Tonight’s live auction was as intense as seasoned commentators predicted. * The first player James Bracey went to Imperial – owned by Mills and Shortman. A canny deal levered against future sales of NinjaNightKap™ just got the duo over the line against a determined Reed and Wood.

Next to go was William Rudge who went to Optimists. Having missed out on his number one target, Reed wasn’t prepared to see another slip through the net. Most pundits question the price tag. Think Andy Carroll to Liverpool.

Third to see the hammer drop (Not Whale’s) was Louis Shaw. After some confusion over which of the Shaw pair was up for grabs – the current England U19 or regular Glos over 50s player – Wood went hard for the Somerset player.

Pollard looked like he was going unsold before a remarkable bid from Shortman secured him for the Imperial squad.

An enormous thank you to our Titans. Legends.

The first game starts at 10.30 and squads will be rotated even during games. The super-sub rule (wrongly outlawed by the ICC) lives long at Bristol CC.

Who plays the first game will be decided by the toss of a coin at 10.15.

Imperial Squad:

• Captain: Michael Cox
• Keeper: Adam Jones
• Marquee: James Bracey
• Marquee: Neil Pollard
• Player: Rhys Williams
• Player: Adam Lee
• Player: Graham Herring
• Player: Mike Love
• Player: Bob Shaw
• Player: Sam Matthews
• Player: Kerry Hopper
• Player: Luke Sutor
• Player: Gary Hutton
• Guru/Player: Paul Redwood

Optimists Squad

• Captain: Charlie Alsop
• Keeper: Matthew Tavare
• Marquee: William Rudge
• Marquee: Louis Shaw
• Player: Rishi Panchal
• Player: Rob Jones
• Player: George Kinsey
• Player: Shaz Mustafa
• Player: Freddie Oldfield
• Player: Jamie Reed
• Player: Alan Hunt
• Player: Gwylim Watkins
• Player: Neal Patel
• Guru/Player: Kevin Blackburn

*not actually live.