefeated on twenty seven and he anchored the middle of the innings while another 87 was added to the total before he was out for a dogged 68 which included ten boundaries.

The tail wagged vigorously with a 61 run partnership between sixteen year-old wicketkeeper Cameron Robb [35] and Mathew Inness [34] to bring the final total to 205 shortly after tea.  Teenager Robb is a highly talented cricketer with a maturity which belies his years and has been deservedly selected to represent Western Australia in the National Under-Seventeen Championships to be held in Brisbane in January.  But the Bears Head Coach, David Baird, must be concerned about the brittle form of the top-order, three of whom were dismissed without scoring.

The Willetton batsmen had to face the last 17 overs of the day and did so with aplomb, although the new ball bowling of Inness and Kim Lawrence created at least a couple of chances which went begging.  At stumps the score had reached 59 without loss with Essex import Varun Chopra [29] and Justin Woods [23] both undefeated.  The Bayswater attack will need to regroup next week to protect what has now become a vulnerable lead.

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